OPINION: UPND TO DIE AFTER HICHILEMA’S TENURE.
By Zambian Watch News Editor.
These General Elections have exposed what, in our view, is a major challenge facing the United Party for National Development (UPND): after President Hakainde Hichilema’s tenure, the party is highly likely to struggle if it fails to build other nationally recognised leaders.
Since campaigns began, we have travelled to 10 provinces.
The only person widely recognised by the masses, in our observation, is President Hakainde Hichilema, followed by the UPND as a political party.
Before we state our findings from the 10 provinces, we want to examine the affairs of the UPND and what we believe could be its lifespan after Hakainde Hichilema.
One observation is that the United Party for National Development appears to have one dominant national figure, apart from Gary Nkombo, whom we found to enjoy notable recognition on the ground
Hakainde Hichilema is the only political figure who consistently commands large crowds and widespread recognition. In our observation, he is followed by Gary Nkombo and then Elvis Nkandu.
Now, truth be told, after Gary Nkombo was reportedly pushed aside within the UPND, Hakainde Hichilema remains the party’s most prominent national figure.
From the 10 provinces we visited, we conducted an informal sample of 500 registered voters.
Out of the 500 respondents, 100 in Chingola indicated they would vote for the opposition, making Chingola the highest among the areas we visited. In the other locations sampled, fewer than 60 respondents expressed support for the opposition.
Based on these observations, we assume that the United Party for National Development and Hakainde Hichilema are well positioned to retain power.
However, after the 2026 General Election, attention will turn to 2031, when Hakainde Hichilema is expected not to contest again because of the constitutional term limit.
One interesting finding from our observations is that once Hichilema’s tenure comes to an end, the UPND could face significant challenges if it does not develop other nationally recognised leaders.
Gary Nkombo appears to be one of the few figures who received consistently positive ratings from people we interacted with across the 10 provinces, apart from Hakainde Hichilema.
© Zambian Watch News.
The problem with this analysis seems to be predicated on a Tonga person to replace HH especially when you mention Gary Nkombo. But there are other people including Alliance partners who can lead UPND after HH.