INSIGHT | Tonse Enters Final Day Under Pressure
Wednesday has arrived quietly in Lusaka. Overnight showers have cooled the capital, but Zambia’s political temperature is moving in the opposite direction. Campaigning ends today. Voting begins tomorrow. For Brian Mundubile and the Tonse Alliance, however, the final hours before the ballot have become less about the closing campaign message and increasingly about money, security, polling agents and a growing confrontation with state institutions.
Mundubile emerged before the press on Tuesday warning of what he described as an escalating attempt to weaken his campaign before polling day. He alleged members of his campaign operation had been abducted, detained or otherwise prevented from working, and appealed to the Church, civil society, lawyers, journalists, diplomats and international election observers to pay close attention.
His message was simultaneously confrontational and restrained. He condemned violence and urged supporters to use the ballot. “The ballot is stronger than the fist or the panga,” he said.
At the centre of the Alliance’s latest complaint is money. Presidential spokesperson George Chisanga said about K7.3 million intended for polling agents and other election activities had been seized by state agents, including officers from the Drug Enforcement Commission.
According to Chisanga, the funds had been raised from sympathisers and were supposed to finance deployment of polling agents, transport and the Alliance’s remaining campaign programme.
“We have poll agents that can’t do the job without money,” he told reporters.
Chisanga also alleged Japhen Mwakalombe was held for several hours during an operation connected to his law firm, which he said has occasionally been used for Alliance business.
He accused officers of conducting an extensive search before leaving with money earmarked for election operations. The People’s Brief has not independently established the source of the K7.3 million, the circumstances under which it was seized or whether authorities have formally linked it to an offence. Until the relevant law enforcement agencies provide their account, the Alliance’s description remains an allegation requiring official response.
The money dispute has also produced a new explanation for one of the more curious episodes of the Alliance campaign. Tonse did not conduct the expected physical campaign in Southern Province over the weekend. Initial communication pointed heavily towards security concerns. News Diggers reported conflicting messages from provincial officials over the planned Livingstone appearance, with one official saying arrangements were still being made and another citing security concerns.
On Sunday, Mundubile and running mate Makebi Zulu instead attended church in Lusaka, where Mundubile spoke about their Christian faith and said the pair sometimes pray in tongues while campaigning.
By Monday, Tonse had moved its Southern Province campaign online and held a virtual rally. By Tuesday, its explanation had shifted. The Alliance apologised to supporters in Southern Province and linked its failure to campaign physically there to the seizure of funds, saying money intended for activities in places including Choma, Mazabuka and Livingstone was no longer available. It now says it will travel physically if resources become available.
The sequence matters because time has almost disappeared. Today is the final campaign day.
Tonse therefore enters the last stretch without the campaign momentum it appeared to be building during earlier tours of the Copperbelt, North-Western and Western provinces. Since Saturday, much of its national communication has been driven through press briefings, legal complaints, allegations of intimidation and disputes surrounding the electoral process. This does not establish how its supporters will vote tomorrow. It does, however, show a campaign whose final message has increasingly been shaped by its confrontation with the state rather than its manifesto.
Another problem has come from inside the Alliance itself. Binwell Mpundu’s controversial remarks about being prepared to “die” and “kill” over the election have now produced institutional consequences. The Electoral Commission of Zambia on Tuesday revoked his accreditation to the National Results Centre, saying the remarks posed concerns for public safety and the peaceful conduct of the election.
ECZ warned accredited stakeholders against statements or conduct capable of inciting violence or compromising the electoral process.
The episode has been complicated by the Alliance’s own handling of it. Mpundu initially said through a Facebook statement that his account had been compromised and the video was generated using artificial intelligence. Mundubile subsequently defended him publicly and repeated the AI explanation. Mpundu later acknowledged the recording was authentic but said his remarks had been made in the context of self-defence. Police have taken an interest in the matter.
What began as a political statement has therefore become an election-security issue at precisely the moment Tonse needs to concentrate its resources on polling day.
There was another setback on Tuesday. Tonse Alliance Ndola mayoral candidate Jones Kalyati was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment with hard labour after being convicted of threatening to shoot a resident. Ndola Magistrate Brian Simachela rejected a plea for leniency despite being told Kalyati was a first offender and seeking election as mayor.
“You are supposed to conduct yourself as a mayor and not like you are from the street,” the magistrate said.
Behind these headlines sits perhaps the most consequential question for Tonse: vote protection. Zambia has more than 13,000 polling stations for Thursday’s election. The Alliance has repeatedly described polling-station representation as central to its strategy, but its leadership now says the seizure of campaign funds has disrupted financing for agents.
Information available to The People’s Brief also indicates thousands of intended Tonse polling personnel were still awaiting confirmation of deployment as the campaign entered its final hours. The precise national deployment figure has not been independently verified, making this an area we continue to monitor.
This is where Tuesday’s press conference carried significance beyond the immediate allegations. Mundubile is already asking election observers to record what his Alliance describes as intimidation and interference. His lawyers have raised disputes with ECZ over ballot marking and the management and publication of results. The Alliance has also urged supporters to remain around polling stations after voting, within the confines of electoral law, as part of what it describes as protecting the vote.
Taken together, Tonse is constructing a record of grievances before the first ballot is cast.
None of this means an election challenge is inevitable. Nor does it establish the validity of the Alliance’s allegations. It does mean the political contest is entering polling day with one of the two leading campaigns openly questioning whether the conditions surrounding its participation are fair. Such claims require evidence. They also require prompt responses from the institutions being accused. In an election, information vacuums are dangerous because speculation quickly occupies the space where verified facts should be.
For Mundubile, the final challenge is therefore unusually complex. He needs to mobilise voters, deploy agents, manage a campaign short on time and, according to his own team, short on accessible resources. At the same time, he must control the language coming from senior figures around him and convince supporters that participation remains worthwhile. A campaign cannot protect votes it has not first mobilised.
Thursday will answer the political question. Wednesday is about whether both major campaigns arrive there organised, represented and peaceful.
The People’s Brief will continue separating what has been established from what has merely been alleged. Claims of abduction, seizure of election funds and interference with polling operations are serious. So are threats of violence. Each requires evidence, institutional response and scrutiny. Zambia is now hours from voting. At this stage, facts matter more, not less.
The People’s Brief | Ollus R. Ndomu