Africa-Press – Zambia. The Patriotic Front’s convention is narrowing into a clean two-man contest. If voting happened today, the final ballot would read Makebi Zulu versus Brian Mundubile. These are the only aspirants with money, machinery, elite backing and visible political capital. Every other candidate is decorative, useful for theatre but irrelevant to the final tally.
PF is being forced to choose between two distinct identities. Mundubile represents the institutional spine. Makebi represents the emotional base. The convention will determine which version survives the post-Lungu era.
Mundubile: The Structure Candidate
Brian Mundubile enters the race with the advantage that decides conventions: structure. The endorsement by twenty-nine MPs was more than symbolism. It signalled where seasoned organisers, district teams and the Luapula–Muchinga bloc have settled. These are the same networks that carried PF through its strongest electoral years. Their influence may be diminished, but it remains disciplined enough to swing a convention.
His political persona is measured and procedural. Party insiders describe him as the “safe hands” candidate. He offers continuity without chaos and leadership without factional theatrics. For a party bruised by years of internal fractures, this profile resonates with delegates who prioritise survival over spectacle.
Makebi: The Money and Emotion Candidate
Makebi Zulu’s surge is driven by money, nostalgia and emotion. His filing-in ceremony at the green secretariat was a calculated show of power. Crowds, regalia, songs, buses and old PF elites returning from political hibernation. That mobilisation did not appear from thin air. It carried the scent of Lungu-era financiers who have re-entered the party through the back door.
He also enjoys soft endorsement from Archbishop Alick Banda, a cleric with deep roots in the PF political machine. That backing strengthens him in Eastern Province where Catholic structures still amplify political influence. Makebi has positioned himself as custodian of the Lungu legacy. His line, “We will give President Lungu a dignified burial,” was a coded promise to the PF family that he will restore the old order.
He speaks the language cadres understand. That makes him electrifying within PF but limiting outside it. Many of the voters who rejected Lungu in 2021 did so partly because of cadre violence and patronage politics. Makebi is leaning into that very model.
The Rest: Bridesmaids in a Ceremony Already Decided
The remaining aspirants add no weight to the race. Given Lubinda is a placeholder acting president with no constituency. Willah Mudolo has a polished accent but no provincial footprint. Chishimba Kambwili is battling illness, a damaged public image and a tribal record that makes him unelectable in key voting blocs. Emmanuel Mwamba remains an online candidate afraid of returning home to test his supposed popularity. The others orbit these figures with no money, no machinery, no endorsement and no emotional constituency.
Their presence creates the illusion of choice, but they do not feature in delegate arithmetic. They cannot marshal buses, provincial teams or a credible digital presence. Their votes will be swallowed by either the structure candidate or the money candidate.
Binary Election
PF is choosing between two futures:
Mundubile brings structure, sobriety, institutional loyalty and geographic depth. The unpopular option for cadres but the credible option for mature delegates.
Makebi commands emotion, money, nostalgia and Lungu family blessing. The popular option for cadres but a risky option for a national ticket.
One candidate dominates internal numbers.
The other dominates noise, imagery and momentum.
Final Word
PF must now decide what it wants to become. A restructured political institution capable of contesting 2026, or a resurrected version of its old self rebuilt around sentiment and nostalgia. In a convention shaped by scarcity and factional wounds, only two men have a path to victory. The rest will watch from the gallery.
© The People’s Brief | Political Desk
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