Zambia President Hichilema re-elected for second term following contentious polls

Zambia President Hakainde Hichilema has been re-elected for a second five-year term, the Electoral Commission of Zambia announced early Tuesday (August 18, 2026).

He was declared the outright winner of last Thursday’s (August 13) presidential election without the need for a run-off, having secured 61.4% of the five million votes cast.

President Hichilema’s victory follows a closely-watched election which saw vote counting suspended last Friday (August 14), and then restarted hours later under heightened security, after the commission said there had been attacks against some polling station officials and ballot papers had been stolen.

The government also confirmed that several leading opposition figures were arrested on the night of the elections, with police accusing them of posing a threat to state security.

According to the commission, President Hichilema won with 2,965,326 votes and his closest competitor was opposition leader Brian Mundubile, who won 1,856,217 votes, which was about 38% votes.

“I therefore declare, Hichilema Hakainde S, to be President-elect of the Republic of Zambia this 18th day of August, 2026,” commission chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis said.

In a statement issued Tuesday (August 18), Hichilema welcomed the results and thanked Zambians for the reelection, but also reached out to those who voted for the opposition.

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema casts his vote at a polling station in Lusaka, Zambia. File
| Photo Credit:
AP

“To those citizens who preferred the ideas presented by our opponents, we hear you, and we will continue to work for you to ensure that every Zambian benefits from the development we are delivering,” he said in a statement.

There was no immediate reaction from opposition leader Mr. Mundubile who had earlier said his home was raided by police, terming it an attack on his life.

Thursday’s (August 13) election was seen as a test of Mr. Hichilema’s economic recovery plan after the copper-rich nation was plunged into a debt crisis in 2020. Mr. Hichilema was elected in 2021 and oversaw the restructuring of Zambia’s sovereign debt while reining in inflation and stabilising the currency.

International observers, including the European Union, said the election was largely peaceful, but said the “broader electoral process took place in an environment that limited fundamental freedoms.”

“Late legal changes, legal uncertainty, and unequal campaign conditions distorted the playing field,” said Michael McNamara, chief of the EU observation mission.

In a pastoral statement, the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed concern over the deployment of the army during the vote counting “The maintenance of order during elections is constitutionally and statutorily the responsibility of the Zambia Police Service,” the bishops said.