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President Hakainde Hichilema has described the 2026 general elections campaigns which saw his re-election as tough and promised to continue with economic development through hard work.
President Hichilema said the campaigns tested the resolve of his government but that Zambians chose stability and progress over division.
In his acceptance speech for his for second term reelection, President Hichilema said the mandate was a call to work harder for every household.
He noted that the last five years laid the foundation for growth, citing free education, expanded Constituency Development Fund (CDF), Cash-for-Work, and timely payment of farmers as key interventions that improved livelihoods across the country’s 10 provinces, 116 districts and 226 constituencies.
President Hichilema said government would build on those gains by attracting more investment to grow the economy, create jobs, and increase treasury revenue to fund social programmes for the young, retirees, and persons living with disabilities.
“That’s how we understand amelioration of the cost of living. There’s a million of these measures and your government, this government, will continue doing so. Economic expansion remains the only way to sustain reliefs for citizens,” he said.
Read More: President Hichilema reacts to election victory
On governance, the President emphasized that public office should be guided by national interest, emphasizing that leaders should subordinate personal interest to the needs of the 21 million Zambians who entrusted them with power.
“Public office is not competition to beat each other down physically to match at each other. No. It’s competition to serve through an election process like what we’ve gone through. We must respect the outcome and avoid provocation,” he said.
President Hichilema called for responsible celebrations and for citizens to protect one another as brothers, sisters and neighbors as there was no winner or loser but only Zambia as a country which had won.
Turning to security, the Head of State issued a stern warning against groups using militia tactics to pursue political power, saying such conduct has no place in Zambia’s democracy.
“Lawlessness has no place in this country. This country has opportunities for all. But amongst those opportunities lawlessness is not one of them. Absolutely not. Stability is essential for development,” he warned.
President Hichilema said government had a constitutional duty to protect every citizen and will defend peace, uphold the constitution, and ensure that differences in opinion do not degenerate into violence.
“To bring a culture of guns in our country, militia behavior, what we see in other regions is urgent to us. And I have said before that stability, peace, security, stability is the ingredient, is the environment, operating environment for development,” he said.
The Head of State further urged public sector workers to embrace a culture of hard work and accountability, saying service delivery must be measured by results delivered each day, not just hours worked.
President Hichilema thanked Zambians for their trust and pledged that his administration would continue closing gaps only government can address, with the goal of ensuring progress reaches every community and every household.
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