From Patriotic Front to Unpatriotic Front: A Party That Lost Its Soul
The Independent Correspondent
The recent revelations and on-going manoeuvres within the Patriotic Front (PF) should finally put to rest any lingering hope that this formation can still be redeemed. Zambians must now come to terms with a painful truth: the PF of today is no longer the party founded by the late President Michael Chilufya Sata – May His Soul Continue To Rest In Peace. It has mutated into something unrecognisable, hollowed out by selfish ambition, deceit, and political survivalism.
President Sata—fondly known as King Cobra—built the PF as a people’s movement. He spoke the language of ordinary citizens, confronted injustice head-on, and placed the interests of Zambians above his own comfort. His politics were rooted in conviction, not convenience. He fought for power to change lives, not to protect deals or shield accomplices. That PF died with him.
What remains today is a shell occupied by self-serving individuals who are preoccupied with personal gain rather than national interest. Instead of sacrifice, we see scheming. Instead of principle, we see transactions. These are politicians who wake up each day calculating how to secure relevance, protection, or funding—often at the expense of the very citizens they claim to represent.
Citizens must therefore stop dignifying these characters with attention. Zambia cannot afford to be distracted by recycled politicians who have repeatedly failed the nation and now seek relevance through confusion and fake reconciliation. The country must move on, and abandon these imposters who do not represent the spirit of MCS.
Particular caution must be exercised by the so-called “Conclave.” The elders and public figures associated with this initiative should be extremely careful not to drag their hard-earned reputations into disrepute by attempting to reconcile people who have already sold themselves cheaply. One must ask hard questions:
How do you reconcile individuals who connived to mortgage the country’s future through a botched constitutional amendment rejected by citizens, the Church, and civil society?
How do you sit at the same table with people who claim to love Zambia, yet are allegedly funded by those in government to manufacture false narratives of reconciliation—simply to divert attention from credible opposition forces that stand a real chance of removing a repressive regime?
This is not reconciliation; it is deception.
The elders involved must stop wasting precious time trying to resuscitate a corpse. Their wisdom, influence, and moral authority would be better spent identifying and supporting a political formation that is credible, principled, and unsoiled by the Tonse–PF mess. Zambia is not short of credible leaders with well structured parties. What we lack is the courage to let go of corrupt and recycled figures—many of whom would likely be answering serious charges had they not cut survival deals with those in power.
The Church, other religious organisations, traditional leaders, and the youth must keep their distance from anyone masquerading under the PF name. That brand no longer stands for patriotism. It now represents betrayal, confusion, and political opportunism. This is the time to call a spade a spade and stop pretending otherwise.
The Patriotic Front has effectively become the Unpatriotic Front. The sooner citizens look away from these soiled politicians, the better for the nation. Failure to do so risks repeating history—where while the PF factions continue fighting among themselves, Mr. Hichilema will be busy campaigning, only to return for yet another inauguration, perhaps this time in Choma, boasting of how the PF once again helped him by remaining divided and distracted, while pretending to seek unity and reconciliation.
Zambia deserves better. The future must not be held hostage by the failures of the past, and it most certainly does NOT depend on resuscitating a corpse, but on the courage to seek new life. We therefore call upon all patriots that believed in MCS to accept that his Party is long gone, but his dream and aspirations lives on through the likes of the CF’s Harry Kalaba, SP’s Fred M’membe and all well meaning citizens whose voice continues ti echo around unity. Let us not pretend, time is not our ally and neither is Mr. Hichilema and his machinations.
