Zambia's NRPUP Agenda: Free Convicted Officials, Return to Power

Brian Mundubile, the NRPUP presidential candidate, made a promise in May. Standing outside Lusaka Central Prison, he told convicted members of the former Patriotic Front government that their freedom would come with a change in government. “The freedom for Raphael Nakacinda, for Nickson Chilangwa, for Ronald Chitotela, for Joseph Malanji, for Bowman Lusambo and everybody else who’s behind bars will only come when government changes,” he said.

The men he named were not arrested on political whims. Each was investigated, charged, and tried in open court. The courts found cases to answer, placed the accused on defence, and after they failed to persuade the judges, handed down sentences. The charges included possession of property suspected to be proceeds of crime.

Mundubile, who also leads the Tonse Alliance, did not promise economic reform, job creation, or better public services. He promised pardons for his allies. The editorial in the Zambian newspaper News Diggers! described this as the party's central mission. “Its immediate concern is to liberate Mr Mundubile’s friends and political allies from prison,” the piece said.

The newspaper raised a sequence of questions. If convicted individuals are freed because their political friends win an election, what message does that send to investigators and judges? What confidence can citizens have in a government that reverses lawful convictions on its first day?