Dr LAWRENCE MWELWA
THE time has come for the Registrar of Societies to stop sitting on the fence and start acting in line with the law, fairness, and the integrity that the office demands.
The Patriotic Front (PF) – once the ruling party and still a key player in the country’s political landscape – has been dragged through months of confusion, division, and legal chaos.
And at the centre of it all is the question of who truly leads the party, a question that the Registrar has the legal and moral responsibility to clarify by restoring the party records to their rightful state.
Let’s be honest: what happened at Miles Sampa’s so-called “extraordinary convention” was nothing short of a procedural disaster. It’s now public knowledge that the gathering did not comply with the PF constitution.
The required processes – such as proper notice, quorum, and representation from bona fide party organs – were ignored. Even senior PF members and founding figures rejected it.
Yet somehow, the Registrar of Societies accepted and updated party records to reflect Sampa as PF president. That move not only violated the internal rules of the PF but also undermined public trust in the neutrality and diligence of the Registrar’s office.
Fast forward to the present, and the script has flipped. Sampa has now “surrendered” the party, shaking hands with Edgar Lungu and aligning himself with the very leaders he once publicly opposed and, by some accounts, helped remove.
His recent appointment of Raphael Nakacinda as Secretary General – someone who was firmly in the Lungu camp – is a full-circle moment that proves what many suspected: Sampa’s takeover was never about legality or party renewal, but personal power.
If Sampa himself has now accepted a leadership he previously rejected, what more evidence does the Registrar need to reverse the changes made under false or flawed circumstances?
The Registrar of Societies has the authority – and, more importantly, the responsibility – to correct the record. It is no longer a matter of internal party squabbles. It is a matter of public interest and the rule of law.
And then there’s the Robert Chabinga saga, which adds another layer of complication. Chabinga has consistently claimed to be the PF’s acting president, a claim backed by his appointment under the proper procedures of the central committee.
An injunction was granted in his favour, barring Sampa from acting as PF president – an injunction that, as far as the public record shows, has not been lifted.
Yet, the Registrar continued to process Sampa’s changes, effectively ignoring that court order. If the judiciary ruled in favour of Chabinga’s claim – even temporarily – then why was the Registrar so quick to accept Sampa’s documentation and not Chabinga’s?
This inconsistency raises serious questions: Is the Registrar of Societies above the courts? Can administrative records override court orders and party constitutions? The answer, in a functioning democracy governed by law, must be a resounding no.
With the PF factions now attempting to regroup and move forward, the Registrar has a window of opportunity to do the right thing: revert the party’s official leadership records to reflect the status prior to the Sampa coup.
This would not only restore legality and order but also send a clear message that institutions in Zambia serve the law, not individuals.
The PF deserves clarity. The public deserves transparency. And the country’s democratic integrity deserves an administration that follows both the letter and spirit of the law. It is time for the Registrar of Societies to correct the record and act responsibly – before the credibility of yet another institution is sacrificed at the altar of political gamesmanship.
