Zambia’s Hichilema wins re-election with around 60 percent of vote
LUSAKA — Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has secured re-election, winning around 60 percent of votes cast in last week’s general election, the country’s electoral commission announced on Tuesday.
The result, according to Africanews, follows a campaign in which critics said the contest had been tightly managed by the sitting government. Opposition figures had raised concerns during the campaign about the conduct of the vote, though the electoral commission’s announcement confirmed the margin of victory.
Hichilema first rose to the presidency in 2021, when he defeated Edgar Lungu of the Patriotic Front as the candidate of the United Party for National Development (UPND). That election was widely viewed as a rare democratic transfer of power in Zambia, where incumbents have historically struggled to hand over to rivals. Before entering politics, Hichilema built a career in private equity and business.
Zambia, a landlocked southern African nation of roughly 20 million people, has experienced a turbulent political history since independence from Britain in 1964. The country operates as a multi-party democracy under a presidential system, and elections are administered by an independent electoral commission. Several previous polls have been disputed by losing parties, and national politics have long been shaped by competition between the UPND and the Patriotic Front.
Formal complaints from rival candidates are expected to be examined in the days following the announcement, in line with procedures under Zambian electoral law.
Sources
This report was written from coverage published by the following news organisations. Follow the links for the original reporting.
- Africanews — Zambia's Hichilema wins re-election with 60% of vote
- africanews.com — Zambia's Hichilema wins re-election with 60% of vote
- Citizen Digital — Zambia's Hichilema wins re-election with 60% of vote
- © Gianluigi Guercia, AFP — Zambia's President Hichilema wins re-election with big economic promises
