EDITORIAL | Opposition Unity Alone Will Not Defeat Hichilema

🇿🇲 EDITORIAL | Opposition Unity Alone Will Not Defeat Hichilema

As we moves steadily toward the 2026 general election, a difficult truth continues to stare the opposition in the face. President Hakainde Hichilema remains in a stronger political position than many of his critics would like to admit. Social media noise does not change electoral mathematics. Angry Facebook posts and circulating WhatsApp voice notes may energise supporters, but elections are decided through organisation, strategy and numbers.

A convenient explanation has therefore emerged within opposition circles. It is repeated so frequently it now passes for political wisdom: if only the opposition united, Hichilema would lose. This idea has become a comforting myth for those who would rather complain than confront deeper weaknesses in their own political approach.

But unity alone has never guaranteed victory. Zambia’s own political history offers evidence. During the 2021 general election, several parties contested the race separately. They did not merge into a single political vehicle. But Hichilema defeated the incumbent by a wide margin. The same pattern appears elsewhere in the region. Elections are not won through emotional alliances but through disciplined strategy, compelling messaging and a clear understanding of voter behaviour.

Unfortunately, strategy is precisely what the opposition appears to lack. Their campaign message today can be reduced to a single slogan: “Mulinjala muchalo,” there is hunger in the country. Yes, many citizens are struggling economically. This reality cannot be denied. But assuming that hardship automatically translates into votes is not political strategy. It is wishful thinking dressed up as analysis.

The electorate eventually asks a simple question: if the incumbent is to be removed, who exactly replaces him? Which opposition leader today has crafted a message capable of inspiring the country? Which party has built the machinery necessary to convert frustration into votes? At the moment, convincing answers remain difficult to find.

Even if opposition politicians squeezed themselves into one giant alliance tomorrow, the fundamental problem would remain unchanged. The challenge is not merely fragmentation. It is the absence of ideas. Politics cannot be built on complaints alone. Adding zero to zero still produces zero.

While critics spend their energy attacking, President Hichilema has been focusing on something far more consequential: understanding the electorate. Politics ultimately comes down to arithmetic. Every campaign begins with the voter register. The President appears to recognise that Zambia’s fastest-growing electoral bloc is Generation Z, young voters entering the political system for the first time.

These voters consume politics differently. They live online. They respond to cultural cues, humour and digital language rather than traditional political speeches. Messaging aimed at this group increasingly travels through music, memes and social media trends. The slogan “Salt Sana” did not appear by accident. It is designed to move quickly through youth culture, spreading organically through platforms where younger voters spend their time.

Meanwhile, much of the opposition remains stuck in a political style that belongs to another era. Press briefings filled with anger, microphones pointed at half-empty rooms and endless denunciations rarely build the kind of momentum required to win elections.

Even more puzzling is the opposition’s failure to mobilise voter blocs that could realistically challenge the ruling party. Consider those who supported the promise “Bally Will Fix It” in 2021. Some of those voters feel hesitant today. They represent a ready-made constituency for any opposition capable of organising them through credible leadership and disciplined messaging. Yet little effort appears to have been made to build a coherent political home for these voters.

Another group exists among older voters who historically never trusted Hichilema in the first place. With careful coalition building and strategic outreach, this bloc could influence electoral dynamics. Instead of mobilising such constituencies, opposition politicians frequently spend their time fighting one another, weakening their own credibility in the process.

The uncomfortable truth is that elections are not won through anger alone. They are won through political intelligence. At present, the ruling party appears to be consolidating two important pillars simultaneously: its existing support base and a growing wave of younger voters entering the electorate.

If the opposition continues along its current path: divided, reactive and intellectually unprepared, the next election may not simply result in defeat. It could become a political demolition. And when the results are eventually announced, many of the same voices shouting today will likely claim surprise and rigging.

But the warning signs are already visible.

President Hichilema appears to be studying the chessboard carefully. The opposition, by contrast, still seems to be arguing about where the chessboard is.

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