⬆️ EDITORIAL | PF’s Weekend of Tribal Truth
The Patriotic Front has spent the weekend exposing what it has long denied; that tribal politics are not just part of its past, but its present identity. Two of its most prominent voices, Raphael Nakacinda and Mumbi Phiri, spoke on the same day in different places, but said the same truth from opposite sides of the fight.
Nakacinda, addressing party structures in Chirundu, finally admitted that tribalism had taken root within the PF. His warning that “any manner of tribalism must end within the UPND boundaries and must never be entertained in the PF” was, for once, a confession that the rot exists. It was a statement the country had waited years to hear.
Across town, Mumbi Phiri is trending for her own version of honesty though far less noble. Speaking in a private WhatsApp discussion and later quoted by News Diggers, she argued that the PF would only win the 2026 elections “if a Bemba picks an Easterner as a running mate.” In her words, “If it’s a Bemba with an Easterner, we will win.” She went further to suggest that an Easterner would also win if they chose a Bemba as running mate. It was a clean declaration of what PF has always practiced but never said publicly; tribal arithmetic disguised as strategy.
The two statements, though made in different settings, define the PF’s crisis. Nakacinda’s camp preaches unity, but Mumbi’s camp is calculating alliances based on bloodlines. She is openly backing Brian Mundubile or any other Bemba figure to take over the party leadership. Given Lubinda, the acting party president left in charge by Edgar Lungu, is being sidelined not because he lacks competence, but because he is Lozi. Within the PF, that is apparently enough to disqualify you.
This is the hypocrisy of a party that built its brand on calling others tribal. For years, PF leaders have accused the UPND of ethnic politics while running the most regionally concentrated government since independence. The records are public. Between 2011 and 2021, key cabinet and diplomatic appointments were dominated by officials from two regions. Readers who doubt this can verify it for themselves by visiting the Parliament of Zambia website and downloading the official appointment lists.
The same pattern is replaying in the Tonse Alliance, PF’s broader coalition experiment. What was once sold as an inclusive front against the ruling party is now collapsing under the same weight of regional rivalry. When cadres stormed Sean Tembo’s residence last week to disrupt a meeting of opposition leaders, it was not about policy. It was about control. PF’s unresolved tribal divisions had spilled into Tonse’s living room.
Even the endorsement of Makebi Zulu by Chris Zumani Zimba fits this script. Zulu, Lungu’s family lawyer, remains in South Africa months after the former president’s death, managing the legal standoff over his burial. While Zumani hails him as “a credible presidential candidate,” others within PF see him as part of a faction loyal to Tasila Lungu, another tribal bloc disguised as loyalty.
Nakacinda deserves credit for finally acknowledging what the PF has long denied. But admission without reform means little. The PF must confront the system it created, a political machine that rewards tribe over competence and loyalty over merit. Zambia deserves a politics that organizes ideas, not surnames.
Mumbi Phiri’s outburst is therefore more than a scandal. It is a mirror. It shows how deep the ethnic lens has shaped PF’s thinking and how far Zambia still has to go to free itself from politics built on tribe rather than trust.
The irony is painful. PF leaders claim to defend national unity yet are the loudest architects of division. They mock others for being tribal while calculating electoral math based on regions. The mask has fallen.
This weekend has proved one thing: the PF’s problem is not external. It is internal, ideological, and deeply moral. The party that once claimed to unite Zambia is now fighting itself over who qualifies to lead not by vision, but by origin. And until that changes, its talk of national unity will remain just that; mere talk.
© The People’s Brief | Editorial
I think we have to accept the fact that tribalism has come back in full force. Tribes are now fighting for survival because they are being suppressed by this tribal regime. How did we allow this to happen? The very same regime that was appointed to eradicate tribalism is actually the very definition of tribalism. KK did warn us. Tribalism used to be confined to politicians, but now, it is threatening to spill onto our streets, into our homes. This is a recipe for disaster, the likes of what happened in Rwanda. We can not allow politicians to divide us. They will not be around when we start slaughtering each other. Some will scamper to Panama with money they have stolen. Others will go to RSA or Zimbabwe. But we will remain here. The current leadership is promoting tribalism. It is wako ni wako season. Those being favoured today should denounce it. Let them shame their leaders giving them immunity and license to insult and oppress other tribes.
REJECT TRIBALISM, CORRUPTION AND OPPRESSION.
VOTE FOR CHANGE IN 2026.
I don’t mean to be rude, Sir, but you are the worst tribal hypocrite in the country. Your kind are not good for anybody neither for your tribe, country nor even your family. I hate tribal people in all spheres of life. However, for you tribalism is tribalism if it is UPND but when done by pf members you feel it is because every tribe is trying to survive. Tsh…What nonsense! Wrong is wrong regardless of who commits it. There shouldn’t be cheap justifications.
Have lived through all Zambian presidents. Chiluba right down to Mwanawasa inherited a country with just about 10% tribal incitement. Michael Sata brought it so fiercely to the table and Lungu unfortunately just tolerated it. To cling to power as pf we felt using the tribal tag on upnd was going to save our political agenda but it backfired. Unfortunately, as pf we are hard headed. Lessons are never learnt. Ask Given Lubinda and Nakacinda. The 2 tried to hide their heads in the sand to the depth of the vice in our party. We bembas and easterners are tribal but our fingers are always on the trigger to point the other direction. I think we need Kalaba not pf.
@HaaIndigoTyrol you are a CONFUSED FELLOW how can Hichilema be involved in the TRIBAL NONSENSE OF PF….!!
COPY AND PASTE SOUTHERN PROVINCE.
REJECT TRIBALISM, CORRUPTION AND OPPRESSION.
BUT UMUFULO PA MUFULO.
VOTE FOR CHANGE IN 2026.
PF is the undisputed author of tribalism. It divided the nation like never before and healing will take generations. PF inflicted extensive damage to the national fabric. Under PF we hit rock bottom be it morally, economically, politically, religiously (they manged to corrupt eve the Catholic church, a feat never achieved before), you name it. How do you describe an organisation that puts a premium on those who hurl insults (Why me is a hero in PF circles). What kind of humanbeings are these?