OPPOSITION’S GREATEST ENEMY IS ITSELF, SAYS KOMBONI PRESIDENT
Lusaka… Tuesday October 7, 2025 – Munali strongman and political commentator Thomas Sipalo, popularly known as Komboni President, has said the biggest challenge facing Zambia’s opposition is not the ruling UPND, but the opposition’s own internal divisions and greed for power.
Speaking in a statement, Sipalo lamented that senior opposition leaders were too driven by self-interest and personal ambition, with many aspiring to lead while refusing to be led by others.
He noted that this attitude had led to the downfall of alliances such as the United Kwacha Alliance (UKA), which collapsed under the weight of competing egos and self-serving ambitions.
According to him, the formation of the Tonse Alliance had initially given many Zambians hope for change, but it seemed to have been merely a rebranded version of UKA, still composed of the same leaders and plagued by the same problems of greed and disunity.
The Komboni ‘President’ questioned how the opposition could hope to win an election when unity was consistently undermined by personal ambition.
He emphasized that with only a few months left before the elections, each senior politician wanted to be president, making it impossible to agree on a single candidate who could unite the opposition.
He further expressed disappointment that the insatiable greed and appetite for power among senior politicians had distorted the country’s political environment, noting that their behavior had negatively influenced many young politicians.
Mr. Sipalo observed that no senior politician appeared willing to follow another’s leadership, insisting that all wanted to lead.
He added that this was evidence that elderly politicians had failed to provide unity of purpose, and suggested that a new generation of young, untainted leaders should take charge of Zambia’s political future.
In his remarks, he also echoed leadership author Robin Sharma’s sentiment, stating that “ego is the worst enemy of success.”
Meanwhile, Sipalo asserted that the real obstacle for the opposition in Zambia was not the ruling UPND, but rather the greed and refusal of senior politicians to unite behind a single leader.