….as infighting escalates…
Lydia Tembo
FIERCE tribal groups have emerged in the opposition Tonse Alliance on the choice of a presidential candidate for the 2026 general elections. 
The rival camps are led by former republican president, Edgar Lungu’s PF faction, vice president Given Lubinda (Lozi) and Raphael Nakachinda (Tonga/Eastern), while the other is led by Patriots for Economic Progress Leader, Sean Tembo (Easterner).
Insiders reveal that Lubinda and Nakachinda are dissatisfied with Lungu’s decision to bring in Zambia Must Prosper (ZMP) Kelvin Fube Bwalya, in the Tonse alliance with a view to make him the alliance’s presidential candidate in 2026.
Hector Sondo, president of the Alliance for Better Zambia (ABZ and a member of Tonse alliance member, supports the candidature of Lubinda and Nakachinda.
Sondo said Lubinda and Nakachinda have been betrayed by Edgar Lungu, in preference to Kelvin Bwalya.
“Lungu seem to have forgotten the two’s significant sacrifices to the PF and now the Tonse alliance”.
He said the two have been instrumental in holding the PF party together, especially after the 2021 general elections historical loss when other senior members, whom they label as “criminals,” went into hiding.
According to another Tonse insider, Lubinda and Nakachinda have agreed that Lubinda, a longest serving former Kabwata Member of Parliament, should be the Tonse Alliance’s presidential candidate in 2026, whereas Nakachinda will be Lubinda’s running mate.
On the other hand, Sean Tembo, seemingly promoting the “Wako Ni Wako” formula, insists that only former President Edgar Lungu or himself should be the candidate in the 2026 general elections on the Tonse Alliance ticket.
Tembo, who is the alliance’s spokesperson, has insisted that only Edgar Lungu or himself should be on the ballot.
Meanwhile, Peter Chanda of the National Congress Party is also claiming that after securing one parliamentary seat in Eastern Province, he deserved to be the flag carrier of the Tonse alliance.
The fight has also been exacerbated by tribal arrangements with the alliance, with Brian Mundubile and Mutotwe Kafwaya pushing the agenda that only a Bemba speaking person should be adopted as a Tonse Alliance candidate in 2026.
The two are of the view that since Easterners has had Rupiah Banda and Edgar Lungu in the presidency, it was now time for a Bemba speaking to assume the presidency. Both Mundubile and Kafwaya are aspiring to lead the Tonse alliance as presidential candidates in 2026.
In particular, Kafwaya insists that the presidency should not go back to the eastern but northern.
Last week, Sean Tembo issued a statement distancing the Tonse Alliance from a joint press briefing by various political parties.
However, in a surprising turn of events, Tonse Alliance officials, including PF faction Vice President Given Lubinda and Secretary General Raphael Nakachinda, attended the briefing at the Chrismar Hotel.
