🇿🇲 BRIEFING | Mundubile Challenges UPND Economic Narrative as Opposition Sharpens Campaign Message
Brian Mundubile has intensified opposition attacks on the government’s economic record, questioning how the United Party for National Development can claim economic progress while the country continues grappling with prolonged electricity shortages.
Speaking on EMV last night, the NRPUP presidential candidate dismissed government claims of economic recovery, arguing that sustained power instability had undermined production, business activity, and broader economic growth across multiple sectors.
“On what basis has the economy grown? This country has had no power for three years. What miracle have you performed to grow this economy?” Mundubile asked.
The remarks strike at the centre of the ruling party’s emerging campaign message. President Hakainde Hichilema and his administration have increasingly pointed to stabilising macroeconomic indicators, debt restructuring progress, easing inflation, and rising reserves as evidence that Zambia’s economy is recovering after years of fiscal strain.
But the opposition is attempting to shift the argument away from macroeconomic indicators and toward lived economic experience.
For many households and businesses, electricity shortages have become one of the most visible symbols of economic frustration. Mundubile is now trying to weaponise that reality politically by questioning whether growth statistics can coexist with prolonged energy instability.
At the same time, he attempted to position himself beyond criticism and into policy territory.
Mundubile said his administration would prioritise industrialisation driven by mining, tourism, agriculture, digital innovation, and creative industries. He pledged to formalise small-scale miners, commonly known as jerabos, while promoting agro-processing zones to stimulate employment and local production.
“We are going to ensure that the mining sector takes the lead in the industrial transformation of this country,” he said.
He also pointed to Ghana’s creative sector as a model for youth participation and economic diversification, arguing that Zambia’s arts industry could become a meaningful contributor to national output if properly structured.
Still, the broader political challenge for the opposition remains credibility and reach.
The ruling party continues entering the election season with stronger national structures, deeper territorial presence, and growing confidence in key strongholds. Meanwhile, opposition alliances remain fragmented and unevenly organised across several constituencies, with some parties failing to field candidates in large sections of the country.
This creates a difficult balancing act for candidates like Mundubile.
Criticising the economy may resonate politically. But elections are not won only by exposing frustration. They are won by convincing voters that an alternative government possesses both the structure and capacity to manage the same economy differently.
© The People’s Brief | Goran Handya