UNPOPULAR TRUTH – DOORS CLOSE ON PARTIES WITH DELAYED CONVENTIONS
A KBN TV EDITORIAL
Today, 25th February, 2026, the nation awaits judgment in one of the most consequential anticipated ruling regarding the fiercely contested party ownership of the Patriotic Front.
Whichever way today’s ruling goes, it will have consequences on the direction and future of a party that was politically hijacked and remotely controlled for over 4 years.
Even though hijackers had hoped for the former ruling party to disintegrate, it didn’t.
As a matter of fact, the attempted instigation to fuel confusion in PF, may have ironically, exposed selfish elements that should be avoided, such as those who voted for Bill 7 against the party position.
Away from the anticipated court ruling, political players should brace themselves for more complex maters to navigate as the clock ticks towards the August 13 polls.
Through this editorial, we would like to highlight one of the key bottlenecks that is likely to slam doors in the faces of some political parties and their aspiring presidential candidates. We hope to help them see the bigger picture and avoid wasting time and resources on trivial matters.
At this hour, one of the key deciders on who will participate in this year’s general elections, hinges on holding of conventions within the remaining 8 weeks and being able to navigate a tight process to meet all legal requirements before the presidential and parliamentary nominations in the next two months.
The process it takes from holding a convention to having the party register updated at the Registrar of Societies, is the biggest elephant that those planning conventions are avoiding to talk about. Unfortunately, this process is outside the control of any political party, however powerful or influential.
For purposes of giving clarity and helping those concerned to fast track their decision making, we have painstakingly attempted to highlight the process involved below.
It must be understood that after holding the convention, a political party is required to submit convention resolutions to the Registrar of Societies. After that, the Registrar of Societies is required to write to the Inspector General of Police (IG) asking for the submitted list of office bearers to be vetted.
Simultaneously, the Registrar will also write the the Office of the President (OP) to request for background checks to be conducted on each of the elected office bearers.
The OP will separately interview office bearers individually and write to the Registrar of Societies regarding their findings on each of the elected office bearers.
On the other hand, the police will also conduct one on one interviews with each and every elected office bearer to corroborate the findings with the OP report.
Then there is the aspect of lifting finger prints. The criminal investigations unit will then inform the IG if the finger prints have successfully been cleared or not.
Procedurally, the IG, after being in receipt of the CID report, would then write back to the Registrar of Societies that the finger prints have been cleared of any criminal records.
Based on the evidence collected, the final decision will be made by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, instructing the Registrar of Societies to either effect or reject the changes to the register in question.
The compliance process described above sounds simple and straightforward, but evidence abounds to indicate that it takes even more than 12 months in certain instances.
Ideally, if the police and the Ministry of Home Affairs in particular, wanted to be professional and keep politics out of the way, this process should be concluded within a few weeks. But remember, you must also budget for countless times of “lost” finger prints within that process, which adds to the agonising delays.
Evidently, opposition parties that have not yet gone to the convention or are attempting to use a special purpose vehicle and hoping to tincker with records at the Registrar, can’t beat this red tape.
They should have known better! They absolutely have no time to do anything about this tight rope other than to either psychologically accept the reality or start negotiating a winning partnership with an existing clean political party.
It’s therefore astonishing that some political parties are behaving as if they are the ones in power. They want to portray an ideal situation that everything is okay and they have the luxury of time on their hands to go for a convention and file returns to have their registers updated within the remaining limited timeframe before nominations.
If you talk to anyone who was close to the late former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, they will tell you how he used to emphasise to members of the United Kwacha Alliance (UKA) and Tonse Alliance to ensure they put their party papers in order. As former Head of State, he understood what lay ahead.
The Registrar of Societies has been changing Office bearers even within 24 hours. How did Robert Chabinga become President of the Patriotic Front?
Ofcourse there will be that invisible hand to prevent the change of Office bearers at the Registrar of Societies..It’s the one which has been in control of the Patriotic Front using surrogates. That hand which fears competition..the dangerous hand to our Multi Party Democracy.
I however have very low expectations on the Judgement from the High Court today.
For our Courts to make clear cut rulings, black or white judgements, definite and concise , which will put closure to the Patriotic Front issues is a tall order. This won’t happen.
I expect a grey judgement which won’t mean anything..and may even go to the Constitutional Court for interpretation.
The judgement might not even be ready..The Judge may not even be available due to some “unforeseen” circumstances and the Judgement will be deferred to next week.
In the case of a clear cut judgement favoring the legitimate leaders of the Patriotic Front, a notice of Appeal will immediately be lodged in , and a stay obtained to prevent the execution of the judgement.. These are the Mingalatoon’s lines.
Any which way this goes, I wish to congratulate Hon Given Lubinda, Hon Raphael Nakachinda and the entire Patriotic Front leadership on the battle they have fought to keep the Party intact for 4 years. It hasn’t been easy. You were up against a machinery resolved to kill the Patriotic Front under whatsoever…and no state institution was spared to achieve this.
The Zambians will understand when finally you choose a Special Purpose Vehicle for the 2026 Presidential and General Elections. You can hold the Convention on Friday…Am sure the Special purpose Vehicle is ready.
I wrote recently on the PF case before Hon Judge Conceptor Chinyama, and her expected Judgement scheduled for 25th February, 2026.
…I looked through the crystal Ball then, and knew that the Judgement won’t be made on 25th February,2026.
And I gave the reasons… either the Hon Judge will be unwell, she will be attending to some bereavement, or she will be at a Workshop.
Well the Hon Judge Conceptor Chinyama is attending a Workshop and Judgement has been deferred to Friday 27th February, 2026.
This is Mumba Malila’s Judiciary we have in Zambia.
And whenever the Judgement will be made , if anyone thinks it will be clear cut, black or white, definite and concise, is living in another world…and not this world.
The judgement is likely to be a Grey one, without any clear meaning , and will require the input of other bodies like Constitutional Court for interpretation..
Or just a complete throw out over a Technical issue or a spelling Mistake!
In case of a clear cut ruling giving the Patriotic Front back to it’s Legitimate Leaders,
an avenue will be created for immediate appeal of ruling by Robert Chabinga, the Mingalatoon’s PF President, to disable the enforcement of court judgement.
This is the Mingalatoon’s Play book.
To Hon Given Lubinda and Team, go ahead with convention on Saturday 28th February, 2026, using the special purpose Vehicle, and structure the Constitution or working relationship in such a way that once the Patriotic Front is given back to legitimate leaders, the Leaders elected at the 28th February Convention will assume leadership of the Patriotic Front.
We are in a crazy world…The Mingalatoon’s World.