Why Makebi Zulu and Brian Mundubile Cannot Walk the Same Political Path

🇿🇲 EDITORIAL | Why Makebi Zulu and Brian Mundubile Cannot Walk the Same Political Path

The opposition conversation keeps returning to the same question: why can’t Makebi Zulu and Brian Mundubile work together?

On paper, the answer should be simple. Both men come from the Patriotic Front. Both invoke the legacy of former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu. Both speak about opposition unity. In theory, they should be natural allies.

In practice, they are moving in completely different political directions.

Makebi Zulu’s political language has been clear and consistent. His message is not merely about contesting the 2026 election. His campaign posture is anchored on something symbolic and emotional: restoring the dignity of Edgar Lungu’s legacy. Zulu has repeatedly framed his political engagement as a fight for justice, for the PF’s political survival, and for what he calls the need to give Lungu a dignified burial in the nation’s political memory. In his messaging, the election is part of that mission.

This framing attracts a particular type of support base.

Within PF circles, especially among those who see the legal and political battles around Lungu as unfinished business, Zulu appears as a combatant. A man prepared to confront the system, rebuild the party and contest power aggressively. His rhetoric signals resistance. It signals unfinished political war.

Mundubile operates in a different register.

Mundubile has built his position through the Tonse Alliance, a structure that seeks to gather multiple opposition forces under one umbrella. His political tone has been less confrontational and more strategic. He speaks about alliances, cooperation and coalition arithmetic. While he references Lungu’s name, his political messaging rarely centres on the burial narrative or the emotional symbolism attached to Lungu’s legacy.

For many PF loyalists, that difference is not small. It is fundamental.

Within the opposition ecosystem, the ECL movement, those who still organize politically around Edgar Lungu’s legacy, have largely gravitated toward the Tonse Alliance under Mundubile. This alignment gives Mundubile access to symbolic capital. But critics within PF argue that invoking Lungu’s name is not the same as carrying his political cause.

This is where the tension emerges.

Makebi Zulu presents himself as the defender of the PF house. Mundubile presents himself as the architect of a broader opposition house. One wants people to return to the PF. The other wants them to reorganize beyond it.

That difference explains the “prodigal son” remark.

Zulu’s message is simple: those who left the PF must come back. Unity means returning to the original structure. Mundubile’s approach implies something else: that opposition politics may need new formations and alliances to defeat the ruling UPND.

These two philosophies cannot easily coexist. One is restorative politics. The other is coalition politics.

Timing also matters. With the August 2026 elections approaching, opposition actors are racing against the clock to consolidate influence. Every leader wants to be the centre of gravity. Every alliance discussion carries the silent question of who leads and who follows.

Zulu’s remark captured that tension bluntly:
“You can’t get away, have yourself crowned king and say come and be my deputy.”

This sentence explains the entire conflict.

Leadership in opposition politics is rarely negotiated quietly. It is contested in public language, in symbolic gestures, and in control of political structures. Mundubile’s Tonse platform offers one pathway to power. Zulu’s PF-centred approach offers another.

Both men claim loyalty to Lungu’s legacy.
But they are interpreting that legacy differently.

One sees it as a banner for rebuilding the Patriotic Front and fighting the next election head-on. The other sees it as a rallying symbol around which a broader opposition coalition can organize.

Until those interpretations align, the two men will continue speaking about unity while walking separate roads. The real question is no longer whether Zulu and Mundubile can work together.

The real question is which political path PF supporters believe will actually defeat the ruling party in 2026.

© The People’s Brief | The Editor-in-Chief