The Editor Zambia
National Rally for Progress and Unity Party (NRPUP) presidential candidate Brian Mundubile has finally acknowledged that Zambia’s free education policy has become too important to reverse.
Mundubile’s pledge to retain the programme, if elected, is more than a campaign promise—it is an admission that one of the United Party for National Development (UPND) government’s flagship reforms has fundamentally changed the country’s education landscape. 
The NRPUP leader has drawn lessons from the public backlash he received from his statement on foreign reserves and has since learnt that politics should never prevent leaders from recognising what is working.
When a policy delivers measurable benefits to ordinary citizens, the responsible course is to improve it rather than dismantle it.
Mundubile has accepted this reality on free education.
The question now is whether he is prepared to extend the same honesty to the many other reforms that have transformed Zambia over the past four years.
Indeed, free education is only one piece of a much larger development story.
Since taking office, the UPND administration has embarked on an ambitious programme of economic recovery and infrastructure development after inheriting an economy from the Patriotic Front (in which Mundubile served) weighed down by debt distress, arrears and declining investor confidence.
Today, Zambia has restored confidence among international investors, successfully restructured its debt and rebuilt foreign exchange reserves, achievements that have strengthened macroeconomic stability, and created a platform for long-term growth.
These are not abstract economic statistics. They translate into greater investor confidence, improved access to international financing, and a stronger foundation for job creation than existed under the previous administration.
Equally visible is the transformation taking place in communities through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). Across Zambia, new classroom blocks, health posts, maternity annexes, markets, bridges, roads, and water projects have emerged because local authorities now have access to unprecedented levels of development financing.
Communities that waited years for basic infrastructure are witnessing projects being implemented within their constituencies.
The education sector itself tells an even broader story than free tuition alone. Schools have expanded classroom space, new desks have been procured, additional teachers have been recruited, and school feeding programmes have encouraged attendance, particularly in vulnerable communities.
The recent improvement in Grade 12 examination performance reflects a system that is gradually responding to increased enrolment with complementary investments.
Mundubile is correct that overcrowded classrooms remain a challenge. However, this challenge exists precisely because millions of children who were previously excluded are now in school. It is a problem of success rather than failure.
The logical response is to continue expanding infrastructure, exactly what the government has already been doing through CDF and other public investments.
The same story can be told in agriculture, where timely input distribution, expanded irrigation initiatives, and efforts to diversify production have helped improve food security despite difficult weather conditions. Water supply projects, road rehabilitation, and rural electrification programmes have also gathered momentum, creating opportunities for economic activity beyond the major urban centres.
No government is perfect, and no administration should be shielded from criticism. Zambians continue to expect faster job creation, lower living costs, and improved public services. These remain legitimate expectations that every political leader should address.
However, constructive politics demands consistency. If Mundubile acknowledges that free education has become irreversible because it has benefited millions of Zambians, intellectual honesty requires recognising the wider package of reforms that have accompanied it.
Selective recognition risks creating the impression that achievements are being accepted only when political reality leaves no alternative.
Campaigns should ultimately offer competing visions for improving the country, not denying visible progress that citizens can see with their own eyes.
Zambia today is not the Zambia of 2021.
Significant challenges remain, but the country has also made measurable advances in education, infrastructure, fiscal stability, local development, and investor confidence.
The electorate deserves a debate grounded in facts rather than selective acknowledgement. Mundubile has taken an important first step by admitting the value of free education.
The next step is to acknowledge that the policy is part of a broader reform agenda whose results are becoming increasingly visible across the nation.
Such honesty would enrich the national conversation and allow the campaign to focus where it belongs: on how to build upon the progress already achieved rather than pretending it never happened.
