Zambia votes with Hichilema favored to win second term
By Chris Mfula
LUSAKA, Aug 13 (Reuters) – Zambians voted on Thursday in a national election that will test whether President Hakainde Hichilema's economic gains since a pandemic-era debt crisis are enough to win him a second term.
Hichilema, a former opposition leader who took office in 2021, inherited a country that had defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2020. His government has spent much of its term negotiating a restructuring and trying to steer the economy back to recovery. Analysts say Hichilema is the favorite, carrying the advantages of incumbency and facing an opposition that has struggled to unite behind a single challenger.
Brian Mundubile, running for president for the first time, has still drawn sizable crowds in some areas, especially among voters who say the recovery has not reached them. The campaign has highlighted a familiar divide between national indicators and everyday experience.
Zambia is Africa's second-largest copper producer after Democratic Republic of Congo, and its mineral wealth has made the election closely watched beyond the continent. China is already a major investor in the sector, while the United States has been looking for ways to expand its access. Earlier this year, negotiations over up to $2 billion in U.S. health funding stalled after Zambia said Washington tried to tie the money to mining deals.
The country of 22 million people is voting in presidential, parliamentary and local elections at the same time. Polls close at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT), with results expected by Monday.
In Lusaka, James Phiri, a 29-year-old student at the University of Zambia, said he voted for Hichilema, widely known as HH, because of the president's attention to students. “I voted for HH because he cares about us,” he said. “Things are better after he re-introduced meal allowances.” Hichilema restored those allowances, which had been canceled by the previous administration.
But many voters say the cost of living remains painful. Analysts describe that as Hichilema's biggest weakness in the race, even though the macroeconomic picture has improved. The International Monetary Fund sees growth at 4.3% this year, up from 3.8% last year, while inflation has dropped to its lowest level in years. Those gains, however, have not always been easy to see in ordinary households.
Samuel Chitendwe, a 47-year-old welder and father of four, said he voted for Mundubile. “I have just come from firing someone. We are tired of stories about economic progress,” he said.
The run-up to the vote has also been marked by allegations of political repression, which the government denies. Freedom House, the U.S. nonprofit group, rates Zambia as “partly free,” saying opposition parties face “onerous legal and practical obstacles to fair competition.”
A presidential candidate must take more than 50% of the vote to win outright. If no one does, the top two candidates will go to a run-off within 37 days.
(Additional reporting and writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by David Holmes, Toby Chopra and Alison Williams)