Africa-Press – Zambia. FORMER PF Deputy Secretary General Mumbi Phiri says Kanchibiya PF MP Sunday Chanda should say goodbye to his parliamentary seat because he has betrayed his constituents by aligning himself with the UPND.
Meanwhile, Mpika PF MP Francis Kapyanga says individuals like Chanda are politicians who always want to align themselves with the government of the day because they are in politics to serve their own interests.
On Sunday, Chanda said all credible political indicators point to President Hakainde Hichilema retaining office in this year’s general elections.
In an interview, Monday, Phiri said Chanda’s political career will also come to an end just like other politicians who had been moving from one party to another.
“Even those in our time, when I became a member of parliament for the first time in 2006, those who went to the NCC, the indicators according to them were pointing that Rupiah Banda was going to win the elections, did he win? No! Did those members of parliament who were adopted by UPND win the elections? That was [the] end of [their] political career. They are there, Faustina Sinyangwe, Elizabeth Chitika, Reverend Sampa Bredt, that time, Luapula province remained with one MP who was loyal to the party, where are they, even today, they are nowhere to be seen,” said Phiri
“So, Sunday Chanda, let him comfort himself but me as an old politician, and a very stable one who has never been a political prostitute, I can tell him he should say goodbye to his seat in Kanchibiya because he has betrayed the people who took him to Parliament and Zambians don’t like that. He should even look at people like [Robbie] Chizyuka, he went against his party which was UPND [and] Mr Chizyuka is history so he’ll be part of the Chizyukas very soon. His not the first one, there have been there before. If you look at Sunday Chanda’s political life, has he been stable? He moves where there’s bread. He was MMD, when they lost, he came to PF, that’s how he survives, moving where he’s able to eat, [and] that’s his survival”.
Meanwhile, Kapyanga highlighted that Chanda’s statement was meant to appease the UPND because he may want to defect.
“In politics, that’s where you’ll find all sorts of people, including those that are just there for themselves, people that are just there to represent their interest and usually, these ones, they always want to align themselves with the ruling party at that particular time. Even if you check the records of some of the people from PF that are supporting President Hakainde Hichilema today, you’ll realise that these are just what they call in Bemba, the kandiles, they just want to be where the food is and in so doing, they start issuing statements that appease those in power. So that they can find a position on where they can land after an election or even before the election so soon, you’ll see them defecting. What they are doing now is that they are trying to level the ground on which they’ll land when they defect from PF to where the food is currently,” he noted.
“Most of their statements will not even be objective statements; they’ll just be soothing words for those in power to receive them. Such statements, I’m sure, they are not new and you can also check the records of the people making such statements, you’ll realise that they have always wanted to align themselves with the ruling party; they’ve never been in opposition. They insulted Michael Chilufya Sata on behalf of MMD, when Sata formed government; they jumped ship and joined PF. They insulted President Hakainde Hichilema on behalf of PF, when President Hakainde Hichilema formed government, they went a little bit mute and later resurfaced with what they called politics of objectivity and all that and later they started calling President Hakainde Hichilema nice names such as hardworking, no, CDF is working, just for them to cut their path which they’ll use to get to UPND”.
He stressed that citizens were eager to change government.
“So, these statements are not the reflection of what is happening on the ground, that statement is just a reflection of their interest. The true picture on the ground is that the people are eager, in fact, they can’t even wait for the election, they want to change the government and they are happy that they are in 2026 and they are positioning themselves to change the government.
You don’t need an opposition, a bigger or small opposition for the people to change the government, the people themselves just need to, in unison, decide to change the government, which the Zambian people right now have done. In unison, they are saying they are going to change the government and the choice is theirs now to look, oh, which one amongst the opposition, we have more than 20 opposition leaders positioning themselves, the people will get one and make that person president,” said Kapyanga.
“What the UPND enjoyed in 2021 is not political popularity, they only enjoyed a protest vote, people protested against PF, people did not want PF whatsoever, they never wanted PF and they looked around and said oh, this same guy, and they picked on the UPND, that is what they are going to do even this year. They are going to look around and see which one, oh, this one and that’s what they are saying.
To suggest that all indicators point to the fact that they’ll win, if they’ll win, why are they themselves panicking, they don’t want the opposition to gather, they don’t want new opposition political parties to be registered. They’ve strangled PF and they’ve even gone [to] an extent of pouncing on UNIP, you can imagine the panic and the fear of losing. That indicates that even the UPND themselves know that winning the 2026 general elections is an uphill battle”.
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