BEFORE we say anything else, there may be citizens who have not closely followed the campaign. Such people may easily consider our editorial headline today malicious. We are here to tell them that the agenda to release convicted PF officials serving prison sentences is not something we are merely speculating about. It is a promise […]

BEFORE we say anything else, there may be citizens who have not closely followed the campaign. Such people may easily consider our editorial headline today malicious. We are here to tell them that the agenda to release convicted PF officials serving prison sentences is not something we are merely speculating about. It is a promise Mr Brian Mundubile made in May when he visited those individuals at Lusaka Central Prison.

Soon after successfully filing his nomination papers, the NRPUP presidential candidate went to see PF members with whom he served in government. These people did not simply find themselves in prison because President Hakainde Hichilema or someone in the UPND hated them. They were investigated, arrested and taken before courts of law over allegations that included possession of property suspected to be proceeds of crime, among other offences.

During their trials, the courts found that the allegations were not baseless. The accused were found with cases to answer, placed on their defence and given an opportunity to explain themselves. It was only after they failed to persuade the courts that they were convicted and sentenced. Yet Mr Mundubile, who is also Tonse Alliance president, has openly assured them that their freedom will come once his political camp removes the UPND from office.

In his own words, he said: “Let’s continue on this fight, we are just a few days away before we can get that freedom. The freedom that you are looking for, the freedom for Raphael Nakacinda, for Nickson Chilangwa, for Ronald Chitotela, for Joseph Malanji, for Bowman Lusambo and everybody else who’s behind bars will only come when government changes. So it’s your duty as the Zambian people to change government so that our people can get their freedom.”

Those are not words manufactured by this newspaper. They are Mr Mundubile’s own words, spoken without ambiguity. They reveal where his sympathies lie and what occupies a central place in his political mission.

This is what we mean when we say that NRPUP wants to win power with one mission in mind. Its agenda is not to liberate Zambians struggling with the high cost of living, unemployment and poor public services. Its immediate concern is to liberate Mr Mundubile’s friends and political allies from prison.

If convicted individuals are released merely because their political friends have regained power, what message will that send to investigators, judges and citizens who expect the law to apply equally? What confidence can the public have in a government whose first instinct is to reverse lawful convictions instead of respecting court decisions?

If those convicts are freed and returned to government, they will once again be placed near the national Treasury and public resources. What else should citizens expect from a leadership composed of people rescued from prison and handed the keys to institutions they previously abused? In our view, that would be an invitation to repeat grand theft. We therefore mean no malice when we say that this party appears to seek power in order to facilitate more theft.

We go further. If the Patriotic Front returns under the NRPUP name and colours, it may be even more cruel, vindictive and ruthless than before. Having tasted defeat, its leaders will be determined never to lose power again. They will not repeat what they may now regard as the mistake of allowing democratic institutions and the ballot to remove them from access to public resources.

This time, they may not stop at stealing. They may seek to silence, intimidate or remove anyone who stands between them and power. Their rhetoric already suggests a movement driven less by national renewal than by revenge, entitlement and the restoration of a discredited political order.

That is why we insist that Zambians must think carefully as they exercise their civic duty of choosing a government for the next five years. Making a mistake once is understandable because nations sometimes learn through painful experience. Zambia made that mistake with the previous administration and paid dearly for it. But knowingly repeating the same mistake would amount to self-inflicted pain.

We have heard their promise. We have heard their mission. We have seen their desperation. NRPUP offers nothing better for this country. It is selling the return of the same political culture that Zambians rejected in 2021, only under a new name and in different colours. Voting for such a project would not only be dangerous; it would amount to rewarding impunity and betraying the moral responsibility citizens carry when choosing national leadership.