PF’s Legal Firestorm Escalates as Sampa Drags Chabinga & Ng’ona to Court; Convention Hangs in Balance

.

 BUILD-UP | PF’s Legal Firestorm Escalates as Sampa Drags Chabinga & Ng’ona to Court; Convention Hangs in Balance

The Patriotic Front (PF) has entered another volatile chapter of its internal breakdown, with fresh court filings by Matero MP Miles Bwalya Sampa escalating a power struggle that is now running parallel to police lockdowns, violent clashes, factional standoffs and a stalled convention process.

This morning, Sampa’s lawyers filed a 36-page affidavit before High Court Judge CC Zulu, seeking committal proceedings for contempt of court against Morgan Ng’ona and Robert Chabinga, two figures at the centre of last week’s Kabwe High Court injunction that shut down PF offices across the country.

The documents, stamped 17 November 2025, mark Sampa’s most aggressive legal counteroffensive yet. In his sworn statement, Sampa argues that Ng’ona (the so-called PF Secretary General) and Chabinga (Mafinga MP) acted “fraudulently” and in “clear disobedience” of the Lusaka High Court ruling of 25 March 2025, which had discharged an earlier stay, restoring Sampa’s decisions to expel Ng’ona and remove Chabinga as Leader of the Opposition

Sampa insists that the Kabwe injunction obtained last week was grounded in misrepresentation and amounts to contempt of court.

These filings come only days after violence erupted at the PF Secretariat in Lusaka, prompting the police to seal off the building. The state claims the move is to prevent further clashes. But online sentiment tells a different story. The People’s Brief monitoring data shows a strong belief among PF supporters and political observers that police presence is serving a secondary political function: enforcing the Chabinga injunction by preventing Lubinda-aligned structures from accessing the Secretariat ahead of the long-overdue PF convention.

The allegations of “state enforcement” have gained traction because Chabinga’s injunction effectively froze PF activities and halted the convention machinery. The PF constitution requires a valid Secretariat and functioning central structures to run a lawful elective conference.

With the Secretariat shut, the convention clock is stuck. And with the police camped at the gates, the Chabinga order whose legitimacy Sampa is now challenging, remains the de facto status quo.

Sampa’s affidavit paints a picture of a party running two parallel states. He recounts the 2023 PF extraordinary conference at Mulungushi where he claims he was legitimately elected president. He outlines the disciplinary measures he took against Ng’ona and Chabinga in 2024.

He lists court rulings that, in his interpretation, validate his authority. And he accuses his rivals of defying binding judicial decisions. The language is unmistakable: Sampa says they have “with impunity disrespected and disobeyed the dignity, authority and jurisdiction” of the court.

Chabinga’s faction, on the other hand, insists it is acting within the law and that the Kabwe injunction reflects the true leadership. Their camp has framed Sampa’s filings as a panic move, arguing he fears the injunction will collapse his claim to the presidency.

The timing is politically sharp: PF presidential aspirants are already campaigning informally. Names like Makebi Zulu, Brian Mundubile, Chitalu Chilufya and Given Lubinda are intensifying their ground work. A locked Secretariat creates a leadership deadlock that benefits factions seeking to delay the convention until their numbers consolidate.

For the ruling UPND, this is politically useful chaos. After the attack on PF Secretariat, Government Spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa condemned the violence but distanced the party from it. He also reminded the public that PF must resolve its internal crisis.

The online reading, however, is far more suspicious: much of the PF base sees the police lockdown as a continuation of the Chingola stoning aftermath, a moment that has shifted political policing into sharper national focus.

With the PF convention now suspended in mid-air, the latest court filings show the party moving deeper into a legal minefield. Sampa wants Ng’ona and Chabinga jailed for contempt.

Chabinga wants PF structures shut. The police want calm. The factions want control. And the 2026 race wants clarity.

For now, PF remains frozen. Two court orders, two centres of power, one sealed Secretariat and a convention nowhere in sight.

© The People’s Brief | Build-Up | PF Convention