PF Rift Deepens as Mundubile Disciplinary Move Sparks Backlash

🇿🇲 BRIEFING | PF Rift Deepens as Mundubile Disciplinary Move Sparks Backlash

Senior figures within the Patriotic Front are openly clashing over the party’s stalled leadership transition, with fresh accusations that internal disciplinary action is being used as a tool to manage succession rather than enforce party rules.

At the centre of the dispute is presidential hopeful Brian Mundubile, who has been given seven days by the Given Lubinda-led faction to explain himself over the formation of campaign structures ahead of the party’s long-delayed general conference.

Lubinda’s faction has charged Mundubile with gross indiscipline, arguing that his actions undermine party unity, authority and organisational order.

However, that move has triggered resistance from within the party. Senior PF member Kennedy Kamba has accused the acting leadership of selectively enforcing discipline, claiming Mundubile is being targeted because of what he described as growing popularity on the ground.

Speaking during a recorded press briefing, Kamba questioned why Mundubile was singled out when other presidential aspirants were openly mobilising without sanction. He cited Chitalu Chilufya, who he said was campaigning in Mansa for the same general conference without facing disciplinary measures. “Today, Chitalu is in Mansa campaigning for the same conference. Why are they not fighting him?” Kamba asked.

Kamba dismissed allegations that Mundubile’s supporters were creating parallel party structures, describing the claims as fear-driven. According to him, the decision by Mundubile’s camp to publicly announce its campaign strategy was intended to promote transparency, not defiance…

“Those saying we are making structures for honourable Mundubile are simply afraid of him,” he said, adding that visibility on the ground should not be conflated with indiscipline.

Beyond the immediate dispute, Kamba’s remarks exposed deeper frustrations within the party. He criticised the acting leadership for what he described as an overreliance on suspensions rather than dialogue, alleging that close to 20 members of the central committee had been suspended in recent years.

“If they had issues with us, they should have called us to engage,” he said.

The briefing also highlighted the PF’s broader organisational paralysis. Kamba acknowledged that the party has failed for nearly three years to convene a general conference, leaving it without a clear leadership mandate or an undisputed political vehicle.

He noted that the Forum for Democracy and Development, which had been used as a special-purpose vehicle in Chawama, is no longer part of the PF’s alliance arrangements, deepening uncertainty ahead of the 2026 elections.

Kamba warned that the current trajectory risks isolating the party at a critical moment in the electoral cycle. “Zambians are asking us questions and we have no answers,” he said, arguing that the PF is effectively operating without a functional alliance or settled leadership.

From the acting leadership’s perspective, the disciplinary action is framed as an attempt to preserve order and prevent fragmentation ahead of a general conference. From Mundubile’s supporters, it is viewed as evidence of internal fear and strategic exclusion.

What is clear is that the dispute underlines unresolved questions about authority, process and legitimacy within the PF.

As the party edges closer to its promised general conference, the handling of Mundubile’s case is likely to be read less as an internal compliance issue and more as a test of whether the PF can still manage competition without further splintering.

© The People’s Brief | Goran Handya