Why Hakainde Hichilema Has Earned a Second Term
*By Magret Mwanza*
Zambia’s politics must mature beyond slogans, tribal reflexes, and selective amnesia. Leadership must be judged on outcomes, not noise.
By that standard, President Hakainde Hichilema does not merely deserve a second term. He has earned it.
When Hichilema assumed office in August 2021, he did not inherit a functioning state. He inherited an economy on its knees, battered by reckless borrowing, fiscal indiscipline, collapsed investor confidence, and a currency that had become a national embarrassment.
Public debt had ballooned to unsustainable levels. Inflation was biting. The kwacha was volatile. The country was in default and isolated from international capital markets. That was the real Zambia, not the fantasy sometimes peddled by those who caused the crisis.
The most consequential achievement of Hichilema’s presidency has been the deliberate and disciplined turnaround of that broken economy.
Everything else that critics either ignore or take for granted flows from this single, foundational correction.
Within a short period, Zambia re-engaged with the international financial system, secured debt restructuring agreements that restored credibility, and returned predictability to macroeconomic management.
The government made difficult, often unpopular, but necessary decisions to stabilise public finances. The result has been visible and measurable. Inflation has moderated. Investor confidence has returned. Capital inflows have increased.
Crucially, the kwacha, once written off as a weak and failing currency, has shown resilience and strength relative to regional peers.
This matters. A stable currency is not an abstract victory for economists. It determines the price of fuel, fertiliser, medicines, and food. It lowers the cost of doing business.
It restores planning certainty for farmers, manufacturers, and traders. Without macroeconomic stability, no amount of road construction or social messaging can deliver sustainable development.
It is precisely because the economy has been stabilised that other sectors have begun to respond. Agriculture has benefited from more predictable input financing.
Mining has seen renewed investment commitments anchored on policy clarity and restored trust. Energy planning has become more coherent.
Social protection programmes have been better funded and more targeted. These are not coincidences. They are outcomes of sound economic stewardship.
Critics often demand instant “trickle-down” results while conveniently ignoring the scale of the collapse Zambia experienced before 2021.
Economies do not recover overnight. However, the early signs are unmistakable. Jobs are returning in key sectors. Small businesses are beginning to breathe again as inflationary pressure eases.
Government is paying its obligations more consistently. Confidence, that most fragile but essential economic ingredient, is slowly being rebuilt.
Hichilema’s leadership has also marked a decisive break from the politics of intimidation and patronage. While governance challenges remain, the space for dissent has widened, institutions are being reasserted, and public discourse has become less fearful.
That political stability is itself an economic asset. Investors do not put money where the rule of law is treated as optional.
It is fashionable for opposition voices to downplay these gains or dismiss them as “external.” That argument collapses under scrutiny.
Debt restructuring did not negotiate itself. Currency stability did not occur by accident. Fiscal discipline did not emerge spontaneously.
These were policy choices made by a leadership that understood the depth of the crisis and acted accordingly.
None of this suggests perfection. No administration is flawless, and citizens are right to demand faster service delivery, more jobs, and stronger local enterprise participation.
But elections are not beauty contests. They are choices between records and trajectories.
*The question Zambians must ask is simple. Do we return to the politics and economics that nearly bankrupted the nation, or do we consolidate a recovery that is already underway?
Hakainde Hichilema inherited economic ruin and chose responsibility over populism. He restored credibility where there was none, stability where there was chaos, and hope where there was despair.
On the central measure that defines the wellbeing of any nation, the economy, he has delivered a decisive turnaround.
For that reason alone, and for everything that has followed because of it, Hichilema has not just earned the right to ask for a second term.
*He has made a compelling case to be granted one.*