Former Ministers Rejected by Own Structures as Adoption Chaos Grips Ruling Party: Masebo’s Influence Looms Large
Former ministers, defectors rejected by grassroots; party chairman warns primary wins do not guarantee candidacy; opposition reads results as wider public rejection of Hichilema
The ongoing adoption chaos raises questions about the role of key figures, including Masebo, in shaping the party’s future.
A wave of defeats suffered by former cabinet ministers, sitting Members of Parliament and high-profile Patriotic Front defectors in United Party for National Development primary elections has exposed significant internal fractures within Zambia’s ruling party less than three months before the August 13 general election, with opposition figures interpreting the results as confirmation of broad public dissatisfaction with President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration.
The scale of the rejection is notable. Former Home Affairs and Internal Security Minister Jack Mwiimbu, former Information and Media Minister Cornelius Mweetwa, former Tourism Minister Rodney Sikumba and former Health Minister Sylvia Masebo are among the most prominent former cabinet members who lost adoption primaries against lesser-known challengers. Former Members of Parliament including Michelo Kasautu, Twambo Mutinta, Mirriam Chonya and Robert Chabinga also fell to newcomers in contests that party structures had been expected to resolve in favour of incumbents.
Former Patriotic Front acting president Given Lubinda said in an interview that the results confirmed the depth of public frustration with the ruling party’s performance. “And for MPs in the ruling party to tumble the way they are tumbling is an indication of the dissatisfaction of the Zambian people as expressed by the UPND structures,” Lubinda said. “This dissatisfaction in the members of Parliament is only a symptom of the dissatisfaction in the presidency.” Lubinda specifically targeted former PF MPs who defected to work with Hichilema after winning their parliamentary seats on a PF ticket, saying their rejection by UPND grassroots structures reflected popular contempt for political disloyalty. He warned the ruling party to expect a significant electoral reversal in August.
The internal chaos was compounded by an extraordinary internal memo issued on May 13 by UPND chairman for elections and campaigns Likando Mufalali, who directly warned primary election winners not to celebrate their results on social or mainstream media. Mufalali disclosed that the party’s National Management Committee resolved in 2021 that primary rankings were only one part of a wider adoption procedure and that several other factors would be considered before any final candidate was formally adopted. The practical implication is that the NMC retains authority to override grassroots primary outcomes and impose preferred candidates regardless of local election results.
People’s Pact vice president Bob Sichinga offered the opposition’s most pointed commentary on the UPND adoption chaos. Sichinga said former opposition MPs who crossed to the UPND seeking to contest on the ruling party’s ticket had made a fundamental error of political judgement. He singled out former Mafinga MP Robert Chabinga, who publicly threatened to reveal damaging information about the UPND if the party did not adopt him, describing the threat as evidence of a fundamental absence of integrity. “What beans is he talking about? Meaning they did some clandestine things with the UPND and now that things are not going well, he wants to make threats,” Sichinga said. Leadership Movement presidential candidate Dr Richard Silumbe went further, predicting that most UPND and former PF MPs would lose even if eventually adopted.
The UPND’s adoption difficulties carry immediate electoral consequences. Candidates who believe they won primary contests fairly and are subsequently passed over by the NMC carry the motivation and local networks to contest as independents, splitting the ruling party’s vote in constituencies it would otherwise be expected to win. The prohibition on celebrating primary results from Mufalali is a remarkable instruction from a party that built its electoral identity around democratic participation and internal accountability.
Parliamentary nominations are scheduled for May 20, 2026, following ECZ’s revised timetable. The campaign period opens May 23 and runs through August 12. Any UPND aspirant denied adoption after winning a primary and choosing to contest as an independent must file their own nomination papers by May 20. The party has confirmed it holds certificates that could prevent some rejected aspirants from registering independently, a claim Sichinga said, if true, would further undermine the credibility of the ruling party’s democratic commitments. President Hichilema ran unopposed in the UPND’s internal presidential primary.
Most of these mps loosing in primaries is because they didn’t heed President HH call to use CDF for development not that people are not happy with the President.Mps had a chance of developing but they chose to ignore and the citizens knows money was available for development.Thats why Sunday Chanda is a shining amongst the MPs.
Says Lubinda who defected from UPND to PF… Anyway democracy and freedom of choice is good for the country, and spill some beans/dirt also! Transparency as much as possible, even for former “big people”. Diaspora are buying popcorn
Lubinda, it is not pure public frustration rather than injection of new blood that I also support fully.
Lubinda, focus on what can help you win and not the sudden rapid changes going on in the UPND.
Why are u advisingLubinda? When you never advise Cornelius Mweetwa who is always hammering on opposition disunity instead of focusing on his party? Now he has lost his candidature and his moribund ministry.
All due to the fact that one person cannot control what happens beneath him
Pf suffered the same fate now it’s occuring again
Jack Mwiimbu,, Cornelius Mweetwa, Rodney Sikumba and Sylvia Masebo were competent and highly able ministers who served the country well. Why reject them?
It just goes to show how insular, Provincial and inept local people are in Zambia are.
Their rejection means that the country loses out.
No, let others come up. Clinging to the past individuals and political families is a testament to the fear of progress that cripples African countries. Allow it
All tourists should come to Zambia to see this: Mweetwa, Mwiimbu, Masebo in the same sentence with competent?
Mr Man will be vuvuzelaling the phenomenon.
“Come and see this imwe bantu! Only in Zed! That’s where corruption is mistaken for competence!”
Competent my foot. Health ministry was infiltrated by crooked pharmacy peddlers with Masebo at the helm. Hospitals still lack medicines and basic implements. They still refer patients to under the counter private labs and other paramedics in a country with universal free health services.
Mwiimbu’s incompetence could be seen by a blindman. Thats how he lost fugitive iJay Jay Banda, Kaiser Zulu, among many others
Mweetwa headed a ministry that is never found in a democracy. So without a job description he turned it into a UPND vuvuzela. Misusing our money and illegally supervising our freedom of speech. That is theft of public funds and misuse of government and DeadNBC labour.
Inept local people? They are the voters, the masters, not these know-it-all politicians who know nothing
What are “own structures”?
Go and rest over 60 you want allowance salary and a vx? Come allow the youth to take over