By Chinoyi Chipulu
Mporokoso PF member of Parliament Brian Mundubile has declared himself ready to be the Tonse Alliance candidate for the 2026 general elections.
Mundubile said he was ready to serve the Alliance and the country, should the Alliance propose his name.
“I’m available should Tonse Alliance come up with my name. I stand ready to serve the alliance and the nation,” he said.
Mundubile was speaking on Mufulira’s Mafken radio’s Xpress Chitchat program on Saturday. He disclosed that he had received a number of calls from different people who thought he was capable of leading the nation.
“I’m among the nine PF members who applied to be the PF president,” he said. “Leadership is a call to serve and should be supported by people. Before I applied, I was approached by a number of people from within and outside the party by people who felt I was capable of leading the party.”
Mundubile was asked to respond to calls from members of the public that he should be the Tonse Alliance leader and in response he said he was definitely available.
“Yes I have seen a number of posts especially on social media, but like I said, I’m listening to the people. The very fact that in the beginning when a call was made, I had accepted, I’m definitely available,” he said.
Mundubile was also asked to respond to a write-up by Socialist Party leader Fred M’membe that because of his growing popularity, there could be attempts to have him arrested. In response, Mundubile said he was ready for anything.
“Yes I read that post from M’membe but I said to myself that we will wait and see. It has been three years since UPND came into power and since that time, I have held a crucial position as leader of the opposition and obviously I saw the persecution of a number of my colleagues by the current government. If they did not see anything that I had done wrong or where I had offended the law then we stand ready, I stand ready, ” he said.
Asked to respond to calls by former president Edgar Lungu and M’membe to have a united opposition in 2026, Mundubile said there was need for the opposition parties to come together and form durable alliances that would see UPND out of power in 2026.
“If you look at the performance of the opposition in the recent by-elections, you will realise that the votes that went to the opposition were more than the votes that went to the ruling party. So, if we are going to remove UPND from power, which in my view is very urgent, as many Zambians know that the ruling party lamentably failed,” he said.
Mundubile said to save Zambians from hardships, there was need for opposition parties to come together.
“So the call by M’membe is timely. Opposition parties need to understand that there can only be one president at any given time and they must also understand that the greater call from the Zambian people, abena Zambia baleti, twachula tutuleni (Zambians are saying we have suffered, save us). Many Zambians are going without food everyday,” he said. “Look at how many Zambians are dying in hospitals because of bad policies. UPND would prioritise the export of power at the expense of dying patients in hospitals, prioritize exporting maize at the expense of hungry Zambians. Look at the levels of corruption. No one wants this government to continue, and to be able to achieve this, the opposition need to come together to form durable alliances that will see UPND out of power and save Zambian people.”
Asked how he would resolve the in-house conflicts in the PF party, Mundubile said he was focused on the broader picture of working for Zambians as the challenges in PF were sponsored by the UPND.
“In-house challenges are resolved through dialogue but the in-house challenges of PF have been unique because they are sponsored by the UPND. That is why it has been difficult to resolve them,” he said.
“We would have resolved them if there was no invisible hand that had been working at night. So going forward, we are now focused on the broader picture of serving the country. We will not waste time when we know UPND is sponsoring this.”
Mundubile said his agenda for the country was to alleviate poverty levels in the country.
“I served as minister in the previous government and we were persuing an agenda that was pro-poor, it was a pro-poor agenda. Under the PF, the policies were crafted in such a way that they were based towards the vulnerable so if I was given a chance, I would want to continue with the policies towards the poor and expand them further. Governments are there to serve the most vulnerable,” he said.
“Now given the Zambian scenario, you will agree with me that poverty levels are very high and any well-meaning leader would start by attacking poverty. Now to attack poverty, it’s not about rhetoric. You need to have practical solutions to be able to take poverty in some areas. I would focus on the agriculture sector.”
