Is Kambwili Set To Rejoin PF?

Reports have been circulating that National Democratic Congress (NDC) leader Chishimba Kambwili is set to rejoin the PF.

 Kambwili, formerly the PF Minister of Information, departed the party in 2017 after President Lungu fired him from his ministerial post in 2016.

 Kambwili has labelled the reports rumouring his return as propaganda, denying he intends to rejoin the PF. However, he wouldn’t be the first former PF MP to return and eat his words. After all, PF deputy national mobilisation chairman Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba previously departed the PF in order to join the UPND, but has since returned.

 Kambwili has been particularly vocal in his criticism of President Lungu and the PF since he struck out. Earlier this year he was arrested on accusations of defaming the President after a video went viral in which he was heard talking about government officials in derogatory terms.

 Speaking on President Lungu’s track record Kambwili has accused the PF of causing a lot of misery to citizens under his leadership, stating that he disagrees with Lungu on the “fundamental principles around governance.”

 The former minister has also stated that President Lungu is dreaming is he thinks he will win the 2021 elections. In an interview with Sky News last month he stated, “Surely, under the current circumstances, if there is nothing that will be done to drastically change the current economic and poverty levels vis-à-vis high cost of living, I don’t see the people of Zambia voting for President Edgar Lungu. But anyway, every person has the right to dream.”

 Kambwili has also attacked a number of government policies and legislation, such as the controversial Constitution Amendment Bill No. 10, which he has warned could spark confusion and bloodshed.

 If Kambwili does return to the fold there will be speculation that he has done so in a bid to halt the court cases against him, in which he is charged with defamation and forgery.