Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has been re-elected for a second five-year term, winning outright in the first round of the August 13 vote. The Electoral Commission of Zambia declared the result early on Tuesday, August 18, after a count that was briefly suspended amid reports of violence against polling staff.
The result in numbers
- Hakainde Hichilema (UPND): 2,965,326 votes, or about 60.5% of valid ballots.
- Brian Mundubile (NRPUP, Tonse Alliance): 1,856,222 votes, about 37.9%.
- Margin: roughly 1.1 million votes. No other candidate reached 1%.
- Turnout: about 57% of 8.8 million registered voters, down sharply from 2021.
Hichilema, 64, needed more than half of the valid votes to avoid a runoff. It was his seventh run for the presidency; he first won in 2021, when he unseated Edgar Lungu in a landslide.
A bigger parliament
The election was the first under a constitutional amendment that enlarged the National Assembly. Constituency seats rose from 156 to 226, and 40 new proportional seats are reserved for women, young people and people with disabilities. Provisional figures give the governing UPND a clear majority, with the opposition NRPUP the largest challenger.
Disputes and observers
The campaign ended in acrimony. On election night police arrested 11 people, including opposition figures, in a raid the government said targeted “militia activity”; the opposition said it was an attack on its leader’s home. Counting was halted for hours on August 14 after reports of ballot theft and assaults on polling staff.
Mundubile alleged that result forms from some polling stations had been altered and called for an independent investigation. The European Union’s observation mission said voting and counting were generally transparent, but that late legal changes, unequal campaign conditions and limits on freedoms had tilted the playing field.
What Hichilema’s second term must deliver
Zambia is Africa’s second-largest copper producer, and the government is betting on a mining expansion to lift growth and repay creditors after the country’s 2020 default. During the campaign, however, the economy and the cost of living dominated voters’ concerns. The new term will be judged on whether higher copper output turns into lower prices, steadier electricity and more work for Zambia’s young population.
Lungu, who was barred by the courts from standing again, died in 2025, and a dispute over his burial featured in the campaign. His absence left the opposition to rally behind Mundubile, a first-time presidential candidate, whose strong showing suggests a more competitive landscape ahead of 2031.