⬆️ BUILD UP | PF Succession Tensions Mounting
The Patriotic Front is drifting, torn by factions and haunted by the legacy of Edgar Lungu. Fresh claims now complicate the succession battle: that before his death, the former president quietly courted outsiders to take over the party, convinced none of his lieutenants had the muscle to face President Hakainde Hichilema in 2026.
A family source told The Aspirants that Lungu considered three names, constitutional lawyer John Sangwa and South African based businessmen James Ndambo and Joseph Mudolo. “Before he died, ECL was talking to three people at least to my knowledge, to take over the party leadership and run for President in 2026. He believed that none among his current party members had the credibility and stamina to wrestle power from President Hakainde Hichilema… the names I am aware of are Sangwa, Ndambo and Mudolo,” the source said.
The remarks echo Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa’s observation that Lungu looked beyond PF’s inner circle, hoping to find a figure with stature and financial backing to carry the party’s flag. The idea is blunt politics. Modern campaigns are expensive. Billboards, media, provincial tours and cadre logistics require deep pockets.
PF’s Greyford Monde has come out swinging, rejecting the claims as false and against party tradition. “Anytime PF chose a leader it was through a convention including the first time late President Lungu was chosen. The PF remains a pro poor party. This particular story is not and cannot be true,” Monde said.
He pressed the case that wealth is not the gateway to State House. “If money was a qualification for becoming President in Zambia then current President HH would have become President in 2006 as he was the richest presidential candidate. His victory in 2021 was because he had become a political giant, not that he was a tycoon,” Monde added. He further noted the PF constitution requires at least three years of party membership to run for president, shutting the door on any outsider takeover.
His defense lands at a volatile moment. PF is split between factions under Given Lubinda and Robert Chabinga, each claiming the mantle. Around them, a crowded field of hopefuls is circling: Mutotwe Kafwaya, Chitalu Chilufya, Brian Mundubile, Chanda Katotobwe, Monde himself and Emmanuel Mwamba in exile. The party must settle both its rules and its soul before it can sell a national message.
Still, the funding question will not go away. Rumors persist that senior officials are courting wealthy benefactors. Whether true or not, the whispers reveal a real dilemma. PF brands itself as a mass party of the poor, yet it must raise serious money to compete. Lungu may have understood that contradiction and tried to solve it with a heavyweight outsider. Monde insists the grassroots cannot be bought.
This tension between money and mass appeal will decide PF’s future. If the party chooses purity without resources, it risks irrelevance. If it chooses money without legitimacy, it risks a backlash from its own base. The convention, whenever it is called, will be a stress test of rules, credibility and capacity.
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