Opposition Tonse Alliance figure Brian “Coach” Matambo has said Zambia’s post-election crisis is the result of five years of public silence. In a video address released on Sunday, he said citizens repeatedly allowed the boundaries of political freedom to shift because those under attack were opposition politicians.

The 31-minute address, titled “The Cost of Silence: How Zambia Reached the Crisis of 2026”, accompanies the documentary “Silence Brought Us Here”. In it, Mr Matambo traces what he describes as a steady erosion of democratic space from 2021 to the treason arrests that followed the August polls. “We did not just land here. We did not just wake up after the 2026 election and suddenly discover that something had gone terribly wrong with our democracy,” he said. “This has been coming.”

Watch the full video and read the complete column here.

Mr Matambo began with the 2021 transfer of power, when former President Edgar Lungu conceded defeat and handed over peacefully. That moment strengthened Zambia, he said, but what followed began to weaken it. He cited the loss of parliamentary seats by Bowman Lusambo and Joseph Malanji, and what he called concocted criminal cases against Ronald Chitotela. Many Zambians, he said, dismissed these as the PF paying the price for losing power.

“Democracy is not tested by how government treats its friends. Democracy is tested by how government treats its opponents,” Mr Matambo said. “The rights of your political opponent are also your own rights.”

He listed a series of developments he said the public had accepted in turn: police blocking opposition rallies, cyber laws passed despite warnings from lawyers, civil society and journalists, and Bill 7. He noted that the Constitutional Court had itself found the Bill 7 process inconsistent with the spirit of the Constitution and requiring wider consultation. Parliament passed it anyway, and “again, Zambia moved on,” he said.

Mr Matambo reserved some of his sharpest criticism for the appointment of Mwangala Zaloumis as chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ). He said she had previously acted as President Hakainde Hichilema‘s lawyer, and that opposition MPs had raised concerns at the time. He compared it to a World Cup qualifier refereed by someone who once worked for the opposing coach. “You cannot have a referee who supports one of the teams,” he said.

Turning to the former head of State, Mr Matambo said Zambians had watched Edgar Lungu humiliated after leaving office, from police involvement in his jogging to disputes over his travel and medical care abroad. He also cited the arrest of former First Lady Esther Lungu, and the Government’s legal battle with the family in South Africa over Mr Lungu’s remains, which he said lasted more than a year. “You don’t defend somebody’s rights because you like them. You defend their rights because they are rights. Otherwise, they are not rights. They are favours,” he said.

Mr Matambo named opposition figures who he said had spoken out and ended up behind bars. They include Brian Mundubile, Makebi Zulu, Munir Zulu, Celestine Mukandila, Jay Jay Banda and Raphael Nakacinda. He said they were among hundreds held “for merely speaking out”.

On the August election, he said he personally witnessed blocked roads, police surveillance and disrupted rallies. He described a suspension of counting for more than two hours, the military taking over polling stations, raids on Mr Mundubile’s home and on Tonse offices in Ibex Hill, and the arrest of Bishop Trevor Mwamba among others.

He called 14 August “the night democracy died”. Mr Matambo said former minister Mutotwe Kafwaya was shot dead by soldiers who found him unarmed in a wardrobe during a security operation at Mr Mundubile’s home. He said a militia story was then used to charge Mr Mundubile and his running mate, Mr Zulu, with treason. He described the events as “a coup against the democratic process itself”, adding: “I choose my words very, very carefully.”

“August 2026 was not the beginning. August 2026 was the consequence,” he said. “We walked here.”

The address closes with an appeal for peaceful civic speech. Mr Matambo said speaking out did not mean insulting, lying or threatening anyone. “It means telling those in power: I disagree. That is not rebellion. That is citizenship,” he said.

He urged fellow opposition leaders to set aside party interests until democratic institutions are secured. “I want a Zambia where my candidate can lose and I can believe that he genuinely lost,” he said. “I want a Zambia where UPND can lose and peacefully hand over power.”

Mr Matambo ended by calling on Zambians to act now rather than wait. “Zambia must speak before the boundaries move again,” he said.

Watch the full video and read Brian Matambo’s complete column here.

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