The Editor Zambia
Leadership demands more than confidence. It demands a firm grasp of facts.
That is precisely why Brian Mundubile’s recent remarks on school fees should concern every Zambian. 
At a campaign rally, Mundubile reportedly claimed that the Patriotic Front (PF) reduced school fees to K200. That statement is not merely inaccurate. It reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of one of the most basic monetary reforms Zambia has undertaken.
What happened was not a reduction in school fees. Zambia underwent a currency rebasing exercise, during which three zeros were removed from the Kwacha. A fee of K200,000 under the old currency simply became K200 under the new currency.
The purchasing power remained exactly the same. Parents were not paying less. Schools were not charging less. Only the way the figures were written changed.
Therefore, confusing currency rebasing with a reduction in the cost of education is like claiming a person became shorter simply because their height was converted from centimetres to metres. The number changes. The value does not.
This is not a trivial mistake. It raises serious questions about whether someone seeking the nation’s highest office fully understands basic economic principles. If a presidential candidate cannot distinguish between a change in currency denomination and an actual reduction in prices, what confidence should citizens have in that person’s ability to manage a national economy?
Even more worrying is that there are people prepared to entrust Zambia’s future to such reasoning.
Elections are not popularity contests alone. They are decisions about competence, judgement, and the capacity to lead a complex modern economy.
Political debate should be driven by facts rather than slogans. Citizens deserve leaders who explain economic issues accurately instead of rewriting history for political convenience.
Zambia’s future depends on informed leadership. Voters should scrutinise every claim made on the campaign trail because facts matter, and so does the competence of those asking to govern.
