OPPOSITION UNITY IN DOUBT AHEAD OF 2026 ELECTIONS, SAYS LUSAKA LAWYER
Lusaka… Thursday September 11, 2025 – Lusaka lawyer and 2026 aspiring mayoral candidate, Simon Mulenga Mwila, has said that Zambia’s opposition parties remain their own worst enemy as the country heads toward the next general election
Mr. Mwila observed that every election season, the opposition engages in talks about forming a grand coalition to challenge the sitting President.
However, he noted that such efforts consistently collapse after initial meetings, public statements, and promises of unity.
According to him, the main obstacle has been the unwillingness of opposition leaders to rally behind a single leader.
He argued that opposition politicians appear more driven by personal ambition than by national interest.
Mr. Mwila pointed out that many leaders want to be seen as “the chosen one,” even when their support base is too small to make a significant impact.
He explained that this obsession with self-promotion had left President Hakainde Hichilema without a serious challenger as 2026 approaches.
The aspiring mayor further remarked that most opposition parties lack real structures, describing them as “one-man projects” created for bargaining power or financial gain.
He stressed that coalitions have often failed because of mistrust, suspicion of secret deals with the ruling party, and the absence of internal democratic processes.
Mr. Mwila also highlighted the frustrations of ordinary Zambians, saying the public is tired of leaders who speak of change but fail to demonstrate unity.
He warned that clinging to small political outfits while the ruling party consolidates power amounts to a betrayal of the people.
He added that humility was the only way forward for the opposition.
In his view, some leaders must be willing to accept junior positions in a coalition rather than risk total irrelevance.
He emphasized that leadership should be defined by sacrifice, not titles, and that opposition leaders must prove they can govern themselves before convincing the nation that they are ready to govern Zambia.
Simon Mulenga Mwila shares:
Zambia’s opposition is its own worst enemy. Every election season, we hear talk about forming a grand coalition to challenge the sitting president. And every election season, the same story plays out: meetings, statements, promises of unity then silence, betrayal, and collapse. The truth is simple. Our opposition politicians don’t want to be led. They all want to lead, even when it’s clear that only one person can be president at a time.
This obsession with self ambitions over country is the single biggest reason Hakainde Hichilema faces no serious threat as 2026 approaches. Opposition leaders know that, divided, they are weak. They know that splitting the vote hands victory to the incumbent. But ego is stronger than reason. Each one of them believes they are “the chosen one,” even when their political base is too small to fill a classroom.
The problem runs deeper than just ambition. Most of these parties are not really parties at all. They are one-man projects, created to give individuals bargaining power at the negotiation table and get a few coins from “funders”. That’s why coalitions never last because there’s no real structure, no democratic process, and no willingness to sacrifice personal ambition for the bigger picture.
And let’s be honest: many of these leaders don’t trust each other. They suspect one another of cutting secret deals with the ruling party, or of using alliances as stepping stones to future positions. With this level of paranoia and mistrust, how can they ever agree on a single flag bearer?
Meanwhile, ordinary Zambians watch this circus with frustration. People are tired of leaders who talk about change but behave no differently from the ones they criticize. They see politicians clinging to their small political parties while the ruling party consolidates power. It’s a betrayal of the very people they claim to represent and desire to lead.
The reality is harsh but unavoidable: only humility will save the opposition. Someone has to swallow their pride and accept that being number two, three, or even four in a coalition is still better than being irrelevant on their own. Until opposition leaders understand this, Zambia will remain stuck in the cycle of a fractured opposition and an unbeatable incumbent.
Leadership is not about titles. It’s about sacrifice. If the opposition truly wants to offer Zambians an alternative, they must first prove they can lead themselves before asking to lead the nation. 📌
A bird in the hands is worth two in the bush.
I know Nkuku character is already lost.
Basically, you may have something little and you better keep it than throwing while prospecting, because it is not guaranteed that what you are admiring is better of.
Similarly you may blame HH and his UPND on the governance and economy and appreciate a united opposition that shall just come and mess up everything.
This opposition has never told us what they would do differently to improve the economy and well being of the people.What they want is just change and become president.
We saw that UPND was disturbed by draught which caused electricity load shedding and this impacted too much on the economy, but we must be mindful that if it was another party in power, we were definitely going to cry more, with the kind of selfishness we saw in the previous regime.Mr Mwila the characters you are encouraging to work together can’t much UPND.The experiment people are asking for shall cause anarchy and deaths if it works.The reason is they will just fight each other while looting all leaving people suffering.
Those close to people like Tembo, Imboela, etc should sit them down, take them to a primary school, subject them to a vote for head boy/girl, see them loose and tell them that they are not presidential material so that they understand themselves better.
My personal observation is that we don’t have any oposition leader(s) in Zambia today who can articulate convincing solutions to problems being faced by the country. Example no solutions are being. provided on how to end high cost of living. All what citizens hear. is that nshima is a national food thus expecting govt subsidize for mealie meal. Could this be a saleable solution to other parties for them to rally around you, when they already know that
1 Govt coffers can’t afford subsidies
2 Consumption subsidy was done
before under UNIP but created
shortages and even later govts indirectly practiced the same by suppressing maize prices due to farmers but failed to succeed
Let me end by stating that any party that wants to rally others around it must first produce a convincing saleable manifesto outlining solutions to the problems being faced by the country. Mere observation statements on problems faced by citizens without providing solutions to solve the same isn’t convincing enough to win the hearts of people in general and fellow oposition parties in particular.