WEEKEND POLITICAL DISCOURSE WITH FRANCIS CHIPALO
How’s ‘Diffikoti’ Thomas Sipalo for Mtendere ward?
21st June, 2025 – Lusaka
It has been a while since I shared my thoughts on people seeking for public office ahead of 2026 general elections.
Picking up from where I ended last time, which is Munali, a constituency that I live in, I want to draw your attention to one candidate, a prominent comedian Thomas Sipalo who is famously known as Diffikoti in the entertainment industry.
No doubt him and his colleague Bikiloni (Levy Ngoma) made us laugh back in the days during the time of Muvi TV. The entertainment industry cannot be complete without mentioning the two.
Whilst Bikiloni maintains his comedy, Sipalo on the other hand showed interest for public office and he in 2021 stood as an independent MP for the Munali parliamentary seat where he came out second, with UPND’s Mike Mposha grabbing the seat.
The comedian did manage to get a good number of votes such that some members of the public thought he could have won that election, but he didn’t unfortunately.
Moving with a tractor during his campaigns, he was no doubt a crowd puller especially in Mtendere and Kalingalinga township – one of two wards deemed to be komboni (ghetto) in Munali constituency.
Others are Kamanga, Chainda and Kaunda Square, although these areas are surrounded by suburbs (mayadi) such as Avondale, Chelstone, and Salama park just to mention but a few.
The self-proclaimed komboni president made some political ‘noise’ here and there and he still does that upto now as evidenced by postings on his Facebook page and other social media platforms.
Diffikoti is particularly famous in Mtendere ward and it’s neighbor Kalingalinga where his humour (comedy) is enjoyed by many, including me. The guy is a great entertainer no doubt.
His agenda for the “Kombonians”, as he often refers to them is commendable. The guy appears to know the challenges his fellow Kombonians face on a daily basis.
To be honest, if Sipalo stood as Mtendere ward councillor today, tomorrow or any other day, he can definitely scoop the seat with no doubt and he can definitely deliver well for the people as their councillor.
But to have him as an MP in parliament, I have my reservations about that. I think he still has a lot to learn as a politician especially on the roles of an MP. Listening to him on media platforms (radio and TV) about his agenda for Munali, the man shows a lot of ignorance and can be highly misleading to the public.
My challenge with him is his fake and unrealistic campaign promises.
We have many like him who think winning an election is about donating solar lights at a public facility or donating soya chunks and mealie meal to an orphanage. Those kind of politics is old school and should not be tolerated this time around.
What people need is issue – based politics which will bring about meaningful change and development in the country.
A constituency like Munali needs a leader who will serve the interest of both people from the ghetto and surbubs kwamana.
Next year’s elections presents an opportunity for Munalians to elect that person as their representative in parliament, but they should be careful in the choice of a candidate because if not, they will take Lusaka play house to parliament and later on begin regretting.
My opinion!
Look out for another article next Saturday.
Email your comments to: francischipalo@rocketmail.com
