Candidate Profiles: Harry Kalaba

Few of Zambia's opposition leaders carry quite the political mileage of Harry Kalaba. As the country counts down to the general election on 13 August 2026, he enters the race a familiar figure, leading the Citizens First (CF) party he founded in 2022 and filing his presidential nomination papers in May alongside running mate Moses Mawere.

Born in June 1976 and raised in Mansa, Luapula Province, Kalaba is a son of the late Chief Chimese. He completed his secondary schooling at St Clement's before reading Philosophy at the University of Zambia, later adding a Diploma in Public Administration and certificates in human resources and speech writing, the latter a fitting credential for a politician who has built much of his appeal on the power of the podium.

His rise began in 2011 with election as Patriotic Front MP for Bahati, a seat he would hold until 2019. He was Foreign Affairs Minister from 2014, before resigning in a move that came to define him, citing corruption within the PF he served.

What followed was a restless search for the right vehicle. He ran for the presidency on the Democratic Party ticket in 2021, finishing third, parted ways with the DP in 2022, and in October that year launched Citizens First as a platform of his own. In April of this year, the National Democratic Congress and the Revamp for Development Change folded into a new CF Orange Alliance, endorsing him as their presidential candidate.

Yet the opposition remains stubbornly divided. Kalaba himself has conceded that Citizens First cannot defeat President Hichilema alone, and has called repeatedly for rivals to "join hands." So far, the bigger players have not. The Tonse-Pamdozi  Alliance, led by Brian Mundubile alongside running mate Makebi Zulu, have appeared to have sidelined Kalaba by charting their own course.

Kalaba's own record has not been without blemish. In 2020 he was among 64 former ministers ordered by the Constitutional Court to repay salaries drawn after Parliament's dissolution. He admitted wrongdoing and settled the money owed. 

At 50, Kalaba presents himself as a candidate of conviction and continuity, a self-styled underdog wagering that a message of unity and integrity will cut through in a crowded and quarrelsome 2026 field. Yet the question lingers: with each election cycle bringing a new party and a fresh reinvention, how long can name recognition and political longevity alone keep him relevant?