HH UNDERSTANDS WHERE HIS VICTORY WILL COME FROM

HH UNDERSTANDS WHERE HIS VICTORY WILL COME FROM

The Candidates’ Editorial

As the country inches closer to the 2026 general election, there is a painful truth that many opposition supporters refuse to accept. No matter how loudly they shout on Facebook, no matter how many angry WhatsApp voice notes they circulate, the political mathematics remains the same: Hakainde Hichilema is still in a stronger position to win again.

Yes, we said it.

And no amount of emotional ranting will change that reality.

The most amusing part of Zambia’s opposition politics today is how they comfort themselves with one lazy explanation: “If only the opposition united, HH would lose.”

This argument is repeated so often that it has become political folklore among people who would rather complain than think.

But unity alone has never been the magic formula for electoral victory. During the 2021 Zambian general election, several parties contested the election. They did not merge into one gigantic opposition bus. Yet HH still defeated the incumbent. Even in Malawi, elections have had numerous parties on the ballot paper — but only one opposition movement managed to defeat the ruling establishment.

Elections are not won through emotional group hugs. They are won through strategy, messaging, and understanding voters.

Unfortunately, strategy is exactly what the Zambian opposition seems allergic to.

Instead of serious political thinking, their entire campaign philosophy can be summarized in one tired slogan: “Mulinjala muchalo.” There is hunger in the country.

Yes, people are struggling. Yes, life is hard.

But believing that economic frustration will automatically translate into votes is not strategy. It is wishful thinking mixed with political laziness.

If voters decide to remove HH tomorrow, the obvious question becomes: remove him and replace him with who exactly?

Which opposition leader today has crafted a message powerful enough to inspire the electorate?
Which political party has built a campaign machinery capable of converting anger into votes?

Silence.

Even if every opposition politician in Zambia squeezed themselves into one giant political bus tomorrow, it would still not solve their fundamental problem: a lack of ideas.

After all, adding zero to zero still produces zero.

While the opposition spends its days complaining, HH has quietly been doing something far more dangerous for his critics — studying the voter register.

He knows exactly where his votes will come from.

The opposition, meanwhile, behaves like gamblers who walk into a casino without knowing the rules of the game.

HH’s strategy is increasingly focused on the fastest-growing voting bloc: Generation Z first-time voters.

And while opposition leaders spend their days holding press conferences that nobody watches, HH’s messaging machine is speaking directly to young voters in a language they understand.

The slogan “Salt Sana” did not fall from the sky. It is not accidental.

It is designed to travel quickly through youth culture, through music, through memes, through TikTok videos and online trends. Young voters repeat it, dance to it, post it online, and before you know it the message spreads faster than any traditional political campaign.

Meanwhile, the opposition is still stuck in the 1990s, shouting at microphones in half-empty press briefings and expecting miracles.

Even worse, they have completely failed to identify the other voter blocs that could actually challenge HH.

Take the voters from the 2021 election. These are people who remember the promise “Bally Will Fix It.” Many of them feel disappointed today. They represent a ready-made political constituency that could be mobilized through smart messaging and credible leadership.

But the opposition has done absolutely nothing to organize them.

Then there is the older voting generation — citizens who historically never trusted HH in the first place. With the right leadership and disciplined political strategy, this bloc could also play a decisive role in shaping the next election.

Yet instead of building coalitions around these groups, opposition politicians spend most of their energy fighting each other like schoolboys in a playground.

What the opposition fails to understand is that elections are not won through anger alone.

They are won through political intelligence.

Right now, HH is consolidating two pillars of support: his loyal base and a growing wave of younger voters entering the political system for the first time.

If the opposition continues on its current path — confused, divided, and intellectually lazy — then the next election will not just be a defeat for them.

It will be a political demolition.

And when the results are announced, the same opposition voices that spent months shouting “mulinjala muchalo” will once again pretend to be shocked.

In truth, the warning signs are already there.

The problem is simple.

HH is playing chess.
The opposition is still arguing about where the chessboard is.

© The Candidates 2026
United States of America
Washington, DC