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Africa-Press – Zambia. While expressing their concerns on the proposed constitutional amendments, it was the three church mother bodies (the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ), the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) and the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB), who introduced all of us to Psalms 133 verse 1, which proclaims… “Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in Unity”. This bold call and proclamation by our spiritual leaders was affirmed to the nation at the beginning of the Press Conference of 19th March 2025.

We, as a collective of opposition political parties and alliances, were specifically inspired to put aside our respective party agendas, stood up and rose to the identified challenge of pursuing a resolute stand against manipulation, oppression and injustice. A united front was birthed to stand tall against a planned usurpation of citizen’s powers, by an obstinate government, increasingly resentful of the very people that gave it an opportunity to govern.

The collective was inspired to ensure that matters of governance, particularly as it concerns the Constitution of the Republic, were done in a transparent and consensus based manner in which no single political party obtains an unfair advantage and malevolent leverage against the willful capacity of the governed.

No government should be allowed to put in place a system of supposedly ‘benign measures’, trickery intended to take away the fundamental right of Zambian citizens to legally change and throw out of office, its disrespectful governors. All effort must be made by every Zambian to ensure the protection of the inalienable right of a people to prevail against a deceitful and self-serving governing elite.

Since the referred to press conference, controversial governance issues, one after the other and like a ton of bricks, have been dropped on the heads of the Zambian people. These have included the Cyber Security Act, the Cyber Crimes Act, the Media Regulations Bill as well as earlier issues on the disputed Census Report of 2022, and the “Creepy Friday the Thirteenth (13)” contentious proposed constitutional amendments.

It is against the backdrop of these circumstances, creating an existential crisis for the Republic that led to a consolidated resolve towards collective action by the opposition political parties. In this regard, all differences, perceived and real, between the TONSE and UKA alliances, The United National Independence Party (UNIP), the Socialist Party (SP), the People’s Alliance for Change, the Zambia We Want (ZWW) and other political players, had been put aside. This is a noble cause for which every member of the respective political parties should unreservedly support.

No matter what the odds of success maybe, we must ensure a spirited and unyielding defense of liberties and rights for the benefit of Zambian citizens and the future of its children. A cause which requires that individual self-interest and petty sibling type rivalries, such as those maliciously and falsely targeted at Raphael Nakachinda, Given Lubinda and Fred M’membe, be immediately vanquished and dismissed. This is absolutely important in order to prevent opportunistic handlers from the UPND taking advantage of a contrived situation that they can fully exploit to their advantage and to our collective detriment. The stakes are simply too high to tolerate continued internal immature behavior.

ii. False Allegations of “Clandestine Meetings’ of treachery and betrayal.

In defense of the three colleagues mentioned above, I now reveal proceedings of an internal nature that should otherwise never be exposed to the public in such a brazen manner. However, I feel it a necessary slippery slop risk that must be taken in order for the public to fully understand what transpired. Due to my strong beliefs in upholding ethics, I take full personal responsibility if my colleagues wish to discipline me for such a breach of professional etiquette.

On Saturday 12th April, 2025 and as part of the regular meetings held by the opposition political parties, a specific agenda itemed meeting was hosted at a Residence of a Zambia We Want National Leadership Council (NLC) member. In attendance, were the following:

1. Bishop Trevor Mwamba

2. Sakwiba Sikota (SC)

3. Given Lubinda

4. Harry Kalaba

5. Frank N’gambi

6. Jackson Silavwe

7. Chishala Kateka

8. Fred M’membe (Dr.)

9. George Chilumanda

10. Saboi Imboela

11. Cosmas Musumali (Dr.) and

12. Muhabi Lungu

The first point to note is that, this was a meeting of a united front of opposition political parties rather than that of TONSE or UKA alliances. This is the reason I deliberately gave where the meeting was hosted. Regardless of these known facts, certain mischievous individuals deliberately described the gathering as an UKA meeting at which TONSE was supposedly “being sold to UKA.” In order to support this false narrative, social media and certain identified Facebook pages, untruthfully indicated that some of the individuals in the picture were “unknown people.” These unknown people obviously included Fred M’membe, Trevor Mwamba, myself and others, who did not belong to either of the two alliances and who were quite visible in the said shared pictures.

The second point to make is that all participants made it very clear that that members in attendance were in the meeting with the full approval of their respective political parties and supported by the respective heads of those institutions.

This confirmation was necessary due to the fact that the previous joint press conference, on an important matter of the constitution, was nearly sabotaged by the unfortunate circulation of an advert, done by the opposition parties, but disrespectfully mutilated by known individuals, as FAKE. A legal threat towards court action was additionally communicated to the collective “if the TONSE Logo was not removed from the advert.”

This incident took all of us by surprise and subsequently had to involve all the heads of the various political parties in order for the Press Conference to proceed. After this unfortunate event, it had become a necessary requirement for members to assure each other that meetings were held within acceptable approval processes of the respective institutions. Meanwhile and for the sake of continued unity, it was decided to cast a blind eye and ignore the exhibited irresponsible behavior of saboteurs towards its second press conference; for whatever their reasons may have been.

The third point to share is that one of the items on the agenda for the 12th April meeting, was a discussion towards the possibility of presenting a single candidate by all the opposition political parties with respect to the recently declared vacant seat of Lumezi. The proposed joint effort towards a greater consideration for Lumezi was due to the undeniable recognition that the primary objective by the UPND government, in nullifying the seat, was to increase their parliamentary numbers so as to support their constitutional agenda; hence the need to ensure the prevention of such insidious maneuvers through a defeat of the governing party when the bye-election is held.

After a progressive discussion, it was decided that another meeting, Chaired by UNIP’s Bishop Mwamba and comprising of the Citizens First (CF), the PF/TONSE and the SP (parties that had recently participated in the by-elections) be convened at which further possible progress could be made. Subsequently, and after consideration by the respective party executive committees, the matter would be re-tabled at an all opposition political parties meeting.

It is at the subsequent Troika meeting, which took place on Tuesday 22nd April 2025 that PF Secretary General Raphael Nakachinda and PF Vice President and acting President Given Lubinda were accused as “attending a clandestine meeting” and of betrayal to the Socialist Party. This meeting deliberated on a very important matter, which has previously been a thorn towards a consolidated working arrangement by the opposition; some encouraging progress was made.

Given the above circumstances, it is not at all surprising that the day after this achieved milestone, both UKA and TONSE received internal blows attempting to destabilize their existence. It is not hard to understand, why a leaked audio of an alleged private discussion was being used to implicate those who were not a party to the discussion. It is not a surprise that the Socialist Party was targeted as the villain, shortly after it wrote letters to various political parties, including the Zambia We want, UKA and Tonse, proposing a deeper working arrangement for a larger group of opposition political parties.

The fact is that none of the three individuals that have been mischievously charged, were anywhere near the leaked audio. The audio, purported to be the primary evidence of treachery, does not incriminate any of the charged officers. It is also an established fact that all the meetings referred to by the various social media postings were sanctioned gatherings by the Heads of the respective institutions. Sanctioned meetings, being held openly and attended by senior members of political parties cannot be categorized as clandestine.

iii. Conclusion

The narration as indicated above is a truthful account of events I have myself participated in. Accordingly, the process reveals sanctioned meetings that were held with the full approvals of all the respective Party and Alliance Heads. The primary objective was to consolidate effective working arrangements for the opposition political parties that are unrelated to any leadership contest. In this regard, sufficient material evidence exists for the outright dismissal of any impropriety on the part of Raphael Nakachinda, Given Lubinda and Fred M’membe; provided that concerned individuals are interested in a truthful engagement.

As a realist, however, I do take cognizant of the fact that there are differing points of view and strategic objectives as well as undesirable agendas in each of our respective political parties. Within all our institutions, are those who firmly believe in opposition unity, are those who frown upon it with disdain, are those who wish to hijack the process for their own personal ambitions and are those tasked with infiltration and sabotage. All of us are fully alive to these realities.

We have to understand the difficulties of navigating these complexities and accept that the UPND, using government machinery, will do everything possible to ensure that opposition unity does not occur. If they succeed, it will be because certain elements within the opposition do not have the maturity, patience and fortitude to place and subordinate their personal interests to that of the whole. A successful outcome of creating instability and disunity in the opposition can only be to the advantage of the UPND; the sure winner can only be HH. The rest of us can only be losers. This would be a tragic outcome for Zambia; a crime unforgivable.

Let me end by quoting the Sixth Republican President, Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu in his statement issued earlier today and indicate that his words, I respectfully adopt as my own… “To all members of the opposition, let this be a call to stand together, not in competition, but in service to our greater nation. When we respect each other, listen to each other, and stand side by side, we become the change our people are yearning for”.

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