PANIC gripped Given Lubinda’s slice of the PF yesterday as National Congress Party (NCP) made a shock announcement that it was ditching the Tonse Alliance.
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Moments after the memberless or one-man party NCP made the announcement of withdrawal through its leader Peter Chanda, PF leaders led by Lubinda trooped to their secretariat for an emergency crisis meeting.
NCP had been designated as the official Special Purpose Vehicle to lead the alliance into the 2026 general election.
The party’s sudden withdrawal now leaves the Tonse Alliance without an anchor party on which to field its candidates, as PF is legally under Robert Chabinga’s control.
At this stage, the options are PeP, Danny Pule’s Christian Democratic Party, the New Era Democratic Party or KBF’s Zambia Must Prosper, among others, none of which are major players.
In all by-elections conducted under the Tonse Alliance, NCP served as the anchor party, even delivering a parliamentary seat in Petauke for Simon Banda.
In his ditching address, party president Peter Chanda accused the alliance of being greedy and confused.
PF now finds itself panicking over which party to align with for the Tonse Alliance presidential candidate.
News emerging from the secretariat suggests that the former ruling party is planning a countrywide protest to grab PF from Chabinga.
After yesterday’s marathon meeting, which lasted almost the entire day and ended around 20:00 hours, PF central committee members were seen on a live broadcast forcing smiles and putting up unity signs for the cameras.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, October 7, 2025
