{"id":81505,"date":"2026-03-17T02:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T02:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/history-repeating-itself-for-pf-in-zambia"},"modified":"2026-03-17T02:52:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T02:52:40","slug":"history-repeating-itself-for-pf-in-zambia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/history-repeating-itself-for-pf-in-zambia","title":{"rendered":"History Repeating Itself for PF in Zambia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>The infighting and petty squabbles that have plagued the Patriotic Front (PF) since its loss of power to the UPND in 2021 have left an indelible mark on Zambia\u2019s democratic landscape.<\/p>\n<p>From its inception, PF carried an aura of confusion and controversy, largely due to its tolerance of thuggery, which became the foundation of much of its support base.<\/p>\n<p>This culture of hooliganism was most visible after the death of the party\u2019s founder and President, Michael Sata.<\/p>\n<p>His passing in a London hospital created a power vacuum that quickly descended into chaos.<\/p>\n<p>Then Vice President Guy Scott moved to strip Edgar Lungu who was serving as both Home Affairs and Defence Minister\u2014of the instruments of power, pushing instead for a convention to install his preferred candidate, Miles Sampa.<\/p>\n<p>What followed was a bitter clash of factions, with Scott wielding state machinery against Lungu\u2019s camp.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, despite Scott\u2019s maneuvers, Lungu\u2019s popularity among the rank and file forced a reluctant concession, making him the PF\u2019s flag bearer.<\/p>\n<p>Fast forward to today, and history appears to be repeating itself. Acting President Given Lubinda faces stiff competition from the youthful Makebi Zulu, whose rising popularity<\/p>\n<p>especially among the youth has unsettled the party hierarchy.<\/p>\n<p>Lubinda\u2019s midnight reshuffles, aimed at purging officials loyal to his rivals, have fueled discontent and even pushed heavyweight Brian Mundubile to break ranks and align with the FDD.<\/p>\n<p>Zulu, however, has chosen to remain within PF despite overtures from the New Congress Party.<\/p>\n<p>Legal battles with Chabinga may have briefly bolstered Lubinda\u2019s image as PF\u2019s defender, but with the courts now ruling in the party\u2019s favor, excuses have run out.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike in 2016, PF no longer enjoys the luxury of state machinery; instead, it finds itself at the mercy of Hakainde Hichilema\u2019s UPND government, with many senior members facing prison sentences or ongoing court cases.<\/p>\n<p>Lubinda\u2019s announcement that a long-awaited convention will be held within four days is welcome, but the stakes are high.<\/p>\n<p>Having already lost Mundubile, a poorly managed convention could be the final nail in the coffin of what was once one of the most vibrant political parties in Zambia and the region. And all this drama unfolds just months before the nation heads to the polls in August.- Mutola Nkhani<\/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 infighting and petty squabbles that have plagued the Patriotic Front (PF) since its loss of power to the UPND in 2021 have left an indelible mark on Zambia\u2019s democratic landscape. From its inception, PF carried an aura of confusion and controversy, largely due to its tolerance of thuggery, which became the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":81503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-81505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","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>History Repeating Itself for PF in Zambia - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The infighting and petty squabbles that have plagued the Patriotic Front (PF) since its loss of power to the UPND in 202 ...\" \/>\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\/history-repeating-itself-for-pf-in-zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"History Repeating Itself for PF in Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The infighting and petty squabbles that have plagued the Patriotic Front (PF) since its loss of power to the UPND in 202 ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/history-repeating-itself-for-pf-in-zambia\" \/>\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=\"2026-03-17T02:48:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-17T02:52:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/03\/sm_1773715904.08887.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"738\" \/>\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=\"2 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\/history-repeating-itself-for-pf-in-zambia#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/history-repeating-itself-for-pf-in-zambia\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"History Repeating Itself for PF in Zambia\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-17T02:48:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-17T02:52:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/history-repeating-itself-for-pf-in-zambia\"},\"wordCount\":405,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/history-repeating-itself-for-pf-in-zambia#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/03\/sm_1773715904.08887.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"parties\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/history-repeating-itself-for-pf-in-zambia#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/history-repeating-itself-for-pf-in-zambia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/history-repeating-itself-for-pf-in-zambia\",\"name\":\"History Repeating Itself for PF in Zambia - 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