WHEN VULTURES CIRCLE THE SKY: PF LEADERS SCRAMBLE FOR MUDOLO’S HANDOUTS

WHEN VULTURES CIRCLE THE SKY: PF LEADERS SCRAMBLE FOR MUDOLO’S HANDOUTS

By NLT 1 Scholar

The Patriotic Front (PF) Central Committee meeting this past weekend has once again exposed the rot eating away at Zambia’s largest opposition party. What should have been a sober gathering to reflect on the party’s future was instead marred by hypocrisy, greed, and revelations of senior leaders lining up for financial handouts from South Africa-based businessman Joseph Mudolo.

According to inside accounts, the mourning period for the former first family has been turned into nothing more than a cash cow. Senior PF officials, under the coordination of former Secretary General Davies Mwila and former lorry boy turned Permanent Secretary Daniel Bukali, have been organizing trips for party members to Johannesburg. The mission, cloaked under the guise of “solidarity visits,” is alleged to be nothing more than a well-oiled channel for collecting envelopes from Mudolo.

One of the names that stands out is former PF Deputy Secretary General Mumbi Phiri, who reportedly pocketed $20,000 in hard cash last week. We challenge her to deny this, at the risk of evidence being released to the public. She is not alone. Acting PF President Given Lubinda, current Secretary General Raphael Nakacinda, and several provincial chairpersons—except for the unsuspecting Malozo Sichone—are said to have benefited from Mudolo’s generosity. None of these transactions have been declared to either the PF structures or the Zambian people.

These revelations lend credence to constitutional lawyer John Sangwa’s persistent call for the enactment of a Political Parties Bill, one that would force political organisations to disclose their sources of funding. Without such a law, political parties risk being turned into nothing more than vehicles for personal enrichment, with their leaders masquerading as martyrs while flying out of Kenneth Kaunda International Airport for their next payday in South Africa.

Like vultures circling the sky, PF’s top brass have shown no shame in their conduct. They are ready to sacrifice integrity, sell out their party, and betray their supporters, all for a share of Mudolo’s riches. To them, politics is not about ideology, values, or service to the people—it is about what goes into their pockets.

The PF leadership must be reminded that Zambia is watching. For every flight to South Africa and every unaccounted dollar pocketed, the party’s credibility continues to evaporate. If these men and women cannot stand on principle, then they are nothing more than scavengers feasting on the carcass of a party in decline.

Indeed, our dossier grows thicker by the day.