PF Fights Spill into Tonse, Alliance on the Brink

⬆️ BUILD-UP | PF Fights Spill into Tonse, Alliance on the Brink

What should have been a press conference at Sean Tembo’s residence turned into a street battle. Suspected PF cadres stormed the property, dispersing journalists, tearing down the briefing setup, and forcing Tembo himself into hiding. The police intervened late, but the message was already clear: the Tonse Alliance is not only fractured, it is now fighting in public view.

Hours later, Kelvin Bwalya Fube (KBF) tried to steady nerves, calling for calm and insisting that Tonse remained intact. His words, however, could not erase the images of cadres overrunning an alliance meeting. If anything, his statement confirmed what many already fear: that PF’s unresolved wars have spilled over and turned Tonse into an arena of disorder.

At the heart of the chaos is a question PF itself refuses to answer: who is really in charge? On paper, Robert Chabinga is the party president. His claim is not rhetoric; it is backed by recognition from the Registrar of Societies. In law, his word carries weight. Yet in practice, Raphael Nakacinda controls the Secretariat, Given Lubinda carries the “acting president” tag, and other factions are busy mobilising resources abroad. The result is a political organism with too many heads, none of which can deliver cohesion.

The South Africa trips, the expulsions of senior members like Davies Mwila, and the parallel meetings show a party tearing itself apart while projecting strength to the outside. PF cadres themselves now act like enforcers of whichever faction pays or commands them at the moment. It is a dangerous descent into lawlessness, and Tonse partners are learning the hard way that PF’s internal demons will not be contained.

Analytically, this is about more than disorder. PF has been unable to manage succession since the court closed the Lungu chapter. His death left a vacuum, and every faction now sees itself as the custodian of his legacy. Lubinda is blocked by tribal arithmetic, Nakacinda clings to procedure, Chabinga cites paperwork, while others push for an outsider like Willah Mudolo. The contradictions are so deep that even the alliance itself cannot provide a rescue platform.

The danger for Tonse is that it becomes collateral damage in PF’s survival struggle. Sean Tembo’s calls for order are met with violence. Smaller alliance partners like PEP and NCP are drowned out by PF’s loud and divided centre. Instead of providing the unity and strategy needed for 2026, Tonse is being hollowed out by PF’s inability to decide who leads.

The question Zambians must now ask is simple: can a party at war with itself, and dragging its alliance into the mud, credibly present itself as an alternative government? If PF cannot govern its own house, it cannot govern a nation. Until PF resolves its identity crisis between Chabinga’s legality, Lubinda’s symbolism, Nakacinda’s machinery, and outside names being floated; the alliance will remain a theatre of confusion.

The storm has broken. What happens next will determine whether Tonse survives as a serious contender, or whether it becomes another casualty of PF’s violent national identity.

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