SANF 26 no 8 August by Clarkson Mambo
President Hakainde Hichilema was elected for a second five-year term of office following general elections held on 13 August 2026 that were endorsed by regional and international observers as broadly peaceful and well organised, underscoring the growing maturity of democracy in Zambia and southern Africa.
According to final results announced by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), Hichilema polled 2,965,326 votes, representing 61.5 percent of the total, ahead of his closest challenger, Brian Mundubile of the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP) who garnered 1,856,217 votes or 38.5 percent.
A total of 5,028,616 ballots were counted, of which 4,902,050 were valid and 126,566 were rejected.
Hichilema’s tally comfortably exceeded the 50-percent-plus-one threshold required under Zambia’s Constitution for a presidential candidate to be declared outright winner, meaning the country avoided a costly run-off.
“I, therefore, declare Hichilema Hakainde S, to be president-elect of the Republic of Zambia this 18th day of August 2026,” ECZ Chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis said.
Reacting to his victory, Hichilema thanked the nation for the confidence in his leadership.
“This election showed the world who we are: a nation of peace, a nation of law and order, a democratic nation that settles our differences at the ballot box, and nowhere else,” he said.
The Zambian leader pledged to ensure that all Zambians benefit from his development policies irrespective of their political affiliations.
“The people have spoken and we now turn our focus to building even greater peace and prosperity, and we remain One Zambia, One Nation, One people.”
In a message before the final results were announced, Mundubile urged his supporters to “remain calm and remain peaceful. Do not take the law into your own hands.”
The other 12 candidates on the presidential ballot each failed to garner more than 20,000 votes, underscoring how far the race had consolidated around the UPND Alliance and the Tonse–Pamodzi Alliance led by Mundibile.
Results from five constituencies, representing 84,224 votes, were still outstanding at the time of the declaration, which the electoral commission said would be of no material effect to the outcome.
The ECZ was yet to release full results for the parliamentary elections.
Voter turnout was recorded at 57.23 percent, with 5,028,616 of the 8,786,300 registered voters casting ballots, a modest showing given the scale of the three-month campaign and the significance of the election as the first held under the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act 2025, which introduced sweeping changes to the country’s electoral architecture.
The reforms expanded the National Assembly from 156 to 226 constituency-based seats and created 40 proportional representation (PR) seats reserved for 20 women, 15 youth and five persons with disabilities
These PR seats are not presidential appointments. They are allocated to political parties based on their share of the national vote, using pre-submitted party lists.
This system, the ECZ says, “broadens democratic participation by enhancing inclusivity and ensuring improved representation of women, youths and persons with disabilities.”
The amendment also introduced a constitutional ceiling on presidential nominations, limiting nominated MPs to no more than 11, or five percent of constituency-based seats. This measure curbs executive influence and reinforces the primacy of elected representation.
The National Assembly now includes the Vice President, Speaker and two Deputy Speakers, completing the revised structure.
Regional and international observer missions largely endorsed the elections as credible while flagging governance gaps for attention before Zambia’s next election.
The SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) observed that the political environment in most areas of deployment was generally peaceful and that most stakeholders consulted considered the environment an improvement compared with the 2021 elections.
It also noted several positive practices, including the preparedness of the ECZ, transparent verification and custody of electoral materials, and the functioning of conflict-management committees.
The SEOM, however, described the continued absence of a law governing political party funding and accountability as “the most significant structural gap in the framework governing these elections,” and further recommended reforms to media freedom, the secrecy of the ballot and the timing of future electoral amendments to allow adequate preparation.
SEOMs aim to benchmark regional elections against the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, a set of regional standards adopted in 2004 and updated in 2015, to promote credible, transparent, and peaceful democratic elections across member states of the Southern African Development Community.
Several countries in the region including Malawi, Botswana, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa have held credible elections in the past three years.
The Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC Countries (ECF-SADC) called on “all electoral stakeholders to exercise restraint and address all grievances through the legally established mechanisms,” after the ECZ briefly suspended counting on 14 August over security concerns.
The Joint African Union–COMESA Election Observation Mission (AU-COMESA EOM) commended Zambians for exercising their democratic right but cautioned that “the integrity of the results management process depends on strict adherence to the legal framework,” pointing also to Zambia’s continuing lack of legislation regulating political parties.
Hichilema’s victory caps a campaign built around the broad UPND Alliance, which grew to 15 member parties ahead of the vote, including late additions such as a Patriotic Front (PF) faction led by Miles Sampa.
The alliance campaigned on economic stabilisation, job creation, debt restructuring milestones and the 5 June signing of a law-making free education a legal right, though it faced criticism over high food prices and restrictions on outdoor rallies.
Mundubile, by contrast, led the Tonse–Pamodzi Alliance, a merger of the Tonse Alliance and the PF Pamodzi Alliance formed after the ineligibility and subsequent death of former president Edgar Lungu splintered the original opposition coalition.
The Tonse–Pamodzi campaign leaned on pro-poor policies and the infrastructure legacy of former presidents Michael Sata and Lungu, while smaller alliances, the Socialist Party-led People’s Pact under Fred M’membe and the Orange Alliance under Harry Kalaba, offered further, narrower challenges to the UPND’s dominance. sardc.net