MAKEBI ZULU IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENT
…Vehicle Overturn

Patriotic Front Presidential Aspirant, Makebi Zulu has been involved in a traffic accident in Kasama.

The accident occurred 25km before Kasama on the Kasama-Mpika Road.

The occupants in the vehicle included former Minister of Mines, Hon. Richard Musukwa and former DMMU National Coordinator Chanda Kabwe have been rushed to Kasama General Hospital.

The accident occurred when a cyclist drove to cross the road and in avoiding him, the vehicle lost control and overturned..

Makebi Zulu and many Patriotic Front senior leaders have traveled to Kasama to attend the funeral and burial of Patriotic Front Member of the Central Committee (MCC), and Kasama Mayor, Hon. Theresa Kolala Khumalo.

Details coming soon.

Kellys Kaunda writes….

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS NOT MY WORK. I PICKED IT UP FROM ANOTHER FORUM BUT I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ IT.

The article starts now:

THE PF MANUAL OF DEMAGOGUERY AND PROPAGANDA: DECODING THE OPPOSITION’S TOXIC PLAYBOOK

For years, Zambia has been subjected to a political assault not of ideas, but of venom. An orchestrated campaign where insults masquerade as criticism, falsehoods are peddled as facts, and tribal fears are stoked to mask a profound intellectual emptiness. This is not politics; it is a calculated strategy of demagoguery and propaganda, deployed by those who broke the nation to discredit the one rebuilding it. Here is their exposed playbook, so every Zambian can recognize the toxic script the moment they hear it.

THE DEMAGOGUE’S ARSENAL: A BREAKDOWN OF TOXIC TACTICS

This list distills their primary methods of manipulation for easy recognition.

TACTIC 1:
THE POISONED WELL

· Goal : To preemptively discredit any positive news or achievement, making the source untrustworthy.

· How They Do It:

Any government announcement, especially on the economy, is instantly labelled a “lie” or “propaganda.” For instance, they dismiss historic economic gains by claiming figures are “manipulated” or “only benefit the elite”.

· What to Listen For:

” He has failed” “He won’t win next year” “He is lying,” “Fake news,” “Propaganda rally,” “They are cooking books.”

TACTIC 2: MANUFACTURED OUTRAGE & THE BIG LIE

· Goal:
To create a constant state of crisis and fear through sensational, often completely fabricated, claims.

· How They Do It:

They make explosive, easily disprovable allegations to grab headlines and paint a picture of a failed state. A prime example is the false claim that the United Nations had “sanctioned” or “blacklisted” Zambia for human rights abuses, a story thoroughly debunked by the UN itself.

· What to Listen For:

“UN sanctions Zambia,” “shrinking democratic space” “International condemnation,” “Zambia is becoming a dictatorship.”

TACTIC 3: THE TRIBAL DOG WHISTLE

· Goal:
To reduce national politics to a primitive, emotive, and divisive “us vs. them” conflict.

· How They Do It:

They falsely accuse the President of tribalism to camouflage their own history of regional hegemony. They project their own sins, cynically using tribe as a shield. When Brian Mundubile claims Zambians don’t hate the President’s tribe but “hate the blackouts and poverty,” he simultaneously dismisses genuine concerns about divisive rhetoric and redirects anger.

· What to Listen For:

“He only works for his province,” “They are taking over,” “This is our turn to eat.”

TACTIC 4: VICTIMHOOD & REVERSAL

· Goal:
To portray the powerful, established opposition as the persecuted underdog, reversing the roles of aggressor and victim.

· How They Do It:

After leaving a legacy of debt and decay, they now cry “political persecution” when held accountable by anti-corruption agencies. They claim a “shrinking democratic space” while their voices dominate swathes of media with insults. It’s the classic tactic of the bully who cries foul first.

· What to Listen For:

“We are being targeted,” “There is no rule of law,” “The President is vindictive.”

TACTIC 5:
THE SUBSTANCE VACUUM (THE CORE OF BANKRUPTCY)

· Goal:
To avoid, at all costs, a debate on policy, ideas, or factual records.

· How They Do It:

This is the most telling sign of their intellectual bankruptcy. Their discourse is utterly devoid of alternative policies, costed manifestos, or innovative solutions. They cannot engage with the complexity of debt restructuring, economic reform, or institutional rebuilding. Instead, they fill the vacuum with noise: mockery, insults (“He is lazy,” “He is a liar”), and personal attacks on the President’s character.

· What to Listen For:

A complete absence of “Here is our plan for agriculture…” or “Our energy policy would…”. Listen instead for endless personal attacks.

THE FUEL OF THEIR FIRE: WHY THEY CAN’T ENGAGE INTELLECTUALLY

Their reliance on these cheap tactics is not an accident; it is the symptom of a deeper moral and intellectual collapse.

1. The Trauma of Exposure: President Hichilema’s data-driven, boardroom leadership is a living rebuke to their era of rhetoric and mismanagement. His focus on economic metrics and institutional processes holds up an unforgiving mirror. Their insults are a visceral reaction to this exposure—they mock what they cannot comprehend and hate what they cannot imitate. As the Zambian proverb goes, “A dog barks not at a stone thrown in the river, but at the ripples it makes.” They are barking at the ripples of progress, terrified of the stone of truth that caused them.

2. The Crisis of a Hollow Legacy: Having left the nation “bruised, indebted, and hanging by a thread,” they have no positive record to run on. Their moral authority is shattered. Therefore, their entire political survival depends not on promoting a better future, but on convincing Zambia that the present repair job is a failure. They are, as another saying goes, “like a barren tree that makes more noise in the forest”—loud, obstructive, and producing nothing of value.

3. The Bitterness of Dethroned Hegemony: For a faction accustomed to wielding power as a tribal-entitlement for decades, losing it to a perceived “outsider” is an existential wound. This loss of privilege is misinterpreted as persecution. Their hatred is not ideological; it is the rage of the dethroned, lashing out at the architect of their political irrelevance. It is the politics of the “wounded lion,” dangerous not from strength, but from pride and pain.

Real-World Examples: The Playbook in Action

· Facing Economic Facts:

When the government announces a milestone like the US$5.2 billion in reserves, they don’t contest it with data. They immediately deploy Tactic 1 (Poisoned Well), calling it a “deception,” and Tactic 4 (Victimhood), claiming the wealth is not reaching the people. Substance is avoided.

· Facing Governance Criticism:

When called out for their absence of ideas, they pivot to Tactic 3 (Tribal Dog Whistle), accusing the critic of being a “cadre” or “tribalist,” or they use Tactic 2 (Manufactured Outrage), dragging up a decades-old, unrelated issue to muddy the waters.

· Facing Their Own Past:

When reminded of their record, they engage in absolute historical revisionism. They claim credit for infrastructure they neglected and whitewash the economic abyss they created. As the Bemba proverb warns, “Umushili uwa pula, tabafula ukunaya” (The rain that soaks you is not the one you see coming). They deny the very storm they created.

Conclusion:

The People’s Antidote

Demagoguery is a poison, but its antidote is in the hands of every citizen: sober-minded vigilance. When you hear their voices, ask yourself these simple questions:

· What is the specific policy alternative they are proposing? (If the answer is “none,” it’s demagoguery).

· Is this claim designed to make me angry or afraid, or to make me think? (Demagogues trade in emotion, not reason).

· Who benefits if I believe this? (Follow the trail of bitterness, it always leads back to a hunger for unearned power).

Zambia is on a arduous but clear path of repair. The noise from the sidelines is not a competing vision; it is the desperate clamor of those made redundant by progress. They offer the nation a return to the politics of the house”empty calabash”—loud when shaken, but containing nothing to nourish the people.

Remember: You cannot use a muddy stick to draw a straight line. Zambia has chosen the straight line of rebuilding. Do not let the purveyors of mud, bitterness, and hollow noise convince you to hand them back the stick.

AMBASSADOR KANYAMA IN A TWITTER SPAT WITH DR SISHUWA OVER TRIBALISM

Zambia’s Ambassador to the United States of America Chibamba Kanyama was over the weekend embroiled  in a dispute over tribalism with prominent historian Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa. Below is their full exchange on X (formerly Twitter):

DR. SISHUWA: Hakainde Hichilema may well be the first and last Tonga-speaking President of Zambia we will see in our lifetime because he has taught the other groups a lesson in proper ethnic entrenchment and exclusion.

AMBASSADOR KANYAMA: The election of a president in Zambia is not based on regional or tribal quotas. There is no system in which one ethnic group “takes its turn,” nor is there any mechanism by which an entire tribe is barred from the presidency for a century simply because one individual is judged to have failed to meet the benchmark.

This kind of thinking reminds me of a man who once insisted that his daughter would be first and the last in the family to marry a man from tribe X because of alleged mistreatment. Yet by 2022, all three of his daughters were married to men from tribe X. The point is simple: your personal choices cannot — and should not — become other people’s choices.

DR SISHUWA: Hello Chibamba Kanyama. I hope you are well and enjoying the luxuries of diplomatic service in the United States, away from the 21 consecutive hours of daily load shedding and other burdens that the administration of your boss has inflicted on our fellow citizens back home.

To your post: You are missing the point I am making and responding to an argument I did not make. For the sake of clarity, let me reiterate the issue I raised: The rampant tribalism that your boss is promoting in government will make it difficult for other ethnic groups to vote for a Tonga in future. This is because the reality of electoral politics is that voters formulate assumptions about other groups based on the behaviour or conduct of individuals they see as representatives of those groups.

It is akin to how we blacks are seen by other races based on the behaviour or conduct of those who belong to our group. If Barack Obama, who like your boss was the first person from his ethnic group to become president of the multi-ethnic nation, had packed his administration with African Americans, he would have severely undermined the future ambitions of blacks from other groups who voted for him on the premise that he would not entrench his group when elected.

In relation to Zambia, I would like to believe that many people, including the Bembas and Easterners whom your boss now think they hate him when they hold him to account, voted for him on the premise that he would be a national president above ethnic politics when elected. Unfortunately, and unlike Obama, your boss has proved them wrong, as he is entrenching his group and largely excluding others, mainly Bembas and Easterners.

If you do not see this pattern, it may be because you belong to the group that is not affected. I struggled to get some Bembas and Easterners to see the discrimination and exclusion  of Tongas from certain positions under Lungu because they, perhaps like you, were not affected.  For some, it was because they, perhaps like you, had food in their mouth.  For others, it was because they, perhaps like you, were loyal to their ethnic group rather than to Zambia.  I do not know for certain.

What I know and know to be true is that when it comes to electoral politics, the ethnic power play in Zambia will always favour the larger demographic of the north-east coalition than the south-west-northwestern alliance. This stark reality explains why your boss struggled for a very long time to win the presidency.  For far too long, his support base predominantly consisted of the same groups: Tongas in Southern Province, Lozi speakers in Western Province, the groups in Northwestern Province and Central Province. But the support of these groups proved to be insufficient to win him the presidency. It was only after the Bembas, Easterners, and the urbanites in Lusaka and the Copperbelt came to the party that he finally crossed the line.

Today, when Bembas and Easterners criticise the person they voted for, they are told that they hate him. Today, certain positions in the civil service  appear to be out of reach for Bembas and Easterners. Today, you and I, as people who hail from the region where your boss comes from, can insult Bembas and Easterners as we wish and get away with it. Let a Bemba or Easterner  insult a Tonga and see what will happen to them.  When Catholic Bishops criticised Bill 10 under Lungu, your boss failed to see they were Bembas or Easterners and praised them as principled people who love Zambia. When Catholic Bishops crictise Bill 7 under your boss, your boss sees them as Bembas or Easterners and as people who hate him because of where he was born. Are you seeing the tribalism and sheer hypocrisy of your boss, Chibamba? 

I have long cherished the ideal of an inclusive, united, and fair Zambia in which no citizen feels shut out or excluded from any public opportunities on account of their ethnic identity or region of origin. This explains why I continue to criticise the lack of adequate ethnic-regional diversity in your boss’s public appointments.  Take for instance the top leadership positions of Zambia’s five security services – Zambia Police Service, Zambia Security Intelligence Services, Zambia Army, Zambia Air Force, and Zambia National Service. Under Lungu, four of these positions were occupied by individuals from Lungu’s Eastern province or from one of the three Bemba-speaking provinces that supported the PF. Zambians from Southern, Central, Western and Northwestern – who voted for the opposition – were marginalised. 

Your boss promised to do things differently if elected but his record on this score is even worse than that of Lungu. The Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the Zambia Security Intelligence Services, the commander of Zambia Army, the commander of Zambia Air Force, and the commander of Zambia National Service are individuals who hail from ethnic groups that have typically formed the core of your boss’s support base: those in Southern, Central, Western and Northwestern provinces. Bembas and Zambians from Eastern Province continue to be grossly underrepresented in the top leadership positions of the five security services. 

There has been a near complete inversion whereby yesterday’s victors have become today’s victims and vice versa. Among other things, this adds to the risk of a vicious cycle whereby  each new leader from the outside group continues this trend and makes it more likely that the next election will be driven by ethnic rather than policy  considerations. Are we together, Chibamba? Are you seeing the point I was making about the unintended consequences of ethnic entrenchment and exclusion?

The best way of securing the future presidential ambitions of individuals from the south-west-northwestern alliance is for elected presidents who hail from there to provide effective leadership that can inspire voters in the north-east alliance to abandon regional loyalties, as they did in 2021, in favour of better leadership. Unfortunately, unlike Levy Mwanawasa, your boss has been a terrible disappointment, so far. The so-called economic achievements are mirages; Lobito is merely a paper construct; there is zero contract credibility for FDI; the economy is a shambles; corruption in his administration appears to be policy; democracy is essentially nonexistent, and the man is, as I said, entrenching his Tonga group and excluding the others.

Your boss has messed up big time. The best thing about electing him president was that we are no longer distracted by his threat or potential to be better than those who came before him and we can now start looking for suitable, if better, alternatives. If your boss did not become President of Zambia, we would have lived with some degree of guilty for not giving him the chance to govern.

We could have also succumbed to certain narratives that suggest that some regions of Zambia can provide better leaders than others. To some extent, it is not regrettable that the man got the opportunity to lead. Now we know that in order to develop, Zambia does not need a given region or an individual from a particular ethnic group in State House. The country simply needs competent men and women who are patriots, have a feasible plan, and are committed to restoring the nation’s dignity, where they come from notwithstanding. 

 

In a certain weird and perverted sense, it is good that Zambians gave your boss a chance to reveal who he truly is. The Chewa-speaking people of Zambia have a saying that “The best way of proving the potency of a man who claims that he is able to achieve an erection is for the woman to undress for him.” In August 2021, Zambians undressed for Hichilema after a decade-and-half of claiming that he is capable of taking them to greater heights!

AMBASSADOR KANYAMA: ‘The country simply needs competent men and women who are patriots, have a feasible plan, and are committed to restoring the nation’s dignity, where they come from notwithstanding.’ You have stated it well Sishuwa. Apparently this is the criteria people use to make choices. That’s what you should have stated. Zambians are far more discerning and intelligent than just focusing on one item of your concern.

DR SISHUWA: What I wanted to state, which is precisely what I stated, is that your boss is a tribalist and that his tribalism will have unintended consequences. I understand your wilful failure to see this point but there is a reason why the four ambassadors of Zambia in the Americas are all from one region: Kennedy Shepande (Ottawa); yourself Chibamba Kanyama (Washington DC); Chola Milambo(New York); and Sitali Alibuzwi (Brasilia).

Like many Zambians, I woke up very early on 12 August 2021 to go and vote for your boss, but I find his tribalism and ethnic politics extremely disgusting. I thought he had matured enough after many years in opposition to be a national leader.  Sadly, your boss has proved to be a sectarian leader, and this, as I said, has unintended consequences.

The Bembas say “umusuku ubi utusha impanga”, meaning a bad fruit tree brings dishonor to the rest of the forest. Your boss himself, when rejecting Bill 10 and the views of those who said it had a few good clauses, taught us that when you are consuming or eating groundnuts and you chew a rotten one, you spit out everything! That is the human reaction: we hardly take the time to separate the tree from the forest, the rotten nut from the healthy ones.

Please tell your boss to stop the tribalism he is practising. In addition to the need  to promote diversity and build social inclusion because it is the correct thing to do, my fear is that his divisive actions may inspire an extreme scenario where it becomes a fight between the Zambezi region and the rest. This is dangerous, especially when you throw in the divisions he is creating in the security services.

To be clear, we have slowly been walking the path. For far too long, we have lacked national leaders who understand our complex history, the fragility of our peace and the importance of building a cohesive society. To a large degree, Michael Sata set us on this path. Lungu accelerated the pace. Your boss may be the one who finally sets ablaze the heap of inflammable material that has long accumulated. I see him with a match stick in his hands, moving towards the heap. I am trying to stop him for our collective good and I ask you to join me.

LAZ MEMBERS PETITION FOR EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

SOME members of the Law Association of Zambia have formally requested the association’s Council to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).

The petitioners, Gary Davies Chibangula, Mungole Kwalela, and Eric Sakala say the EGM should address two key issues:

The continued affiliation of LAZ with the OASIS Forum, which they argue has openly engaged in partisan politics and advocated for regime change ahead of the 2026 general elections.

The LAZ President’s handling of the Constitution Amendment process, particularly the issuance of public statements without broad consultation of the membership.

According to the petition, the EGM will be convened pursuant to Section 8(3) of the Law Association of Zambia (General Rules) 1996. The members have further requested that the motion be debated and voted on by poll, in line with Section 8(16) of the same rules.

ZNBC

 ANALYSIS | Chawama By-Election Tests PF Unity, Grief, and Political Nerve

Patriotic Front Acting President Given Lubinda has thrown fresh uncertainty into the Chawama by-election after confirming that the party, under the Tonse Alliance, is yet to decide whether it will participate. The poll, announced by the Electoral Commission of Zambia for January 15, 2026, is no ordinary contest. It rises from the vacancy left by Tasila Lungu, whose parliamentary absence followed the death of her father, former President resident Edgar Lungu, and the legal storm that followed.

Lubinda’s language is steeped in grievance and moral protest. He has framed the by-election not as a routine democratic process but as an emotional and cultural rupture. His remark that it is “taboo” for MPs to sit in Parliament “drinking tea while Ms Lungu’s father was lying in the mortuary” is calculated to recast the by-election as ethically compromised before it even begins. It shifts the battlefield from law to morality, from procedure to grief.

Politically, this hesitation exposes the depth of PF’s internal dislocation. A party that once treated Lusaka as hostile territory now faces a symbolic test in Chawama, a constituency historically linked to both Edgar and Tasila Lungu. Participation would signal survival and defiance. A boycott would signal retreat, protest, and possibly strategic exhaustion. Either path carries risk.

This is where the shadow of Davies Mwila looms large. Though condemned by party officials and threatened with legal action over his recent remarks, Mwila’s central prophecy remains intact. That PF is racing against time and falling apart under the weight of leadership disputes. What Lubinda now calls deliberation increasingly looks like paralysis, the very condition Mwila warned would cost the party 2026.

The by-election also hands the ruling United Party for National Development a low-risk but high-value terrain test. Chawama is not just a seat. It is a Lusaka signal. A win would embolden UPND’s urban confidence. A loss would expose vulnerability in a city that shapes national momentum. PF’s absence would hand that advantage without a fight.

Lubinda’s argument that the vacancy itself is tainted by litigation reveals another legal tension. While courts and Parliament grind through procedure, PF is urging the public to view the process as politically engineered. This duality of legality versus legitimacy is now central to the opposition narrative. But elections are won by turnout and organization, not by moral protest alone.

The Tonse Alliance complicates matters further. A decision not to contest would not only affect PF but expose whether Tonse is still an operative electoral machine or only a political memory. Silence at nomination stage would confirm that Tonse exists more on paper than on the ground.

In the end, Chawama is no longer just a by-election. It is a stress test of PF’s coherence, Lubinda’s authority, Mwila’s prophecy, and the opposition’s readiness for 2026. Avoiding the contest may protect wounded emotions. It will not protect political relevance.

© The People’s Brief | Ollus R. Ndomu

 EXPLAINER  | Zambia Becomes a Geopolitical Prize as Washington, Beijing and Global Markets Circle

Within six weeks, Zambia has hosted three forces that rarely converge quietly in one capital: a senior Chinese Premier, a senior U.S. economic envoy, and renewed interest from global credit markets. It is not accidental. As the electric vehicle transition accelerates and copper becomes one of the world’s most strategic minerals, Zambia has re-entered the global contest for influence, capital, and supply chains. Politics at home remains noisy. But geopolitically, Lusaka is no longer invisible.

On December 8, 2025, Zambia and the United States announced a framework for a potential grant package exceeding US$2 billion over five years, following meetings between President Hakainde Hichilema and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs Caleb Orr. The U.S. Department of State confirmed that the package is anchored on a redesigned Millennium Challenge Corporation compact, public health cooperation, agriculture value chains, and transport corridors linking farms and mines to markets.

“This new course in the U.S.-Zambia relationship reflects a refocus of American assistance on core strategic interests,” Orr said at State House.

“We want to leverage U.S. assistance to bring about reforms that will unleash business investment that enhances U.S. access to critical supply chains and creates great jobs for the Zambian people.”

The U.S. delegation also confirmed engagements with mining firms, including KoBold Metals, and a scheduled visit to Kansanshi Mine operated by First Quantum Minerals.

Just weeks earlier, Zambia hosted Chinese Premier Li Qiang, marking the highest-level Chinese visit to Zambia in nearly three decades. Before that, President Isaac Herzog of Israel made a landmark state visit, the first since Zambia downgraded relations with Israel in the 1970s under President Kenneth Kaunda.

These visits signaled what markets understand quietly but clearly: Zambia is again being priced into long-term geopolitical and commodity strategy.

The renewed diplomatic interest is underpinned by hard macro-economic shifts. In late 2025, Zambia’s international reserves climbed to US$5.2 billion, the highest level in the country’s history, according to the Bank of Zambia. At the same time, international rating agencies Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings lifted Zambia out of default territory after the completion of external debt restructuring supported by the International Monetary Fund.

Inflation, which had surged above 24 percent in 2022, has since trended downward, easing pressure on consumer prices and interest rates.

President Hichilema framed the U.S. grant discussions as part of Zambia’s pivot toward investment-led growth. “We are pleased to host Assistant Secretary Orr to finalise discussions on a potential grant exceeding USD 2 billion,” Hichilema wrote last night.

“This will focus on healthcare delivery, revamping the MCC Compact with an emphasis on agriculture, upgrading key road networks, and providing technical assistance to attract investment and generate jobs.”

The President also thanked the American people and President Donald Trump for reopening large-scale cooperation after an earlier aid freeze.

Copper remains the quiet engine behind this renewed interest. As global automakers race toward electrification, demand for copper wiring, batteries and transmission grids has surged. Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper producer, sits at the center of that transition.

The World Bank projects that global demand for critical minerals used in clean energy systems could triple by 2030. Zambia’s mines, alongside those of the Democratic Republic of Congo, anchor that supply chain.

At home, the political narrative remains sharply divided. Leaders in the opposition, including Fred M’membe of the Socialist Party and Brian Mundubile of the Patriotic Front, argue that economic reforms have not translated into visible relief for ordinary citizens.

Government data tells a slower story. Debt servicing pressures have eased. Financial pilferage has reduced. Foreign-exchange stability has improved. Jobs from large-scale investment still lag expectations, but capital inflows have resumed.

What is unfolding in Lusaka is not a public-relations cycle. It is a structural repositioning. Washington is pivoting from aid to commercial diplomacy. Beijing is defending long-held mining and infrastructure stakes. Global investors are re-rating Zambia after years of financial isolation.

The copper cycle is tightening. And as the 2026 elections approach, Zambia now stands at a rare intersection where domestic politics, global minerals, credit markets, and great-power competition collide in real time.

The opposition may continue to frame the moment as failure. The data, however, shows something more complex: a country climbing back onto the global balance sheet, cautiously but visibly. And in today’s economic order, few things matter more than that.

© The People’s Brief | Drafting —Ollus R. Ndomu; Editing —Francine Lilu

HAIMBE CHALLENGES SIKOTA TO DEBATE ON CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT BILL NO. 7

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Mulambo Haimbe has challenged Lusaka lawyer Sakwiba Sikota to a debate over the Constitution Amendment Bill No. 7 of 2025.

Mr. Haimbe, who is also Lusaka Central Member of Parliament, said President Hakainde Hichilema has significant national responsibilities and is therefore not available for such a discourse.

He emphasised that the matter raised by Mr. Sikota is a legal issue, and as a lawyer himself, he has offered to take up the challenge directly.

Mr. Haimbe made the remarks in Lusaka today, underscoring his readiness to engage in a legal and constitutional debate on the proposed amendments.

ZNBC

LEGAL FIRM WITHDRAWS FROM PETITION AGAINST HH’s 2026 CANDIDATURE

A Lusaka-based legal firm, Joseph Chirwa and Company, has formally withdrawn from representing petitioners challenging President Hakainde Hichilema’s candidature in the 2026 General Elections.

The Notice of Withdrawal, filed in the Constitutional Court, states that the firm will no longer represent Mporokoso Member of Parliament Brian Mundubile and Tonse Alliance National Youth Chairperson Celestine Mukandila in the matter.

The notice further directs that all court correspondences relating to Mr. Mundubile, who is also the Patriotic Front (PF) Presidential Candidate, must now be served on the Clerk of the National Assembly.

For Mr. Mukandila, correspondences should be served on Patrick Chulu and Advocates, who have taken over representation.

This development marks a significant shift in the legal proceedings surrounding the constitutional challenge to President Hichilema’s eligibility for the upcoming elections.

-ZNBC

EXPLAINER | How the Technical Committee Report Fits into Parliamentary Battle Over Bill No. 7

As national debate around the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill No. 7 of 2025 intensifies, confusion has emerged over the role of the Technical Committee’s Report and whether it replaces the Bill now before Parliament. It does not. The Technical Committee’s work, chaired by Judge Mushaukwa, is advisory, not legislative. Its report has not been Gazetted, it is not a Bill, and it does not enter Parliament as a legal instrument capable of amending the Constitution. Instead, it serves as expert input into a process that remains firmly controlled by Parliament.

The only binding legal document before the House at this stage remains Bill No. 7 itself. It was formally Gazetted and reintroduced in the same form in which it previously stood, in line with parliamentary procedure. Once a Bill is deferred and later reintroduced, it does not restart its life cycle. It simply resumes at the next procedural stage. For Bill No. 7, that stage is scrutiny by a Parliamentary Select Committee. That is where Zambia now stands.

The Technical Committee’s role is to appear before this Select Committee as a witness. Its report, built from more than 11,800 public submissions, will be treated as evidence, just like submissions from churches, civil society, lawyers, opposition parties, academics and ordinary citizens. The Committee is not obligated to adopt the Technical Committee’s recommendations in full, in part, or at all. Parliament listens. Parliament weighs. Parliament decides.

This distinction matters because a dangerous narrative has taken root suggesting that the Technical Committee’s work has somehow nullified Bill No. 7 or replaced it with a new framework. That is legally false. Any amendments that will eventually be made, if at all, will be made directly to Bill No. 7 itself when the House enters the Committee of the Whole later in the process.

The most decisive document in this entire cycle will not be the Technical Committee’s Report. It will be the Select Committee Report. That is the document that will be formally tabled before the full House. It will capture who said what. It will recommend which clauses should stand, fall, or be altered. It will shape the debate at Second Reading. And it will heavily influence how Members of Parliament vote when the Constitution itself is finally put on the line.

This is also why public attention must remain fixed on both documents at the same time. Bill No. 7 tells citizens what Government originally proposed to change in the Constitution. The Select Committee Report will reveal how much resistance, support, or refinement those proposals encountered from the public and experts. One shows intent. The other shows contestation.

Once Select Committee hearings close, the Committee will retreat to analyse evidence clause by clause. Its report will then be laid before the House ahead of the Second Reading, where the principles of the Bill will be debated and subjected to a two thirds constitutional vote threshold. If it survives that stage, the House will then descend into technical clause by clause surgery before the final Third Reading vote and possible presidential assent.

Legally, this is where the authority lies. The Constitution does not vest amendment power in technical experts, advisory committees, civil society or political coalitions. That power sits only with Parliament, acting through publication, scrutiny, debate and constitutional voting thresholds.

What Zambia is witnessing now is not chaos. It is an evidence driven phase of a constitutional amendment process that is often loud, contested and politically charged, but still governed by strict procedural law. The Technical Committee provides knowledge. The Select Committee filters that knowledge. The House owns the final verdict.

As this process unfolds, citizens are not spectators. They are constitutional stakeholders. Reading the Bill. Reading the reports. Tracking the votes. Demanding clarity. That is how constitutional authority is defended, not through slogans, but through informed pressure.

(c) The People’s Brief | Ollus R. Ndomu

⬆️ ZAMBIA, U.S. RESET TIES AS $2 BILLION GRANT PACKAGE UNDER TRUMP ERA TERMS EMERGES

The United States, under the administration of Donald Trump, has moved to re-engage Zambia with a proposed grant package of up to two billion dollars over the next five years, anchored on the principle of reciprocity rather than dependency. The offer signals a major shift in Washington’s Africa strategy toward transactional development tied to reforms, markets, and private capital.

The announcement was made at State House during talks between President Hakainde Hichilema and visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs Caleb Orr. Orr said the new assistance model is designed to “lock in systemic reforms and strengthen health service delivery in ways that permanently reduce reliance on foreign aid.”

At the centre of the package is a redesigned compact under the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Orr said the new framework will target agriculture productivity, farm-to-market road networks, mining logistics, and value-addition industries, with the goal of turning Zambia into a regional production and export hub rather than a raw-material supplier.

Crucially, the U.S. is tying the grants to Zambia’s ability to maintain a stable investment climate that attracts American private-sector capital. “We seek countries that create predictable conditions for U.S. businesses to invest, so growth becomes mutual, not one-sided,” Orr said, framing the new relationship as commercial diplomacy built on shared profit and system reform.

President Hichilema welcomed the shift, saying Zambia is “ready to reset relations with the United States on the basis of investment, growth and long-term economic transformation.” He said the government is eager to conclude arrangements that position Zambia as a competitive destination for capital in energy, agriculture, mining, and manufacturing.

The move is politically notable because Zambia was among African countries affected when Washington previously suspended or reassessed portions of its aid under Trump-era policy reviews. The new offer effectively reverses that freeze, but under tighter performance-driven conditions tied to reforms and market access.

For Zambia, the proposed $2 billion framework represents more than budget support. It signals restored credibility in Washington after years of debt distress, fiscal instability, and strained donor confidence. It also places Zambia squarely inside the new U.S. strategy of countering Chinese economic dominance in Africa through private-sector leverage rather than state-led aid.

What now follows is a high-stakes negotiation phase. The grants are not automatic, and disbursement will depend on Zambia hitting reform benchmarks, safeguarding investor confidence, and maintaining macroeconomic discipline.

The message from Washington is clear: aid is no longer charity. It is a contract tied to performance, profit, and power alignment.

© The People’s Brief | Tracey Shumba

CABINET ORDERS RELEASE OF CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT REPORT FOR PUBLIC SCRUTINY

CABINET has directed that the Technical Committee Report on proposed constitutional amendments be made public to allow citizens full access and input into the ongoing reform process.

Acting Minister of Justice Jack Mwiimbu, says the decision is aimed at reinforcing the Government’s commitment to transparency and ensuring broad public participation in shaping the Constitution.

In a statement issued, Mr Mwiimbu said the full report, detailing consultations, findings, and drafting proposals, would be published both on the Ministry of Justice website and that of the Technical Committee.

The Acting Minister further revealed that a Parliamentary Select Committee tasked with scrutinising the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill No. 7 of 2025 began receiving submissions from stakeholders last Friday. The process will continue until Saturday this week.

“During this period, the Technical Committee will present its findings, and stakeholders will submit evidence for the Committee’s consideration. Upon completion, a report will be published ahead of parliamentary debate,” Mr Mwiimbu said.

He emphasised that this stage of consultations was critical to ensuring that the Committee’s recommendations are accurately incorporated into the Amendment Bill in line with Article 79(6) of the Constitution and the National Assembly Standing Orders of 2024.

Mr Mwiimbu said that once the Select Committee concludes its deliberations and compiles its recommendations, the Bill will return to the National Assembly on Monday, December 15, 2025.

It will then undergo the required legislative stages, including the Second Reading, Committee Stage, Third Reading, and the Final Vote.

He reiterated Government’s commitment to conducting the legislative process for Bill No. 7 with full transparency and strict adherence to constitutional provisions.

“The Government remains fully committed to ensuring that this process is open, accountable, and reflective of the will of the Zambian people,” he said.

TFN

UPND HITS BACK AT MPANDE IN DRAMATIC REBUKE OVER “NEGLECTED ARTISTS” CLAIMS

IN a dramatic turn of events, the United Party for National Development (UPND) has fired back at recent allegations by artist Emmanuel Mpande who claimed that creatives from Southern Province are being sidelined by the Government.

In a strongly worded statement released on 8 December 2025, UPND Deputy National Youth Chairman for Politics and Mobilisation, Trevor Mwiinde, dismissed Mpande’s remarks as “false, unfortunate and ill-timed”.

Mwiinde said Mpande’s assertions were not only misleading but also amounted to exploiting a moment of grief for political mileage.

The controversy erupted shortly after the burial of Southern Province’s celebrated musician, Mapiki Allan, whose passing sparked widespread sympathy across the arts industry. While emotions were still high, Mpande alleged that artists from the region were being overlooked by the current administration, triggering public debate.

But the UPND insists the reality is far from Mpande’s claims. Mwiinde stressed that before the UPND formed Government in 2021, artists from Southern Province had “limited support and opportunities” but now they have gained more visibility, including being given platforms to perform during presidential visits to the province.

In a surprising revelation, Mwiinde also said some artists have been selected for defence training as part of broader youth empowerment programmes.

Mwiinde urged Mpande and other artists not to resort to public outbursts but to use established party channels for airing grievances.

CCRS

Fellow Citizens,

This afternoon, we had the privilege of welcoming a delegation from the United States government, led by Caleb Orr, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs.

Over the years, Zambia and the United States of America have enjoyed strong and friendly relations. As we usher in a new era of cooperation, we are pleased to host Assistant Secretary Orr to finalise discussions on a potential grant exceeding USD 2 billion.

This grant will focus not only on enhancing healthcare delivery and revamping the Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact with an emphasis on agriculture, but also on upgrading key road networks that connect farms and mines to markets—strengthening our value chains and boosting value addition.

Additionally, the grant aims to provide technical assistance for reform initiatives that attract investment, generate employment, and promote private-sector-driven economic growth.

We extend our sincere gratitude to the people of the United States and to President Donald Trump for considering Zambia as a prospective beneficiary of this vital support, which is envisaged to be implemented over the next five years.

Hakainde Hichilema,
President of the Republic of Zambia.