Mpundu accuses Tembo of betrayal as cracks widen in the Tonse Alliance

The opposition's post-election reckoning has burst into the open. Tonse Alliance chairman Binwell Mpundu has accused Ezra Tembo of betraying the people who built his political career — the most public rupture inside the alliance since its August defeat.

The row comes weeks after the alliance's presidential ticket collapsed in the first round and its leadership was consumed by the treason case: presidential candidate Brian Mundubile and running mate Makebi Zulu are among eighteen accused currently detained and now suing the State.

With its top leadership in custody or before the courts, the NRPUP and its alliance partners are arguing — in public — over direction, loyalty and who speaks for the opposition. The suspension of secretary general Dr Chris Zumani Zimba earlier this month, after he urged dialogue with President Hichilema, now reads as the first crack rather than an isolated episode.

Analysts say the alliance faces a structural question: wage a long war over the 2026 result through the courts and the streets, or reorganise as a parliamentary opposition with 76 seats. The Mpundu–Tembo quarrel suggests that argument is far from settled.