Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema took the oath for a second term on Tuesday and told a packed Lusaka stadium that the next five years would focus on growth after what he called the hard work of his first mandate. Thousands of supporters in the red of his UPND party filled the stands, with a handful of African leaders looking on, as he promised expansion, opportunity and prosperity for the country.
The swearing-in came after tense August 13 elections that officials said he won with 60 percent of the vote, ahead of former provincial minister Brian Mundubile on 38 percent. The contest drew allegations of intimidation, a tilt toward the government and curbs on the opposition, a blow to Zambia’s standing as one of southern Africa’s more settled democracies. Mundubile, the main opposition runner-up, was not there. He is in custody on treason charges that he and his camp reject.
Hichilema, a 64-year-old businessman, is widely credited with pulling Zambia through a recovery after the 2020 sovereign default. Market-leaning reforms, falling inflation and stronger reserves marked his first term, along with the end of the death penalty and free primary and secondary schooling. Critics say ordinary households have yet to feel the change. More than 70 percent of the country’s 22 million people still live on less than three dollars a day, according to World Bank figures. Copper remains the backbone, accounting for about 70 percent of export earnings, with China a major investor and Zambia’s largest bilateral creditor.
He acknowledged the squeeze on living costs and said the new term was about moving from stability to growth so people from every background could share in opportunity. Political differences, he said, were part of democracy, but the chase for power should never cost peace or lives.
Security forces raided Mundubile’s home on August 14, a day after polling, saying they were after a suspected militia. His NRPUP alliance denied the claim. A former cabinet minister was shot dead in the operation and 11 people from Mundubile’s camp were arrested. Mundubile, 55, and running mate Makebi Zulu later surrendered on August 27. Their lawyer said at the weekend they face treason charges, which they deny. Both men have roots in the Patriotic Front of the late Edgar Lungu, Hichilema’s predecessor and old rival.
Hichilema himself was charged with treason after losing to Lungu in 2016, accused of failing to give way to the presidential motorcade, and spent four months in a maximum-security prison before the case was dropped. Claims persist that room for dissent narrowed after he took office in 2021. Zambia has, since independence in 1964 under Kenneth Kaunda, often been seen as a place of relatively peaceful transfers of power. reports says that the second-term pledge now sits against that record, a copper-driven economy still short of relief for many households, and an opposition leader awaiting trial.
