Hichilema Wins Re-election as Zambia’s President With 60% of Votes

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has been re-elected for a second five-year term after securing about 60 per cent of the vote in the country’s presidential election.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia announced Hichilema as the winner in the early hours of Tuesday, August 18, following an election that was held on August 13 and witnessed a tense vote-counting process.

Hichilema, who contested under the United Party for National Development (UPND), defeated his closest challenger, Brian Mundubile of the Patriotic Front-led Tonse Alliance, who secured about 38 per cent of the vote.

The result gives Hichilema another five-year mandate after he first came to power in 2021, when he defeated then-President Edgar Lungu and ended the Patriotic Front’s period in government.

The 2026 election, however, was not without controversy. Vote counting was temporarily suspended after election officials were attacked and ballot papers were reportedly stolen in some areas. The Electoral Commission later resumed the counting after security concerns were addressed.

The commission had also warned candidates against prematurely declaring themselves winners while the official results were still being collated.

Mundubile and his supporters raised concerns about possible irregularities in the electoral process and called for an independent investigation into some of the incidents recorded during the election. Hichilema’s camp rejected the allegations.

Despite the tensions surrounding the election, the European Union observer mission described the voting as largely peaceful while raising concerns about restrictions on freedoms and what it considered an uneven campaign environment.

Hichilema’s victory comes as Zambia continues to deal with significant economic challenges, including high living costs, electricity shortages and pressure on household incomes.

His first term was marked by efforts to restructure Zambia’s debt after the country became the first African nation to default on its sovereign debt during the COVID-19 era. His administration also worked with international lenders, including the International Monetary Fund, while promoting investment in the country’s mining sector.

The president has presented his economic record as a key reason voters should give him another term, pointing to improvements in debt management and economic stability.

However, critics have argued that the benefits of the economic reforms have not been felt equally by ordinary Zambians, particularly amid persistent concerns over the cost of living.

Hichilema now faces pressure to translate the economic reforms of his first term into stronger growth, more jobs and improved living conditions during his second term.

The president has also set ambitious targets for Zambia’s mining sector, particularly its copper industry. His administration wants to significantly increase copper production as global demand for the metal continues to rise, especially because of its importance to renewable energy, electric vehicles and other technologies.

Zambia’s mineral wealth has also made the country increasingly important to both Western and Chinese investors, with competition for access to critical minerals growing across Africa.

Hichilema’s re-election therefore gives his administration another five years to pursue its economic agenda while also addressing concerns over living costs, electricity supply, employment and political freedoms.

With the official results now announced, attention is expected to turn to the response from the opposition and whether any formal legal challenges will be filed against the election outcome.