Zambia’s incumbent president has been confirmed for another five years in office. The Electoral Commission announced that he had won around 60 percent of the vote in the election held on August 13, a margin that allowed him to avoid a runoff and extend the mandate he first won in 2021.
He faced a crowded field of thirteen candidates. His main challenger, Brian Mundubile, a former provincial minister running for the presidency for the first time, gathered close to 38 percent of the vote. Mundubile entered the race in May after being chosen as the Tonse Alliance’s candidate to replace Edgar Lungu, who had been ruled ineligible to stand and died in 2025. He was unable to close the gap with the sitting president.
The vote itself was not without turbulence. Violence targeting electoral officials and the theft of already-marked ballots forced the Electoral Commission to briefly suspend the count before it resumed on August 14. Days later, the arrest of about a dozen people, including opposition figures, added to the tension. Authorities said the operation targeted a suspected militia active around the election period, while Mundubile’s camp firmly rejected the accusations, denouncing what it called an attempt at intimidation.
The election was widely seen as a referendum on Hichilema’s first term, during which Zambia’s economy returned to growth after years of severe financial difficulties. His win, secured outright in the first round under the absolute-majority system in place since 2016, gives him a second and final term, as Zambia’s constitution limits the presidency to two five-year mandates.
Hichilema has since been formally sworn in alongside Vice-President Mutale Nalumango for the 2026-2031 term. Foreign leaders, notably from the southern part of the continent, traveled to attend the inauguration, a sign that several neighboring capitals intend to keep close ties with Lusaka in the years ahead.
