By Diaspora Observer

PF presidential hopeful Brian Mundubile was on EMV and what he said about the Patriotic Front has left PF insiders shocked. The audience was given a glimpse into the political tensions inside the party and an unusually candid admission about the internal reconciliation process that raised more questions than answers.

Mundubile revealed that the Council of Elders is working to resolve the PF’s prolonged leadership dispute. That alone was expected. What was not expected was his assertion that the reconciliation process would likely lead to the reinstatement of suspended senior members. For many insiders, this sounded less like reconciliation and more like a faction attempting to restore its own command structure under the cover of unity.

Genuine reconciliation involves charting a new path, addressing past failures and establishing leadership based on competence and trust. Yet Mundubile’s tone suggested that the outcome had already been decided, and that reinstatement of specific individuals was a foregone conclusion. This raises the uncomfortable question of whether the PF is healing or simply reorganising itself around the same figures who presided over its decline.

The concern deepened when the issue of Davies Mwila arose. The former Secretary General recently declared that “PF is dead,” a statement widely interpreted as an attack on the current reorganisation efforts. When asked to respond, Mundubile avoided directly condemning the remark and instead defended Mwila’s right to express his view.

It was a telling moment. Mwila is not an ordinary voice in the PF. His record carries the weight of controversies that helped fracture the party’s reputation. He served as Secretary General during the height of PF caderism and stands accused of selling adoption certificates to aspiring Members of Parliament. Many of those MPs are now suspected of accepting the K3 million bribe to support Bill 7, the very crisis that has placed the country on edge.

For Mundubile to defend such a figure, rather than distance the party from the allegations that have haunted it since 2021, struck many observers as a troubling signal. Reconciliation without accountability becomes a mechanism for entrenching old habits, not correcting them.

The PF cannot afford a cosmetic healing process. Bill 7 has exposed the stakes of the 2026 election and demonstrated the need for a disciplined, trusted and principled opposition. A reconciliation effort that reinstates controversial figures and shields them from scrutiny risks undermining the very foundation the party needs to rebuild. Insiders fear that instead of moving forward, the PF may be walking in circles.

Mundubile remains one of the party’s sharpest public communicators, but his comments suggest that the road to PF unity may be far more fragile than he admitted. If reconciliation becomes a euphemism for factional restoration, the PF risks repeating the same internal mistakes that pushed it into opposition. And if the party cannot confront the legacy of figures like Davies Mwila, it will struggle to convince the public that it has truly learned from the past.

In a political moment where Zambia needs clarity, accountability and steadiness, the PF is being tested not only by its rivals in government but by its own unresolved history.