Zambia: Incumbent President Hichilema re-elected with 60% of the vote, according to the electoral commission

It's now official: incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema has been re-elected in the first round of voting in Zambia with 60% of the vote, the electoral commission announced. This re-election comes after he first came to power in 2021. A champion of significant reforms during his first term, particularly in the economic sector, the 64-year-old Hichilema failed to fully convince the population, who are still waiting to see the impact of these measures. Zambians have therefore overwhelmingly placed their trust in him for another term, following an election marred by clashes.

The result was hardly in doubt as the ballots were counted. Hakainde Hichilema, President of Zambia, will officially begin a second term with the ambition of continuing the country's economic recovery. He obtained 60% of the vote with 2,965,326 votes.

Lower inflation, strengthened foreign exchange reserves, 50,000 jobs created in the civil service: these are important measures put forward by the camp of the re-elected president, while upon his arrival in 2021, Zambia had become a few months earlier the first African state to default on its external debt following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The benefits of these reforms are still too little felt by the population. Politically, the opposition has accused the government of intimidation, restrictions, and arbitrary arrests.

Hakainde Hichilema, who campaigned on his economic record, convinced a majority of the nearly 9 million Zambians who went to the polls, defeating 13 other candidates. The most serious contender, Bryan Mundubile, garnered 38% of the vote with 1,856,217 ballots. The president of the NRPUP (National Reconciliation, Unity and Prosperity Party) was unable to reverse the trend at the end of a campaign marred by violence and the arrest of six opposition figures in a crackdown on election day.