THE BALANCING ACT IN LUSAKA: A TWO-HORSE RACE ON AN EERIE SILENT BALLOT PAPER
“No hay mal que cien años dure, ni cuerpo que lo resista.” No evil lasts a hundred years, nor can anybody endure it.
Amb AM wrote:
Today, August 13, 2026, those words echo through the hollow, sweeping avenues of Lusaka.
The capital has transformed into an eerie, quiet ghost town.
The usual roaring traffic of Cairo Road and Boulevard of Broken Promises is entirely absent.
Metal shutters are pulled tight over closed shops.
A heavy, pregnant silence grips the city. Yet, beneath this visual stillness lies a quiet fury.
I can hear myself breath.
It is visible in the incredibly long, winding queues of citizens stretching around voting blocks since 4:00 AM.
Today is the ultimate decision point for Zambia’s 8.5 million registered voters.
I stood in line watching the morning dust settle, realizing we are witnessing an absolute clash of political titans.
Although there are technically 12 candidates on this presidential ballot, the bookmakers know the truth: this is a fierce, two-horse race.
On one side stands incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema, weighed down by the inescapable, heavy burden of incumbency.
He arrived at the polls trailing a long wake of broken promises.
High poverty levels continue to gnaw relentlessly at the households of our copper producer, while stiff cyber laws choke and stifle free expression.
On the other side stands Brian Mundubile, leading the opposition alliance.
He marches forward carrying the heavy banner of youth hope and the intoxicating promise of a completely new beginning.
The background to this fateful day is stark.
Hichilema commands the narrative of macroeconomic recovery, pointing happily to his rigorous debt restructuring triumphs. Yet, ordinary Zambians cannot eat GDP graphs or trickle-down statistics.
The basic needs basket has skyrocketed, forcing voters to choose between institutional patience and immediate economic relief.
Furthermore, the political landscape feels suffocatingly tight; the state’s aggressive cyber rules and administrative hurdles have cast a shadow of authoritarian anxiety over the entire campaign trail.
The choice is ours. Will Zambia double down on “Bally’s” lengthy, painful economic adjustments, or will it leap into Mundubile’s uncharted era of youthful rejuvenation?
As I step closer to the polling box, the empty streets remind me that the loudest noise in a democracy is always the silent stroke of a voter’s pen. I carried my own.
*Amb AM.13.08.26
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