SUNDAY CHANDA CONCEDES KANCHIBIYA DEFEAT, VOWS TO CONTINUE FIGHTING FOR DEVELOPMENT AND ONE ZAMBIA, ONE NATION

SUNDAY CHANDA CONCEDES KANCHIBIYA DEFEAT, VOWS TO CONTINUE FIGHTING FOR DEVELOPMENT AND ONE ZAMBIA, ONE NATION Details in the statement  My fellow residents of Kanchibiya, The people have spoken, and I accept the outcome of the 2026 General Elections with humility and respect. I congratulate the incoming Member of Parliament for Kanchibiya and wish […]

SUNDAY CHANDA CONCEDES KANCHIBIYA DEFEAT, VOWS TO CONTINUE FIGHTING FOR DEVELOPMENT AND ONE ZAMBIA, ONE NATION

Details in the statement 

My fellow residents of Kanchibiya,

The people have spoken, and I accept the outcome of the 2026 General Elections with humility and respect.

I congratulate the incoming Member of Parliament for Kanchibiya and wish him well as he takes up the responsibility of representing our people. Public office is temporary; the interests of our people are permanent.

First and foremost, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to the people of Kanchibiya who stood with me throughout this campaign and to those who voted for me. I am equally grateful to those who did not vote for me. You are all my brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and fellow citizens. An election should never divide a community that must continue to live and work together.

I extend my profound appreciation to my campaign team, led by Mr Martin Mukuka, for the dedication, discipline and sacrifice demonstrated throughout this campaign. To the campaign coordinators, ward structures, polling-station teams, mobilisers, drivers, volunteers and all those who worked quietly behind the scenes – thank you.

To the women and youths of our party, you carried this campaign with extraordinary energy and conviction. To the party structures that we strengthened during this campaign, thank you for standing firm and believing in our message.

I also salute our churches and church leaders, traditional leaders, cooperatives, farmers, traders, community groups and residents who opened their homes, farms, churches, meetings and communities to us. Thank you for listening to us and engaging with us. To those who agreed with us and those who did not, I remain grateful that you participated in the democratic process.

1. The decision they called politically suicidal:

One of the most consequential decisions I made in Parliament was my support for Bill 7.

I was informed categorically by sections of society, including some quarters of the Church, that there was a “regional position” by “this region” not to support Bill 7. When I asked, “On what grounds?”, I was told that it was allegedly a scheme to give the Zambezi Region more constituencies

My response was simple: I would fight for equitable distribution of constituencies across Zambia. There was no contest in my mind that Kanchibiya needed delimitation, just as many constituencies in Muchinga Province and across the country needed better representation.

I therefore chose to vote on principle rather than on the basis of regional calculations.

Today, that vote has resulted in two Members of Parliament representing an area that was previously known as Kanchibiya, while the entire Muchinga Province is a beneficiary of the wider delimitation exercise.

I was warned by some that my decision was “politically suicidal.” Sections of the Church and other political actors fought me over it, including up to voting day.

I understood the political consequences. But I also understood that leadership sometimes requires making decisions whose benefits may outlive the politician who makes them.

I may have paid a political price for that decision, but I remain proud of it.

It was a decision I made because I believed that representation and development should never be determined by regional or tribal calculations.

2. One Zambia, One Nation:

It was against this background that, on the campaign trail, I often encountered a question that was rarely asked openly but which I could feel in many engagements:

“Sunday Chanda twalikutemwa, nomba wasala ukubomba nomutundu umbI.”
(We love Sunday Chanda, but he has chosen to work with another tribe.)

My response remained consistent:

“Takwaba uusala umutundu wakwe, elo tafyakwata nchito. Ni One Zambia One Nation.”
(No one chooses their tribe; we are all born into one. It is One Zambia, One Nation.)

No one chooses the tribe into which they are born. We are still far from fully living the true meaning of the One Zambia, One Nation creed.

I am Bemba. President Hakainde Hichilema is Tonga.

So what?

It does not matter to me that the President is Tonga. What matters is that he is my fellow citizen and the President of the Republic of Zambia, and that I can share in his vision for a better Zambia.

Over the last five years, I bought into President Hakainde Hichilema’s vision for a better Zambia, including a better Kanchibiya. I became a development lobbyist for Kanchibiya’s capital projects, irrespective of the President’s tribe or mine.

I chose to put development above politics and national unity above regional calculations.

On principle, I would rather lose an election by a small margin while standing for One Zambia, One Nation than win one by practising divisive regional or tribal politics.

That is a principle I will not apologise for.

3. Five years of service:

I leave office knowing that I ran a good race and served with everything I had.

When I was elected in 2021, Kanchibiya was a very different constituency. Over the last five years, I worked relentlessly to lobby for development, both inside and outside Parliament.

I did not see the position of Member of Parliament merely as a political title. I saw it as a responsibility to become a development lobbyist for Kanchibiya.

We pushed for roads, bridges, electricity, health facilities, schools, communication infrastructure, public offices, community facilities, agricultural support and opportunities for our people.

We witnessed the transformation of the Constituency Development Fund, from the small allocations of the past to resources capable of changing communities in a meaningful way. We supported schools, health facilities, community projects, cooperatives, youth and women empowerment initiatives and other projects across Kanchibiya.

The transformation is there for all to see.

My legacy in Parliament is equally a matter of public record. The motions I raised on the floor of Parliament, questions, parliamentary interventions, committee work and causes I championed are there for anyone to examine.

I ran a good race.

I served. I lobbied. I spoke. I challenged. I built. And I gave it my best

4. The causes I will continue to champion:

My work in Parliament was also about causes that went beyond Kanchibiya. I consistently advocated for better conditions for public service workers, including meaningful pension reforms, debt restructuring, improved conditions of service and the protection of workers’ rights generally.

These issues affect not only civil servants, but also miners, security guards, farmers and workers across the formal and informal economy. The campaign may be over and I may no longer be in Parliament, but my commitment to the dignity, welfare and rights of working people does not end with an election. I will continue advocating for these causes from outside Parliament.

I also raised the need for stronger environmental protection and advocated for the establishment of an Environmental Court at the level of the High Court, because environmental offences and disputes require specialised attention commensurate with their impact on communities and future generations.

In Kanchibiya, I took to court the matter concerning the pollution of the Kanchibiya and Lwitikila rivers arising from gold-mining activities, despite considerable opposition. I did so because development cannot mean destroying the very environment upon which our people depend.

That struggle continues, and so will my advocacy for environmental justice, even from outside Parliament.

5. A better Kanchibiya remains the vision:

Our campaign was never merely about Sunday Chanda. It was about a vision of a better Kanchibiya; an agricultural and rural industrialisation agenda where our farmers produce more, young people have opportunities, cooperatives become productive businesses, our natural resources create local wealth, roads connect communities to markets, and our children have access to quality education and health services.

That vision does not end with this detour.

The work already started must continue.

The next five years of Kanchibiya’s development should be measured not by political rhetoric, but by the completion of all projects already under construction, the delivery of promised services and the creation of new opportunities for our people.

I sincerely wish the incoming Member of Parliament well. I hope he will build upon what has been started, protect the interests of Kanchibiya and put the people above politics.

6. My political journey takes a detour:

As my political journey takes a detour, I do so without bitterness but with a heart full of gratitude.

I remain committed to Kanchibiya and to Zambia.

I will continue to stand for national unity. I will continue to believe in One Zambia, One Nation. I will continue to support development wherever it benefits our people.

I will continue to serve, whether in politics, in the community, or simply as a farmer or indeed as a lawyer.

I will also be writing a book about these last five years: the journey through Parliament, the battles, victories, disappointments, difficult decisions, politics and, importantly, the transformational CDF story and what it has meant for ordinary people in Kanchibiya.

There is much to tell.

For now, I simply say:

Thank you, Kanchibiya.

Thank you for giving me the privilege of serving you.

Thank you to President Hakainde Hichilema for inviting me, his former harsh critic to work alongside him in bringing development to Kanchibiya.

Thank you to those who believed in me.

Thank you even to those who did not.

Thank you to my campaign team, party structures, grassroots ’boots on the ground’ teams led Bongo, Bowas, Steven, Blance, Malama, Innocent, Joseph, Future, Timothy and so many others too numerous to mention-for standing with me until the very end. To Team Tabesha – thank you for being an all-weather friend 﫡

We ran a good race. We fought a good fight. We leave with our heads held high.

The election is over.

Kanchibiya remains. Zambia remains. One Zambia, One Nation remains.

May God bless Kanchibiya.
May God bless Muchinga Province.
And may God bless our beloved Republic of Zambia.

Signed:

Sunday Chilufya Chanda
Former Member of Parliament – Kanchibiya Constituency