🇿🇲 EDITOR’S NOTE | PF Becoming Holding Cell for Political Orphans
The Peter Phiri, Member of Parliament for Mkaika Constituency in Katete District, has formally defected from the Patriotic Front to the ruling United Party for National Development.
Phiri was received by UPND structures in Katete on February 2, declaring that he intends to recontest the August 2026 general elections under President Hakainde Hichilema’s party. He cited “good policies,” a “conducive environment for development,” and the need for unity as reasons for his move. Two former PF councillors joined him.
“I want to see development in my constituency move further by working with the leadership of President Hichilema,” Phiri said.
This defection did not happen in isolation. Only days earlier, Sibongile Mwamba, the PF MP for Kasama Central, was seen publicly celebrating the UPND’s historic mayoral victory in Kasama. On Sunday, Chanda openly endorsed President Hichilema. More MPs are quietly recalibrating.
The pattern is no longer deniable.
PF has responded with threats of expulsion. But those threats ring hollow. The Given Lubinda camp does not currently control the legally recognised party machinery. That authority rests elsewhere, under Robert Chabinga. MPs understand this distinction far better than party spokespersons do.
In electoral politics, legitimacy is not rhetorical. It is administrative. It decides who signs adoption papers, who submits nominations, and whose candidates appear on the ballot. Without that power, a party becomes noise.
That is why PF today increasingly resembles a holding cell for political orphans. MPs remain inside not because they believe in a future there, but because they are waiting for a door to open. When a viable exit appears, they take it.
Survival is the driver.
Adoptions are coming. Campaign financing laws are tighter. Running as an independent is no longer a romantic option. MPs know they must anchor themselves to a structure that can legally protect their political careers. PF, locked in court battles, factional warfare, and parallel leadership claims, currently cannot offer that certainty.
The Tonse Alliance complicates matters further. It is not a registered political party. It cannot issue parliamentary adoptions. It cannot protect incumbents at nomination time. MPs see the gap between political theatre and legal reality. They are acting accordingly.
UPND’s advantage is not perfection. It is coherence. One centre of authority. One chain of command. One adoption process. In contrast, PF is fighting yesterday’s battles while the calendar moves forward.
Calling defectors traitors avoids the harder truth. Parties that cannot organise themselves cannot expect loyalty. Political loyalty follows structure, not sentiment.
If PF does not urgently resolve its leadership question, clarify who holds legal authority, and present a single, credible pathway to 2026, the exits will accelerate. Not because MPs are immoral, but because politics rewards clarity and punishes indecision.
This lesson is not new. PF once benefited from it. Today, it is being undone by it.
© The People’s Brief
Lubinda was already told that eventually he will remain a lone shell especially after the disillusion of parliament. The problem we have with some MPs is that they lack vision. Those who have vision like Mkaika man Hon. Peter Phiri already know what to do and the time to act. Those who are still clinging to the Boat will sink with it, there are no safety boats there anymore. The Boat itself has no Captain that can steer it to safety, it’s like it is having difficulties to sail in stormy waters of Zambian politics and the only quick and easiest way is to abandon it before you perish with it.
When the President of the Patriotic Front Hon Given Lubinda fires Rebel MPs, they complain and insult him.
These Members of Parliament have loyalties elsewhere..
And for the People’s brief, which is another Vuvuzela Media for Hakainde, there’s nothing to celebrate when we see such Unprincipled Scoundrels jumping to the UPND.
In the first place, it’s Hakainde who has usurped the Presidency of the Patriotic Front through his surrogate Robert Chabinga. This is what has created the Orphans . This is what Hakainde ‘s brief should be talking about.
Peter Phiri crossing over to UPND has nothing to do with development.
It’s all about personal enrichment.
And once UPND loses on August, 13th , the same people will start crawling back to the movement which will win the Elections.