UPND Celebrates Mporokoso Breakthrough in Mundubile’s Home Territory

🇿🇲 VOTE BRIEF | UPND Celebrates Mporokoso Breakthrough in Mundubile’s Home Territory

UPND supporters have held a victory procession in Mporokoso, Northern Province, celebrating the election of Wedden Chileshe as the constituency’s new Member of Parliament and a parliamentary breakthrough in an area long associated with opposition presidential candidate Brian Mundubile.

Crowds dressed largely in UPND red marched through Mporokoso on Tuesday as Chileshe’s supporters marked the result. Images from the procession show large groups following vehicles through the constituency, with some supporters carrying party colours.

The result carries significance beyond the parliamentary seat. Mporokoso is Mundubile’s political home ground, making the UPND victory one of the more notable constituency-level shifts to emerge from the August 13 election.

The presidential ballot, however, tells a more complex story. Mundubile still carried Mporokoso in the presidential race with 12,619 votes against Hakainde Hichilema’s 5,854. Voters therefore backed Mundubile for president while electing a UPND candidate to Parliament.

That split illustrates an important feature of this election. NRPUP consolidated much of the former PF presidential vote across Northern, Luapula, Muchinga and Eastern provinces, but UPND made parliamentary gains inside some of the same territory. Party loyalty at presidential level did not always transfer directly to parliamentary candidates.

Chileshe, popularly known locally as “Umwana Wamu Ng’anda,” thanked voters after his election and said he would represent residents regardless of political affiliation.

He also called for the constituency to move beyond the campaign and focus on public services and local priorities.

For UPND, Mporokoso is therefore less a story of presidential conquest than one of political penetration. Hichilema lost the constituency presidential vote by more than two to one. His party still captured its parliamentary representation.

-The People’s Brief | Chileshe Sengwe