By Brian Matambo – Lusaka, Zambia

State Counsel John Sangwa appeared on EMV Tonight, the widely followed online podcast hosted by Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba and broadcast across multiple platforms including Facebook, YouTube and X. What unfolded was not simply an interview, but a defining moment in Zambia’s political discourse.

For the first time, Sangwa went beyond his familiar role as constitutional lawyer and public critic. He admitted that he is ready to serve as president if Zambians decide they want him to lead.

The podcast centred on his recent letter to the nation, a document structured around ten searching questions. Rather than presenting a manifesto, Sangwa challenged Zambians to reflect on whether they are prepared to embrace sacrifice, unity, constitutionalism, and accountability. His theme was unmistakable: renewal. Renewal of institutions, renewal of political culture, renewal of citizenship itself.

AN ANNOUNCEMENT WRAPPED IN QUESTIONS
The heart of the broadcast lay in the interplay between Sangwa’s questions and the responses from callers. When asked whether he would be prepared to serve under another leader, he answered in the affirmative. If someone else of integrity and competence emerged, he would gladly stand behind them. But if the call came for him to lead, he would not refuse.

In that moment, Sangwa crossed an invisible line. He signalled his availability to run for president.

CAMPAIGNS FUNDED BY THE PEOPLE
The most radical departure from Zambia’s political tradition came when Sangwa spoke about campaign financing. In a country where parties have historically been bankrolled by companies, mining conglomerates or foreign sponsors, leaving them vulnerable to capture, Sangwa proposed something entirely different.

“If I cannot convince one million Zambians to donate one hundred kwacha,” he said, “then the whole experiment is not viable.”

It was a rejection of elite capture and a call for citizen ownership of politics. He who pays the piper calls the tune, Sangwa reminded listeners. For Zambia to control its own democracy, ordinary citizens must fund it.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF POLITICS
The phone lines and online platforms lit up. Callers from Zambia and the diaspora, including Italy, the UK, Canada and California, endorsed him, questioned him, and urged him on. A Catholic priest from Italy told him: “We are ready to support you… you might be the right person to unite the country.” In London, Lillian Mutambo pressed him on the inclusion of women in government. From Northwestern Province came a plea about mining exploitation and displacement.

To each, Sangwa responded by pointing back to the Constitution. On women’s representation, community benefit from minerals, judicial independence and presidential immunity, he argued that the solutions are already embedded in the nation’s supreme law. What is missing, he said, is the political will to implement them.

It was a style of politics different from the familiar theatre of Zambian campaigns. No chest-beating. No grand promises. Instead, a relentless emphasis on law, institutions and shared national duty.

THE MOMENT AND ITS MEANING
As the broadcast drew to a close, one truth was clear. John Sangwa had moved from being the country’s most outspoken constitutional lawyer to being a potential presidential candidate.

“I am ready to serve,” he told his listeners. “But it is not about me alone. It is about us, together.”

The EMV podcast will be remembered as the night Sangwa’s ten questions became more than questions. They became the framework of a new politics, and possibly the opening chapter of his campaign for the presidency.