A former Citizens First (CF) Youth National Secretary has appealed to Citizens First president Harry Kalaba and Socialist Party president Dr Fred M’membe to withdraw from the presidential race and support Tonse Pamodzi Alliance candidate Brian Mundubile, arguing that a united opposition offers the best chance of winning the presidency. The appeal was made by Kawimbe Chanda, who identified himself as a current NRPUP 2026 member. He said Zambia’s opposition should consolidate behind a single presidential candidate rather than contest the election on separate tickets.
In a statement addressed to the two opposition leaders, Chanda said Zambians were looking for change and not a crowded presidential ballot. He maintained that opposition unity would better reflect what many voters expected ahead of the August election. According to him, presenting several opposition candidates risked splitting the vote. He urged the leaders to place national interests ahead of individual political ambitions.
“Zambians did not ask for a crowded ballot of competing opposition candidates. They asked for change,” Chanda said.
Chanda argued that a divided opposition could hand President Hakainde Hichilema a second term and further strengthen the ruling party’s hold over state institutions. He cited examples from elsewhere on the continent, including Zimbabwe, where he said prolonged dominance by incumbents had weakened multiparty democracy and constitutional term limits. He said Zambia should avoid following a similar path. In his view, opposition unity was necessary to safeguard democratic competition.
“Zambians who lived through the One-Party era know exactly what that path looks like,” he said.
According to Chanda, rallying behind a single opposition candidate would improve the chances of securing victory in the first round of voting and remove the possibility of a presidential runoff. He argued that a second-round election could expose opposition members of parliament and party structures to defections and inducements. He described such an outcome as a strategic risk for opposition parties. Chanda said unity remained the opposition’s strongest electoral advantage.
“A divided opposition is not just a strategic weakness,” Chanda said. “It is an invitation to exactly the kind of manipulation that has undone opposition movements elsewhere on this continent.”
Chanda specifically called on Kalaba and M’membe to endorse Brian Mundubile and his running mate, Makebi Zulu. He urged the two leaders to mobilise their party structures and supporters behind a single presidential ticket. Chanda said doing so would increase the opposition’s prospects of achieving an outright victory in the first round. He added that Zambia’s long-term democratic interests should come before personal political considerations.
“History does not reward those who split the vote out of pride while the nation’s democratic foundations hang in the balance,” he said. “It rewards those who, at the decisive hour, chose the nation over the self.”
Chanda said he hoped the two opposition leaders would be remembered for uniting the opposition rather than allowing divisions to persist during the election. He described the decision before them as one that would shape both the outcome of the election and their political legacies. He urged them to make what he called a decisive choice while there was still time. He said a united opposition would offer voters a clearer alternative.
“The choice before you is simple,” he said. “Stand together now and give Zambia a clean, decisive first-round result, or stand alone later, explaining to the Zambian people why unity was not chosen when it was needed most.”
The statement was signed by Kawimbe Chanda, who identified himself as a former Citizens First Youth National Secretary and a current NRPUP 2026 member. In the statement, Chanda maintained that opposition unity offered the clearest path to a first-round presidential victory and urged the two leaders to place what he described as Zambia’s democratic interests above individual political ambitions. Neither Harry Kalaba nor Dr Fred M’membe had publicly responded to the appeal at the time of publication.
