PF Endorsements, Factions, & Power Struggles

⬆️ BUILD UP | PF Endorsements, Factions, & Power Struggles

The Patriotic Front’s convention is gathering momentum on paper but fracture lines on the ground. The endorsement of Brian Mundubile by twenty-nine PF MPs was presented as a show of strength, but it has opened a deeper argument inside the party about legitimacy, timing and its unfinished history. The PF base is now split between those who see Mundubile as the is “incoming” party President and those who believe the MPs have forced a premature coronation. The leadership space has turned volatile.

Mundubile accepted the endorsement in a video released Saturday afternoon. His tone was confident. He pledged servant leadership, economic revival, restored civil service morale, protection for farmers and renewed opportunities for young people. He framed himself as the man who will “grow the PF” and restore stability. The message was polished and targeted. It was also immediately challenged by critics who asked why these promises never surfaced during the PF’s decade in power. The gap between his current posture and the PF’s past performance became the central line of attack online.

Kambwili drove that point home with characteristic bluntness. Asked to comment, he warned that “mpombo wibilima, ababilima tabaya,” a proverb implying that those who start early are often driven by fear rather than certainty. He labelled the endorsement “desperation,” arguing that genuine political capital is proven through patient, broad-based mobilisation, not early endorsements. His comments resonated with sections of the PF faithful who are uneasy about anointed favourites and fear a repeat of the 2014 succession turmoil.

Given Lubinda’s position has grown more fragile. Some of his allies argue that tribal bias has been weaponised to undermine him and that he has been pushed to the margins despite being the official acting president. They point out that his voice has been muted in the very process he is constitutionally supposed to guide. This perception has intensified internal suspicion that regions inside the PF are reorganising around identities, not principles. The silence around Lubinda’s authority has become part of the PF’s leadership crisis.

Mundubile, meanwhile, is using the advantage of motion. His schedule has been visible and deliberate. He has been meeting Catholic clergy. He has appeared at funerals, weddings and constituency events. He has maintained quiet but consistent outreach to provincial structures, especially in Luapula and Northern. The strategy signals an ambition to project inevitability while staying away from open fights. His supporters describe him as “the only candidate organising at constituency level.” His critics argue that visibility does not equal national reach.

The base remains unconvinced that any aspirant has a plan for the regions where PF collapsed. No contender has yet energised Southern, Western, North Western or large parts of Central Province. These blocs hold large numbers of voters. PF lost credibility there long before 2021 and has not rebuilt structures since. A candidate whose message cannot cross provincial borders enters 2026 with a mathematical disadvantage long before ballots are printed.

Inside the base, there is also unease about the return of Makebi Zulu, who has positioned himself as the defender of jailed PF figures. His supporters view him as the continuity link to the Lungu family. His critics accuse him of gaining political capital from the Lungu body saga and abandoning the family once he re-entered the PF race. The friction between the “green base” and the mainstream PF structures is now shaping online sentiment and offline alliances.

The convention now carries high stakes. It is no longer simply a leadership contest. It is an identity test. The PF must decide whether it wants a candidate of loyalty, a candidate of momentum, a candidate of mobilisation or a candidate with national reach. Each path carries risk. Each path reflects a different memory of the party’s past and a different hope for its future. What stands clear today is that the PF is racing toward its most consequential internal election since 2014, and the party’s centre is slipping faster than its leaders can hold it.

⬆️ Editor’s Note:
Our Build-Up examine power shifts, factional dynamics and political signals inside major parties. The goal is to give readers sober context beyond endorsements, slogans and headlines.

© The People’s Brief | Editorial Team