The Editor Zambia
The unveiling of Brian Mundubile’s presidential campaign team was clearly intended to project strength, unity, and readiness for the August elections.
Instead, it has achieved the opposite. What the country witnessed was not the launch of a fresh political movement capable of inspiring confidence in Zambia’s future but a parade of familiar faces from a political era many citizens are eager to leave behind. 
Far from presenting a new vision, the Tonse Alliance has assembled a collection of recycled Patriotic Front (PF) figures whose records remain deeply intertwined with one of the most controversial periods in Zambia’s democratic history.
The announcement reads less like a blueprint for national renewal and more like a reunion of individuals associated with the excesses, failures, and scandals that characterised PF rule.
Many of the names unveiled by Mundubile occupied influential positions during the years when corruption allegations dominated headlines, public institutions came under strain, and cadreism reached unprecedented levels.
It was a period during which political violence became normalised, public resources were frequently questioned, and investor confidence suffered repeated shocks.
For ordinary Zambians, memories of those years remain vivid. They remember markets and bus stations controlled by political cadres. They remember reports of procurement scandals that Mundubile himself policed as noted by PF figures like Chishimba Kambwili, who has challenged the Tonse Alliance leader to deny accusations of gross corruption.
Zambians also remember a culture where political connections often appeared more important than merit and professionalism.
They remember a government increasingly disconnected from the everyday struggles of citizens.
Yet rather than acknowledging this troubled legacy and offering a clean break from the past, the Tonse Alliance appears determined to recycle the very individuals who were central players during that era.
What makes the situation even more revealing is the growing evidence that all is not well within the opposition ranks despite attempts to project unity.
The departure of former Health Minister Dr. Chitalu Chilufya from the PF is perhaps the latest and clearest indication that serious cracks continue to widen beneath the carefully crafted public relations messaging.
Dr. Chilufya’s decision to abandon the PF and contest as an independent candidate cannot simply be dismissed as an isolated incident.
It reflects deeper frustrations within a movement that has spent years battling internal divisions, competing factions, and endless leadership disputes.
Indeed, one of the most striking questions surrounding Dr. Chilufya’s resignation is a simple one: which PF did he resign from? The question itself highlights the absurdity of the situation.
For years, the former ruling party has been consumed by competing claims of legitimacy involving multiple factions and rival leaders.
Instead of offering Zambians a coherent alternative government, the opposition has often appeared trapped in an endless cycle of infighting.
The confusion has become impossible to conceal. Every attempted show of unity is quickly followed by another resignation, another disagreement, or another public dispute.
The latest campaign team announcement, therefore, appears less like a sign of organisational strength and more like an exercise in damage control.
Zambians should ask themselves a simple question. If these politicians cannot effectively manage their own party structures and alliances, how can they be trusted with the management of a national economy?
The country’s recent progress toward economic recovery under the able leadership of President Hakainde Hichilema has required difficult decisions, discipline, and long-term planning.
The last thing Zambia needs is a return to the politics of patronage and entitlement that helped create many of the problems the nation has spent years trying to overcome.
The danger is not merely that the same politicians are returning. The danger is that the same political culture could return with them.
A culture where public office becomes a pathway to personal enrichment. A culture where loyalty is rewarded above competence. A culture where political cadres overshadow institutions and where accountability becomes optional.
Mundubile may hope that voters have forgotten. He may hope that the passage of time has softened memories of the PF years.
But many citizens remember exactly what happened. They remember the controversies. They remember the scandals. They remember the economic difficulties.
They remember the growing public frustration that ultimately produced a historic electoral rejection in 2021.
Political rebranding cannot erase political history. Changing campaign slogans cannot erase public records. Repackaging familiar figures as a new movement cannot hide the fact that they remain products of the same system Zambians decisively rejected.
As the election campaign intensifies, voters will have an opportunity to carefully examine not only the promises being made but also the people making them.
In the case of Mundubile’s newly-unveiled team, the PF faces of men and women of tested criminality are familiar, the baggage is substantial, and the questions remain unanswered.
For many Zambians, the announcement serves as a reminder not of the future, but of a past, they have little desire to revisit.
