Nevers Praises Kawambwa By-Election Result
Former Vice President and Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) leader Nevers Mumba has praised the conduct and outcome of the recently concluded Kawambwa Central by-election, in which United Party for National Development (UPND) candidate Musonda Nason stormed to victory as the party’s first ever Member of Parliament for Luapula Province.
Writing in the Lusaka Times this morning, Dr Mumba said that “what made this by-election so special was the civility, transparency, and focus on issues. No violence, no intimidation—just honest conversations about the future.”
He added that, “This peaceful environment allowed us to connect directly with the voters, ensuring they felt informed and empowered to make the right decision for their future.”
The MMD’s preferred candidate for Kawambwa was the former MP Elizabeth Chitika. However she stood aside for Mr Nason in what Dr Mumba describes as an example of her “characteristic selflessness”.
The results of the by-election were declared on Friday, with Mr Nason garnering 5,519 votes. His nearest rival, the New Congress Party’s (NCP) Mwansa Danstan, secured just 3,896 votes. NCP is a member of former-President Lungu’s recently formed Tonse Alliance.
The by-election was held after Kawambwa’s former PF MP, Nickson Chilangwa, was convicted and imprisoned for arson, having been found guilty of burning a vehicle belonging to the UPND Luapula Youth Committee during the 2021 General Elections.
On Saturday, President Hakainde Hichilema congratulated Mr Nason on his triumph in Kawambwa, hailing it as an historic victory for the UPND in Luapula and praising the people of Kawambwa for their peaceful conduct.
“These peaceful by-elections underscore Zambia’s unwavering commitment to democracy,” the President said in a statement from State House.
The shocking defeat of Edgar Lungu’s preferred candidate in what had once been a PF stronghold is another blow to the former President, coming just a few weeks after the Constitutional Court ruled he was not eligible to contest the 2026 elections, having been elected as President twice already in 2015 and 2016.
Lungu has promised a comeback in the form of a mysterious ‘Plan B’, however no details are yet known. Some analysts fear the PF and Tonse Alliance leader will follow the pattern established by disgraced former South African President Jacob Zuma this summer; selecting a puppet candidate who Lungu can control and throw his considerable political weight behind, without having to be answerable to the Constitution or electoral law.