Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema secured a second consecutive 5-year term, facing a stronger-than-anticipated challenge from the opposition leader amid public discontent over persistent hardships despite economic improvements. According to the election commission’s results announced early on Tuesday, Hichilema garnered around 60% of valid votes, while his main rival, Brian Mundubile, received approximately 38%. The commission’s chairperson, Mwangala Zaloumis, officially declared Hichilema as the president-elect of Zambia on August 18, 2026.
This election marked Hichilema’s seventh bid for the presidency, benefiting from the advantages of being the incumbent, while it was Mundubile’s first attempt at the country’s leadership. The 64-year-old Hichilema campaigned on his economic achievements since assuming office during the debt crisis of 2021, emphasizing Zambia’s significance in the global competition for critical minerals between China and the United States.
Despite a relatively calm lead-up to the August 13 election, tensions escalated after the voting. International observers, including the European Union, noted that while the election was mostly peaceful, there were constraints on fundamental freedoms throughout the broader electoral process. The EU observation mission’s chief, Michael McNamara, highlighted late legal alterations, uncertainty, and unequal campaign conditions as factors that skewed the playing field.
Following the election, authorities detained 11 individuals, including prominent opposition figures, in a raid involving gunfire while Mundubile was present. Vote-counting was briefly suspended by the electoral commission due to reports of violence against polling staff and the theft of ballot papers. Amid allegations of result tampering, Mundubile called for an urgent independent investigation, a claim refuted by Hichilema’s supporters.
The Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed unease over the army’s involvement in the vote tallying process, citing that maintaining order during elections falls within the jurisdiction of the Zambia Police Service. The opposition is expected to contest the results through legal channels, although the likelihood of success is uncertain, as per Greg Musiker, a Zambia analyst at advisory firm Signal Risk.
While isolated political unrest may arise in the following days, widespread upheaval is not anticipated, providing a glimpse of the post-election landscape in Zambia.