PF national youth chairperson Christopher Kang’ombe says the party needs new faces in its central committee because some members are inactive.

And Kang’ombe says his plan to become Zambia’s President is on course.

Speaking during Smart Eagles’ Round Table Talk programme, Friday, Kang’ombe said there were new faces which needed to be given space in the party.

“The rebranding process is not a one-week activity. The rebranding process has to be achieved by a combination of factors, the human resource, meaning the team. Christopher Kang’ombe is just one individual, there are other new faces that should be given more space in the party. There are other people that were not part of the previous leadership, we have some members of central committee who have not been active and I am happy that the constitution or the resolution of the central committee has allowed for more members to be added,” he said.

“Let us remove those, not really remove, actually you can tell that person stopped, they don’t have energy. Our energy levels are different, so what the central committee must do and now I am a member of central committee and one of the things I will propose and I will share these ideas is that if we have 50 members of central committee and Christopher Kang’ombe has been added, out of the 50, how many are active? There are those who are active genuinely, they love the party genuinely, they are committed. There are those who love the party but they are not committed. So the starting point is that the central committee, putting in Christopher Kang’ombe is a good thing but it is not enough. We need to put in other new faces, that is starting point number one.”

He said senior party members also needed to reflect on the message they were sending to the public.

“The youth league will not be the only wing that should do activities of rebranding. The senior members of our party, they also need to do a lot of reflection to think about messaging. If a member of the party goes on radio who is very senior, what are they saying? PF got 1.8 million votes, UPND got 2.8 million votes, there were voters who voted for the other political parties. The assumption that when you go on radio or TV is that you are reinforcing your strength as a party, but sometimes you injure those from a different party who may be willing to actually vote for you. So me as Christopher Kang’ombe, my advice to my colleagues in the party, those that are senior, those that are junior, those that are in middle management of the party is that your messaging should be for everyone,” Kang’ombe said.

“Don’t go to radio and attack UPND, UPND is just a political party, it is just a club, we must be an alternative party as PF. How can we be an alternative party as PF? By projecting messages of alternative solutions, that is the leadership. So if you ask me, is rebranding possible? Is it attainable? It is attainable. Can PF one day come back to power? Yes, it can come back to power. I thought that PF losing power is an opportunity to reflect and research, reorganize ourselves, go back into different media houses and convey our message. That is the type of PF I want to see and that is my message to literally everyone in the party.”

And Kang’ombe said his ultimate goal was to be President of Zambia.

“So 15 years in local government, I knew 2021 that my time had come. I made sure that through being assertive, through demanding, because if you don’t impose yourself, if you don’t tell your seniors in your political parties and this message is not just for PF, there are young people in the Economic Front, we have young people in Sean Tembo’s party, we have young people in UPND, we have young people in Harry Kalaba’s party, if they are not imposing, if they are not demanding for space, no one will give them space. So 2021, I basically said I am running for office as member of parliament, because I was imposing my ideas, because I was sharing my thoughts, space was created and that is how I got elected as MP,” he said.

“So 10 years as a councilor, five years as mayor, hoping I can serve my five-year tenure as member of parliament, that will give me enough platform to now go for the big one. The big one obviously, the Presidency, that is the ultimate goal. That is the goal after all these steps, eventually I should go for the Presidency. I realized that when I was starting leadership that I needed to model myself, I needed to create a brand because branding is also at a personal level. So, if you brand yourself as a less ambitious person, there will be no consideration. So where do I get this courage? I think I have been preparing myself, society has given me an opportunity to grow in leadership.”

When asked whether he would contest for the party presidency at the conference in June, Kang’ombe said he had not made a decision but insisted said his goal of becoming Republican President was on course.

“I haven’t made a decision yet, for now, my immediate task is to do what I can do around the issue of youths in the party. I am hoping I do well, I am determined to do well at this level that I am currently occupying. So time is coming, I don’t know if it is June, it is 2026, but I know that time is coming for me to go for the position of Presidency. I will decide as we go, we have maybe two months remaining, there is a lot of thinking going on, there is a lot of planning going on. My plans to stand as President of Zambia are on course, I think I haven’t lost time, I think time is coming,” said Kang’ombe.