Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema wins second term

LUSAKA — Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has secured a second term in office with more than 2.9 million votes, according to the electoral authorities.Results released by the election commission in the early hours of Tuesday morning showed that Hichilema received roughly 61.4 percent of valid votes, compared with ⁠38 percent for his main challenger, Brian Mundubile of the National Restoration Party for Unity and Progress (NRPUP).“I therefore declare Hichilema Hakainde to be president-elect of the Republic of Zambia this 18th day of August, 2026,” commission chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis said.It was Hichilema’s seventh run for the presidency, and he was widely expected to win due to the advantages of incumbency, while it was Mundubile’s first bid to become head of state.Hichilema won 2,965,326 votes, far surpassing the constitutionally required 50% plus one threshold of the majority vote.”Thank you Zambia. We are truly humbled by the trust you have placed in our hands, to hold our nation’s highest office and be your servant once more,” Hichilema said in a post on Facebook shortly after Zaloumis declared him president-elect at the national election center in the capital Lusaka.He also told those who had backed his opponents, “We hear you, and we will continue to work for you.”There was no immediate reaction from Mundubile, the opposition leader.Zaloumis said Hichilema had won so convincingly that results from selected polling stations in the remaining five of the country’s 226 constituencies could have no material impact on the outcome.The streets of Lusaka were buzzing well before Hichilema’s victory was announced and remained lively long afterward as people from all walks of life thronged the streets, braving the early morning cold in jubilant celebration.”Mr. President, please continue being the good leader that you are to this country. The people of Zambia have demonstrated once again their confidence and belief in your leadership,” Collins Maoma, the national chairperson of Hichilema’s sponsoring party, the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND), told reporters.Tensions had gripped the country in recent days after a relatively quiet run-up to the August 13 vote.On the night of the election, ⁠authorities arrested 11 people, including leading opposition figures, in a raid that involved an exchange of gunfire, while Mundubile was present.The government said the raid targeted “militia activity”, with those arrested allegedly caught in possession of military-grade weapons meant for an armed insurrection.Mundubile’s National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity rejected that account, saying the raid took place at their leader’s home and left a member of parliament wounded by gunfire.The next day, the electoral commission suspended vote-counting for hours due to ⁠reports of violence against polling staff and the theft of ballot papers.Mundubile said he had received information ⁠about the possible alteration of result forms from ⁠polling stations and called for an urgent independent investigation.Hichilema’s camp said he was lying.International observers, including the European Union, said the election was largely peaceful, but that the “broader electoral process took place in an environment that limited fundamental freedoms”.“Late legal changes, legal uncertainty, and unequal campaign conditions distorted the playing field,” said Michael McNamara, chief of the EU observation mission.Some 5 million votes were cast in the election.Zambia, home to 22 million people and Africa’s second-largest copper producer, has a long record of peaceful transfers of power through the ballot box. Every change of president since the return to multiparty politics in 1991 has been achieved through elections.