“Reform Is Working. Now Comes the Payoff.” – HH
By Digest Reporter.
LUSAKA, In a calm but confident address to Parliament on Friday, Hakainde Hichilema made his clearest case yet that Zambia’s reform agenda is beginning to yield results, while candidly acknowledging that many citizens are still waiting to feel meaningful relief in their daily lives. Reporting on the application of national values and principles, the President framed his leadership as a deliberate shift from rhetoric to delivery, arguing that institutional repair, not quick fixes, is the surest path to lasting progress.
Mr. Hichilema pointed to concrete gains: the return of more than 2.5 million children to school under free education, a forty-fold increase in the Constituency Development Fund since 2021, expanded access to clean water and health services, and the recruitment of tens of thousands of teachers and health workers. These, he said, are no longer policy intentions but visible changes. He pointed at classrooms with desks, clinics within reach, safer markets, and communities with new economic activity as evidence.
The President placed equal emphasis on governance and civic responsibility. Paying taxes, rejecting political violence, and respecting the rule of law were described as acts of patriotism essential to sustaining democracy. He cited the sharp reduction in cadreism and faster prosecution of corruption cases alongside record asset recoveries as evidence that the state is enforcing accountability rather than merely promising it.
On the economy, Mr. Hichilema struck a note of cautious realism. Inflation is easing, the kwacha has strengthened, and investment is rising, he said, but he conceded that household pressure remains high.
His assurance to citizens was that macroeconomic stability, now largely secured, will increasingly translate into lower costs of living, higher incomes, and broader opportunities particularly as local-content rules and procurement reforms steer growth toward Zambian businesses.
With general elections approaching in August, the President closed with an appeal for restraint, unity, and peaceful political competition. It was a speech aimed less at applause than at reassurance: that Zambia is moving, steadily and deliberately, in the right direction.
For supporters, it affirmed a reform agenda taking root; for skeptics, it offered a detailed account of what has changed and a clear promise that delivery, not slogans, will remain the measure of leadership.