The UPND Cadre Crisis Now a Governance Problem

 EDITORIAL | The UPND Cadre Crisis Now a Governance Problem

The United Party for National Development entered government on the promise of ending cadre lawlessness. It was central to its message. It was central to its legitimacy. It was central to the social contract President Hakainde Hichilema made with ordinary citizens who had grown tired of fear, disorder and political intimidation. Four years later, that promise is collapsing under the weight of the party’s own indiscipline, fractured communication and alarming tolerance for violent behaviour carried out in its name.

The attack on former Justice Minister Given Lubinda in Kabwe has exposed a deeper crisis inside the ruling party. The first official reaction came from Kabwe UPND Acting Youth Chairperson Kelvin Mwangala who confirmed in a video that the cadres who brutalised Lubinda were UPND youths who felt “provoked” by his internal meeting. He stated that police intervened and rescued Lubinda. In that moment, the ruling party’s defence line collapsed. The first ruling party official to speak, Kabwata MP Andrew Tayengwa, tried to shift blame by saying criminals use UPND regalia to commit crimes. But the video circulating shows at least one man in a UPND shirt among those dragging and assaulting Lubinda.

There was no coherent response from the party afterwards. Instead, UPND descended into disarray. Mwangala issued an AI generated statement overnight claiming he had been misquoted. Don Mwenda released a long internal memo condemning UPND youths for attacking Lubinda and demanding public arrests.

UPND Media Director Mark Simuuwe went on television disowning Mwangala and saying the party does not know him. Now the public must believe that a man who has held mobilisation meetings for months, wearing party fabric and appearing on camera as “Acting Youth Chairman Kabwe”, is a stranger to the party.

The contradictions do not stop there. Home Affairs Minister Jack Mwiimbu says the police will investigate and there will be no sacred cows. The same police are still “investigating” the PF Secretariat violence. They are still “investigating” the Chingola stoning of the President.

Every major outbreak of violence linked to UPND youths ends in the same holding pattern. No arrests. No court appearances. No clarity.

Even within the ruling party, truth has become dependent on factional convenience. When the PF Secretariat was attacked last week, Chief Government Spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa said the violence had nothing to do with UPND. He said it was PF fighting PF. Hours later, UPND National Youth Chairman Gilbert Liswaniso contradicted him, admitting that the attackers were UPND youths from Kanyama and George compounds.

Three days later, UPND cadres in Kabwe again appeared in videos attacking an opposition leader. The public no longer has to guess where the violence is coming from.

The larger problem is not Lubinda. It is not Chingola. It is not the PF Secretariat. The larger problem is a ruling party that has lost control of its own youth structures. The President issued a clear warning against cadre behaviour two months ago. That warning has been ignored. Cadres now believe they can regulate meetings, police gatherings and punish opponents. They have taken the law into their own hands because there is no disciplined communication chain inside the party.

Every member with a phone now speaks for UPND. Every branch has its own microphone. Every statement contradicts the next one.

This crisis has arrived at a politically dangerous time. The cost of living is high. Load shedding is intense. The patience of ordinary supporters is thin. President Hichilema acknowledged recently that his leadership has failed to stabilise the energy sector. Citizens accepted the honesty but expected course correction. Instead, they are now being confronted with a surge in cadre violence that looks like a return to the same culture they rejected in 2021.

Many UPND supporters who are not cadres are embarrassed. They joined the ruling party because they wanted decency, discipline and a break from the criminality of the PF era. Today, they are watching their own youths behave like a parallel police force. They are watching leaders contradict each other on national television. They are watching a pattern of violence followed by excuses, denial, silence and confused press statements. Their disappointment is real.

The UPND government must now understand that this is no longer a communication problem. It is a governance problem. The longer the party hides behind “investigations,” the more the public will believe that cadres are being protected. The longer it takes to arrest violent members, the more the public will conclude that cadre violence has official blessing. And the longer the party keeps denying obvious facts caught on camera, the more credibility it will lose heading into 2026.

The President promised a disciplined party and a disciplined country. That promise is being undermined by the silence of those who know the truth and the recklessness of those who act with impunity. If the ruling party does not enforce discipline now, it will face consequences not from the opposition but from its own supporters who expected better.

This is the moment for decisive action, not contradictions. Zambia cannot afford another era where cadres decide who meets, who speaks and who gets beaten. The country voted for change. The UPND must prove it still remembers why.

© The People’s Brief | Editor-in-Chief