{"id":82307,"date":"2026-04-10T21:56:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T21:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-factional-tensions-disrupt-mpongwe-radio-show"},"modified":"2026-04-10T22:04:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T22:04:44","slug":"upnd-factional-tensions-disrupt-mpongwe-radio-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-factional-tensions-disrupt-mpongwe-radio-show","title":{"rendered":"Upnd Factional Tensions Disrupt Mpongwe Radio Show"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>A live programme at Radio Mpongwe was abruptly forced off air Wednesday night after police, accompanied by UPND cadres, stormed the studio.<\/p>\n<p>Presenter Chorus Simukazye says Mpongwe Police Officer-in-Charge Able Sosala ordered the shutdown, allegedly on instructions from District Commissioner Mwitwa Mwambashi.<\/p>\n<p>The disruption followed a paid programme featuring UPND members Morton Masinino and Humphrey Matipa, who are reportedly challenging the recently elected district leadership, citing corruption in the electoral process.<\/p>\n<p>Mpongwe radio Reports indicate the cadres were sent by re-elected UPND District Chairperson Humphrey Chibundi to stop the programme and locate the two officials.<\/p>\n<p>Simukazye says the cadres forced entry into the studio, demanded the duo\u2019s whereabouts, and proceeded to search the entire station in the presence of police, while Masinino and Matipa reportedly went into hiding within the premises.<\/p>\n<p>However, during Thursday\u2019s breakfast show, Chibundi apologized to the station, expressing regret over the disruption.<\/p>\n<p>Efforts to get a comment from the District Commissioner failed, as his phone was unreachable by broadcast time.<\/p>\n<p>The incident raises fresh concerns over media freedom and political interference, especially ahead of this year\u2019s general elections.<\/p>\n<p>This is the second such incident in Mpongwe, following a November case where police halted a United Front radio programme, citing lack of a permit.<\/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. A live programme at Radio Mpongwe was abruptly forced off air Wednesday night after police, accompanied by UPND cadres, stormed the studio. Presenter Chorus Simukazye says Mpongwe Police Officer-in-Charge Able Sosala ordered the shutdown, allegedly on instructions from District Commissioner Mwitwa Mwambashi. The disruption followed a paid programme featuring UPND members Morton [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":82306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-82307","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>Upnd Factional Tensions Disrupt Mpongwe Radio Show - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A live programme at Radio Mpongwe was abruptly forced off air Wednesday night after police, accompanied by UPND cadres, ...\" \/>\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-factional-tensions-disrupt-mpongwe-radio-show\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Upnd Factional Tensions Disrupt Mpongwe Radio Show\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A live programme at Radio Mpongwe was abruptly forced off air Wednesday night after police, accompanied by UPND cadres, ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-factional-tensions-disrupt-mpongwe-radio-show\" \/>\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=\"2026-04-10T21:56:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-10T22:04:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/04\/sm_1775858646.73384.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\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\/upnd-factional-tensions-disrupt-mpongwe-radio-show#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-factional-tensions-disrupt-mpongwe-radio-show\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Upnd Factional Tensions Disrupt Mpongwe Radio Show\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-10T21:56:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-10T22:04:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-factional-tensions-disrupt-mpongwe-radio-show\"},\"wordCount\":229,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-factional-tensions-disrupt-mpongwe-radio-show#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/04\/sm_1775858646.73384.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"parties\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-factional-tensions-disrupt-mpongwe-radio-show#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-factional-tensions-disrupt-mpongwe-radio-show\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/upnd-factional-tensions-disrupt-mpongwe-radio-show\",\"name\":\"Upnd Factional Tensions Disrupt Mpongwe Radio Show - 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