Hichilema Wins Second Term in Zambia as Opposition Disputes Election

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has secured a second five-year term after winning about 60% of the presidential vote, but the decisive result has been overshadowed by opposition allegations of irregularities, arrests and concerns over the wider electoral environment.

President Hakainde Hichilema has been re-elected in Zambia, securing around 60% of the vote and defeating his closest challenger, Brian Mundubile, who received about 38%.

The result gives Hichilema, 64, another five years in office after he first won the presidency in 2021, ending years in opposition and five previous unsuccessful attempts to become president.

But while the margin of victory was significant, the election has left Zambia facing questions about the conditions surrounding the vote.

Mundubile has rejected the declared result and says his camp intends to challenge it through the courts.

He has alleged that his party collected evidence of voting irregularities during the election and said the official result did not accurately reflect what happened across the country.

Opposition leader goes into hiding

The dispute has become more serious following reports that Mundubile moved to what his party described as a secure location after receiving threats.

Local reports suggested that he and his running mate, Makebi Zulu, had sought protection in Lusaka amid fears of arrest.

The development followed the arrest of several opposition figures during a security operation in which authorities accused individuals of involvement in an alleged plot against the state.

Mundubile has rejected those allegations, describing them as fabricated.

He has also alleged that armed personnel raided his home, forced their way onto the property and opened fire.

Former minister Mutotwe Kafwaya was reportedly shot during the incident and was later said to be missing.

Authorities have disputed Mundubile’s account and said criminal matters arising from the incident would be dealt with through the courts.

A decisive win, but a difficult democratic question

Hichilema has presented the election as evidence of Zambia’s democratic stability.

After being declared the winner, he thanked voters and said Zambia remained a country where political differences were settled through elections rather than violence.

He also pledged to govern citizens who supported his opponents.

Supporters of the ruling United Party for National Development poured onto the streets of Lusaka following the declaration.

Zambia has long been regarded as one of southern Africa’s more stable multiparty democracies, with changes of government repeatedly taking place through elections since the return to multiparty politics in 1991.

That history makes the controversy surrounding this election particularly important.

The central question is no longer simply whether Hichilema won.

It is whether Zambia can preserve the democratic culture that allowed him to rise from opposition leader to president.

Counting briefly suspended

The Electoral Commission temporarily suspended vote counting and the announcement of results after reports of violence against election officials and the theft of marked ballot papers in some areas.

Counting later resumed.

Regional and international election observers described voting day as largely peaceful, but some raised concerns about developments surrounding the election.

Observers pointed to issues including late electoral reforms, access to the media, political intimidation and the interruption of the counting process.

A Southern African Development Community observer mission also said it had recorded reports of intimidation, assaults, abductions and property damage in several provinces, although some of those claims could not immediately be independently verified.

Hichilema now faces the harder test

The election gives Hichilema political continuity at a critical moment for Zambia.

His government has overseen progress in restructuring the country’s debt and has sought to restore international investor confidence while positioning Zambia for greater growth from its copper industry.

But economic pressure remains part of the political challenge.

For many voters, the second Hichilema administration will ultimately be judged not only on economic statistics or Zambia’s standing with international investors, but on jobs, household incomes, food prices and the cost of living.

His first victory represented the success of a longtime opposition politician who had spent years challenging an entrenched political establishment.

His second victory creates a different test.

Hichilema is now the incumbent.

And Zambia will be watching closely to see whether the democratic freedoms that helped bring him to power remain as strong under his own government.