The Editor Zambia
When a traditional ruler speaks with clarity, politicians would do well to listen.
Paramount Chief Mpezeni IV has delivered a blunt assessment of the current opposition politics in Zambia: “they have nothing new to offer.” 
It was not theatre. It was not partisan sloganeering. It was a sober observation grounded in lived reality.
The Ngoni Chief’s remarks cut through the noise and asked a simple question: “Where is the substance?”
Take the rhetoric of figures such as Brian Mundubile, Makebi Zulu, Harry Kalaba and others. Soundbites and recycled grievances do not amount to a presidential vision. Serious campaigns are built on policy clarity, delivery records, and credible alternatives. On that test, much of the opposition politics messaging appears thin.
The most stinging point made by Paramount Chief Mpezeni IV was not abstract. It was painfully concrete. He reminded those now seeking the presidency under the Tonse Alliance, UKA, and others that many of them served in previous governments during the Patriotic Front (PF) and MMD administrations.
During those tenures, children in his chiefdom sat on classroom floors and on blocks for lack of desks. That was not a metaphor. It was a daily humiliation.
Today, the Chief noted that, that particular indignity has been addressed.
Under the administration of President Hakainde Hichilema, the shortage of desks across Ngoni chiefdom has been resolved. It is a tangible change visible in classrooms, measurable in dignity, and understood by parents.
Politics, at its core, is comparative. Voters weigh what was against what is and what might be. The Chief’s argument is straightforward: those who presided over neglect cannot credibly campaign as agents of transformation without acknowledging their record.
Chief Mpezeni went further, stating plainly that the opposition politics currently lacks a compelling “wow” factor, nothing bold, nothing transformative, nothing capable of stirring voters to replace the incumbent.
In an election climate that demands seriousness, that is a devastating critique.
This is not about personalities. It is about performance. If the opposition wishes to be taken seriously, it must move beyond recycled talking points and produce a coherent national project. Without that, criticism sounds hollow.
Paramount Chief Mpezeni has simply articulated what many in his chiefdom evidently feel: development speaks louder than rhetoric. Considering what is obtaining on the ground, the balance of that argument appears firmly weighted in favour of President Hichilema and the ruling UPND.
