WE’RE READY TO WELCOME PRODIGAL SONS AHEAD OF CONVENTION – PF
PF faction Deputy Secretary General Celestine Mukandila says the party is ready to welcome back “prodigal sons” ahead of its general congress this Saturday.
Mukandila has cited Tonse Alliance faction president Brian Mundubile and Mutotwe Kafwaya as among those who have withdrawn from the party convention, stressing that the presidential race still includes Given Lubinda, Chitalu Chilufya, Chanda Katotobwe, Joseph Mudolo, Miles Sampa, Greyford Monde and Emmanuel Mwamba.
Ongoing court battles between the Robert Chabinga and Given Lubinda factions have delayed the party’s elective convention, leaving the PF without a confirmed presidential candidate as the August 2026 polls approach.
Despite ongoing legal battles, the Lubinda-led faction is set to proceed with its convention on Saturday, February 28, 2026.
Responding on Diamond TV Breakfast, Monday, as to whether the PF was willing to welcome back members who previously left, Mukandila said the party had the heart of forgiving people.
“In essence, we are a very united Patriotic Front, talk about divisions? I don’t know if there are any divisions. The Patriotic Front has always operated an open-door policy; we have the biggest hearts of forgiving people. In this world, I don’t think there’s any other political party in the world that has ever had the biggest heart of forgiving people.
Besides, in politics, there are no permanent enemies. Those that have left can equally come back like the prodigal sons, there is nothing wrong with that, and we are ready to welcome every other person back to the big family of the Patriotic Front as we stir the country into a place where we need to redeem the Zambian people from the lies and bondage of this regime. So, we operate an open-door policy.
All those that will feel they may have made a mistake, let me go back home, are welcome. The Patriotic Front is home to many of us, so every person is welcome to make your appeals to the leadership and the leadership will definitely subject your request before central committee,” he said.
On how the PF would proceed with its convention despite the court halting the process, Mukandila emphasised that the party could not be stopped from performing its functions as a constitutional body.
“I think it’s extremely important to understand that the party makes decisions based on the fact we are a constitutional body, we are a democratic party and by virtue of Article 60 of the Republican Constitution, you would be able to know that political parties are now constitutional bodies. You cannot stop a constitutional body from performing its constitutional functions, legally as a matter of fact.
Of course there are arguments, we’ve got court processes and we’ll not dwell into court matters. We understand there is an active matter which is there with regards to an injunctive matter. But we made an undertaking as a political party and as a movement that we shall ensure that we give the Zambian people an office bearer as well as a torch bearer for the August 2026 elections. So, this is where we are. Like I indicated, it’s a slow-moving train but we are getting to a point where everything else will fall into place,” Mukandila said.
“Currently as it stands, we still have a couple of members that are still in the race, I understand that along the way, we only lost Honourable Brian Mundubile, we’ve lost Honourable Mutotwe Kafwaya. And I think we still have a couple of them; Honourable Given Lubinda is still amongst them, we still have Honourable Chitalu Chilufya, we still have Honourable Chanda Katotobwe, we still have Dr [Joseph] Mudolo, we still have Miles Sampa, we still have Honourable Greyford Monde, Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba; just to mention the ones that are on the list. And as a matter of fact, we are proceeding with that, of course the process of contesting for this election requires that those that express their interest to contest by making those payments of the K200,000 will equally have to pay their nomination fees to confirm their participation”.
Explaining the PF ‘conclave’ earlier raised by Miles Sampa, Mukandila noted that it was a council of elders’ initiative outside the party structures.
“Let’s remember that such processes are personal decisions that people will have to make, it does not in any way indicate that us individuals may be power hungry or whatever. But what must be very critical is that the Patriotic Front (PF) as a party has remained a democratic institution, one that allows every person to participate in democratic processes of the party.
So, those that intend, of course, we shall be given feedback with regards to the discussions within the conclave and how far it will go but that is away from the party. That is a decision that was created by the council of elders who were trying to create the so-called ‘conclave’ but that does not mean that we have as a party to make any other person not qualify to participate in this democratic process.
So, as a party we move on to ensure that the democratic processes are followed, we move on to ensure that the rights of participants are respected, we move on to ensure that Zambians are given a credible and legitimate process in the selection process of a leader in the party. So, as it stands, we’ll be guided in time as to when the process will take effect,” said Mukandila.
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