HH Wins 2021 Presidential Election

United Party for National Development leader Hakainde Hichilema has been declared the next president of Zambia after beating incumbent President Edgar Lungu in this year’s general elections. The opposition candidate beat Mr Lungu by a margin of 996,556 votes. 

Official results announced by the Electoral Commission of Zambia this morning showed Hichilema taking home 2,810,757 votes after 155 of the country’s 156 constituencies had been counted. The ECZ is currently still waiting for results from Mandevu constituency to be confirmed. 

President Lungu came in second place, with 1,814,201 votes, followed by Democratic Party candidate Harry Kalaba and Andyford Banda of the People’s Alliance for Change in third and fourth respectively. 

HH received widespread support from across the people of Zambia, winning out in six of the country’s ten provinces. He delivered a strong performance in the key battlegrounds of Lusaka and Copperbelt Provinces and also received support from areas traditionally loyal to the ruling Patriotic Front, such as in Eastern and Luapula provinces. 

Voter turnout has been described as unprecedentedly high, with an estimated 71 % of registered voters turning out to cast their ballots. Despite a few isolated cases of violence, the election has largely been considered a success, with monitoring missions commenting on the fair and transparent nature of the democratic process. The European Union described it as a “technically well arranged process”, while the Commonwealth mission determined that the counting procedure was “generally peaceful, procedural, orderly and free from interference”.

This election marks HH’s sixth attempt at the presidency and comes at a time of deepening crisis in Zambia. The 59-year-old businessman inherits a dwindling economy, rising youth unemployment and worsening levels of political violence, spurred on by the cadreism of the ruling Patriotic Front 

The opposition leader has repeatedly called for peace during the electoral process, tweeting earlier today “With victory in sight, I would like to ask for calm from our members and supporters. Let us be the change we voted for”. 

Hichilema ran on a platform of bringing change to the people of Zambia, both in terms of economic outlook but also in returning the norms of good governance to the country’s democratic institutions. Under President Lungu, the past five years have been characterised by severe democratic backsliding and what Amnesty International has described as “an increasingly brutal crackdown on human rights”.

HH is seeking to undo this damage during the course of his presidency. Earlier he wrote on Facebook, “It has been an arduous journey, this is part of the reason we are seeking office, to do things differently. We voted for change so that the status quo is not maintained. I am very hopeful that together we can make the change that we voted for and aspire.”