🇿🇲 BRIEFING | Hichilema Intensifies Internal Mobilisation as Campaign Enters New Phase
President Hakainde Hichilema spent Sunday deepening the UPND’s election machinery rather than addressing outdoor campaign rallies, holding a series of closed-door engagements with party structures, parliamentary candidates and officials as the ruling party prepares for the August 13 General Election.
Meeting party leaders and candidates on the Copperbelt, Hichilema framed the election as a choice between continuity and reversal, arguing that voters would ultimately decide between preserving the gains made since 2021 or returning to the political and economic conditions that existed before the UPND entered office.
“The election presents a clear choice between two Zambias: a Zambia moving forward, or the Zambia we inherited in 2021,” the President told party members during the engagement
The meetings form part of a broader strategy emerging from the ruling party following last week’s launch of the UPND Alliance Manifesto at Mulungushi International Conference Centre. Rather than immediately embarking on large-scale public rallies, Hichilema has focused on strengthening internal structures, aligning campaign messaging and preparing candidates for what is expected to be an intense final stretch before polling day.
The Copperbelt engagement carried particular political significance. The province remains one of Zambia’s most influential electoral battlegrounds and has recently become the focus of heightened political activity from both the ruling party and the opposition.
While opposition candidate Brian Mundubile drew supporters to Kitwe over the weekend, Hichilema’s attention remained on consolidating the party’s organisational base and sharpening campaign coordination.
The President had shifted his focus northwards. Addressing party structures and candidates in Muchinga Province, Hichilema again emphasised unity and discipline, urging members to work collectively toward securing victory while sustaining the development agenda the UPND intends to present to voters.
The engagements suggest a campaign entering a new phase. With the manifesto now launched and candidates formally adopted across the country, the ruling party appears focused on organisation before mobilisation, ensuring its structures are aligned before the campaign moves fully onto public platforms and mass rallies.
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© The People’s Brief | Francine Lilu