For a community that has spent months talking about unity, the events at Gloria Khalwale’s burial in Malinya offered a revealing glimpse of what lies beneath the surface of the Mulembe political family.

The leaders may be walking under the same opposition umbrella, sharing platforms and speaking of a common political future, but yesterday, the smiles briefly gave way to something more difficult to hide: the contest over who should lead, who should follow and, perhaps most importantly, who should have the final word.