{"id":76417,"date":"2025-09-16T10:48:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T10:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood"},"modified":"2025-09-16T10:48:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T10:48:30","slug":"upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood","title":{"rendered":"UPND Alliance Seeks Fresh Blood"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>The ruling UPND Alliance is entering a new phase of expansion. Spokesperson Leslie Chikuse has confirmed that ten political parties have signaled their intention to join the coalition, which already counts eleven members around President Hakainde Hichilema.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are about 11 members in the UPND Alliance as we speak today. We have another 10 that have already declared their willingness to join, although they are still going through the formalities of concertizing their membership,\u201d Chikuse told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>This is both continuity and renewal. Since its formation in 2020, the alliance has been both a platform for partnership and a revolving door. Some parties, like Kelvin Bwalya Fube\u2019s Zambia Must Prosper and Kaluba Simuyemba\u2019s Movement for Change and Equality (M4CE), have exited. Yet others see value in attaching themselves to the ruling party ahead of 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Chikuse admits this churn is part of the democratic process. \u201cOf course, in a democracy, you lose some members and then you receive others. That is part of renewing partnerships,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>But the new membership drive comes with caution. Chikuse warned that those seeking entry should come with \u201cthe heart of the Zambian people,\u201d not with personal conditions or positional bargaining. \u201cLet\u2019s not have people coming with conditions such as demanding to be Speaker or threatening to leave if they are not given positions. The focus should be on national issues such as lowering the cost of living and addressing the country\u2019s debt obligations,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n<p>The wider context matters. With the 2026 elections inching closer, alliances are once again becoming political currency. For UPND, more partners expand legitimacy and broaden its footprint across regions. For smaller parties, joining an alliance already in power offers visibility and access they may not command alone.<\/p>\n<p>Still, history shows alliances rarely hold under pressure. The PF once commanded a broad coalition only to fracture in government. The UPND Alliance itself has weathered exits and quiet discontent since assuming office. The task now is whether Hichilema\u2019s coalition can transform numerical growth into genuine stability.<\/p>\n<p>The coming weeks will be telling. Chikuse revealed that the alliance leadership will soon meet the ten interested parties to formalize discussions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe moment they join, they will be treated like any other member. There is nothing like \u2018new\u2019 members once you are in, you are part of the alliance,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n<p>For now, the ruling alliance appears to be on a recruitment drive, but the bigger test will be unity when electoral battle lines harden.<\/p>\n<p>\uf449 Readers are invited to share their thoughts with us via editor.peoplesbrief@gmail.com.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Zambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. The ruling UPND Alliance is entering a new phase of expansion. Spokesperson Leslie Chikuse has confirmed that ten political parties have signaled their intention to join the coalition, which already counts eleven members around President Hakainde Hichilema. \u201cWe are about 11 members in the UPND Alliance as we speak today. We have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":76416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,10],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-76417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-parties","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UPND Alliance Seeks Fresh Blood - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The ruling UPND Alliance is entering a new phase of expansion. Spokesperson Leslie Chikuse has confirmed that ten politi ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UPND Alliance Seeks Fresh Blood\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The ruling UPND Alliance is entering a new phase of expansion. Spokesperson Leslie Chikuse has confirmed that ten politi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-16T10:48:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2025\/09\/sm_1758007313.725405.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"392\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"UPND Alliance Seeks Fresh Blood\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-16T10:48:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood\"},\"wordCount\":444,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2025\/09\/sm_1758007313.725405.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"parties\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood\",\"name\":\"UPND Alliance Seeks Fresh Blood - Zambia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2025\/09\/sm_1758007313.725405.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-16T10:48:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The ruling UPND Alliance is entering a new phase of expansion. Spokesperson Leslie Chikuse has confirmed that ten politi ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2025\/09\/sm_1758007313.725405.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2025\/09\/sm_1758007313.725405.jpg\",\"width\":696,\"height\":392,\"caption\":\"UPND Alliance Seeks Fresh Blood\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UPND Alliance Seeks Fresh Blood\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/\",\"name\":\"Zambia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UPND Alliance Seeks Fresh Blood - Zambia","description":"The ruling UPND Alliance is entering a new phase of expansion. Spokesperson Leslie Chikuse has confirmed that ten politi ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UPND Alliance Seeks Fresh Blood","og_description":"The ruling UPND Alliance is entering a new phase of expansion. Spokesperson Leslie Chikuse has confirmed that ten politi ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood","og_site_name":"Zambia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-09-16T10:48:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":696,"height":392,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2025\/09\/sm_1758007313.725405.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"UPND Alliance Seeks Fresh Blood","datePublished":"2025-09-16T10:48:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood"},"wordCount":444,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2025\/09\/sm_1758007313.725405.jpg","keywords":["Zambia"],"articleSection":["all news","head lines","parties"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood","name":"UPND Alliance Seeks Fresh Blood - Zambia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2025\/09\/sm_1758007313.725405.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-16T10:48:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The ruling UPND Alliance is entering a new phase of expansion. Spokesperson Leslie Chikuse has confirmed that ten politi ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2025\/09\/sm_1758007313.725405.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2025\/09\/sm_1758007313.725405.jpg","width":696,"height":392,"caption":"UPND Alliance Seeks Fresh Blood"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-alliance-seeks-fresh-blood#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UPND Alliance Seeks Fresh Blood"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/","name":"Zambia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}