EDITORIAL | PF Needs Less Litigation & More Dialogue
The Patriotic Front walked back into court on Monday when Acting Secretary General Brenda Nyirenda filed an urgent application in the Kabwe High Court. The affidavit claims that the injunction stopping the PF convention was never served on any official in the Lubinda bloc. She insists the party only saw copies circulating on social media. That line alone raises a fundamental legal question that PF must confront honestly.
If the injunction was never served and if PF leadership only saw “incorrect copies” online, the obvious question is this. Which injunction did Brenda Nyirenda challenge? Which document did she attach in her affidavit as evidence of urgency? And how did she know that the Kabwe High Court was the issuing court when she says they have never been served?
This inconsistency may look minor in political speeches, but it is fatal in a court of law. Courts work on evidence, not suspicion. They recognise service, not screenshots. For PF officials to claim they have never been served, but at the same time file a challenge against the same order, exposes confusion that undermines the seriousness of their own case.
There is a deeper problem beneath this legal misstep. PF is approaching a structural political crisis with fragmented strategy. The Lubinda bloc insists the convention will go ahead. The Chabinga bloc insists the court has closed the process. Both sides are operating in parallel universes, each convinced it is the legitimate guardian of the party’s future. Instead of dialogue, they are trading affidavits. Instead of mediation, they are running to courts that will not rescue them before 2026.
Anyone who knows Zambian political litigation understands the truth. This matter will not be resolved quickly. It will bounce from chamber to chamber. It may be adjourned to January. It may be delayed to March. It can easily run into July. Courts do not rush when internal party constitutions are in dispute. They ask for proof. They insist on procedure. They demand consolidation of parallel suits. This alone should warn PF to stop placing its political survival in the hands of a judge’s diary.
The irony is painful. PF knows how these battles play out. In 2011, PF dismantled MMD structures through aggressive factional politics, strategic court manoeuvres and state power. They know how fragile a party becomes when factions grow faster than dialogue. Yet they have allowed themselves to fall into the same trap they once exploited. Loyalty is purchased. Delegates are divided. Aspirants are running parallel mobilisation. The northern circuit which should be PF’s natural stabiliser is watching two rival groups fight openly without elders stepping in.
Dialogue is no longer optional. It is essential. There is no court order that will stabilise PF. A judge can interpret who is legal. A judge cannot manufacture legitimacy. Legitimacy comes from unity, not litigation. PF must sit with Robert Chabinga. They must acknowledge that his signature at the Registrar of Societies gives him leverage. They must accept that a convention held under dispute will poison whichever leader emerges. This is not surrender. It is strategy.
PF should use its northern capital. Chiefs in Luapula, Northern and Muchinga have historically played arbitration roles in political disputes. They carry moral authority that courts cannot give. Senior leaders like Mwila, Katotobwe, Chilufya, Mundubile and Lubinda know this. The party’s deepest roots lie in these regions. Why not use this strength to bring every faction into one room and produce an internal settlement?
If PF believes it can out-litigate Chabinga until August 2026, it is signing its own political obituary. The party risks walking into the election season with court injunctions still active, leadership unresolved and internal legitimacy fractured. The UPND does not even need to destabilise PF. PF is doing the work for them.
The simplest truth is this. A divided PF cannot win 2026. A litigating PF cannot run a coherent convention. A stubborn PF cannot outpace government strategy. Only a coherent PF can survive. That coherence begins with dialogue, not affidavits and denials of service.
If the party wants to save its future, it must choose unity over courtroom drama. The clock is running.
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© The People’s Brief | Editor-in-Chief
Correct!
There is no Chabinga Block, ba UPND brief masquerading as People ‘s brief. Get this into your thick heads.
There’s only one Patriotic Front. And that Patriotic Front is led by the Acting President, Hon Given Lubinda. Period.
Chabinga is Mr Hakainde Hichilema ‘s project. He is his Patriotic Front President.
Chabinga has no structures, no members, no operating Office. He is in this all by himself and his sponsors.
Even his so called Secretary General Ng’ona is invisible.
So who ever is running the People ‘s brief wants to create a fake impression that there’s a Chabinga Faction, a block! Nothing of that sort exists. What we have is a lone wolf under the control of Mr Hakainde Hichilema. He was moving with him and parading him at public Rallies and traditional ceremonies..As the Patriotic Front Leader. It’s all there in public space.
There can’t be any Dialogue with Chabinga, as nothing will come out of that. He is totally under the Control of Mr Hakainde Hichilema.
The Patriotic Front shouldn’t breath..And Chabinga, supported by abuse of State Institutions , is key.