With less than four months before Zambia heads to the polls on August 13, Tonse Alliance leader Brian Mundubile has declared himself “a threat to HH,” accusing President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration of systematically eliminating opposition voices ahead of the crucial vote.
“I need my passport back, I need my phones back,” Mundubile told veteran broadcaster Ambassador Frank Mutubila on Simply Frank. “I have my contacts in those phones. How does President HH or the UPND go to an election but decide to eliminate the opposition? We already have no political rallies, and now you start confiscating phones and passports?”
Zambia’s youth, who make up the majority of the population, face joblessness described by Mundubile as “an emergency.”
“I am of course a threat to President Hichilema, that’s why he doesn’t want me on the ballot because he knows it’s game over,” Mundubile said, “but the biggest threat aside me that President Hichilema has is the hungry and angry Zambians, the rank and file that shall rise and vote on 13th August. They are more dangerous to him than even me.”
He pledged to move the Ministry of Youth to the State House, arguing that creative industries, agriculture, and mining must be harnessed to generate employment.
“Governments should change via parties, but the nation should remain,” he said, warning that cadres have infiltrated the police, judiciary, and electoral commission, leaving citizens fearful of speaking out.
The Tonse Alliance manifesto, unveiled earlier, emphasizes unity, justice, and industrialization, Mundubile said.
“Manifestos fail because they are not tuned in with the people,” Mundubile said. “We wanted a manifesto that responds directly to the people of Zambia.”
He cited agro-industrial projects, energy reforms, and mining value chains as pillars of his economic plan, insisting that 50% of business must go to Zambians.On governance, Mundubile accused the UPND of presiding over endemic graft.
“You can’t fight corruption without independent institutions,” he said, promising that the Anti-Corruption Commission would report to Parliament the same day as the President. He described merit based recruitment as essential to restoring trust in public service. Mundubile also raised the unresolved death of former President Edgar Lungu, whose body remains unburied in Pretoria.
“How does President Hichilema go to sleep knowing very well his predecessor is frozen in a morgue? I beg you, President Hichilema, let the widow Mrs. Lungu bury her husband so that we can all find closure,” he said.
Reflecting on Zambia’s divisions, Mundubile added: “If I had the opportunity to meet our good Lord, I would ask Him one thing: God, where has the love gone in Zambia? We cannot develop a divided nation. At the center of every development, there has to be love and unity, and we don’t have that under President Hichilema.”
As the August polls approach, Mundubile framed the contest on economic hardship and questions of justice, unity, and closure.
Speaking on BMTV, Mundubile was hosted by veteran broadcaster Amb. Frank Mutubila is in a program recorded live for airing on Top star and YouTube tonight at 21hrs Zambian time.
