Hakainde Hichilema | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hichilema in 2025 | |
| 7thPresident of Zambia | |
| Assumed office 24 August 2021 | |
| Vice President | Mutale Nalumango |
| Preceded by | Edgar Lungu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1962-06-04)4 June 1962 (age 63) |
| Political party | United Party for National Development |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of Zambia (BA) University of Birmingham (MBA) |
| ||
|---|---|---|
7th President of Zambia 2021–present
Government
Others  | ||
Hakainde Hichilema (born 4 June 1962), often known by his initialsHH and the nickname "Bally," is a Zambian businessman, farmer, and politician who is the seventh and currentpresident of Zambia since 24 August 2021.[1] After having contested five previous elections in2006,2008,2011,2015 and2016, he won the2021 presidential election with 59.02% of the vote.[2] He has led theUnited Party for National Development since 2006 following the death of the party founderAnderson Mazoka.
Prior to his election, Hichilema was a major opponent ofEdgar Lungu, the president of Zambia from 2015 to 2021. On 11 April 2017, Hichilema was arrested and charged withtreason, a move that was seen as an illegitimate act by Lungu to silence a political rival.[3] The arrest and charge were widely condemned, with protests held in Zambia and abroad, demanding Hichilema's release and condemning the increasing authoritarianism of Lungu's regime. Hichilema was released from prison on 16 August 2017, and the charge of treason was dropped.[4][5]
Hichilema was born in a village inMonze District in present-day Zambia. He received ascholarship to study at theUniversity of Zambia and graduated in 1986 with abachelor's degree inEconomics andBusiness Administration. He thereafter pursued anMBA inFinance andBusiness Strategy at theUniversity of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.[6]
He served as thechief executive officer of bothCoopers and Lybrand Zambia (1994–1998) andGrant Thornton Zambia (1998–2006).[7]
Hichilema is a member of the rulingUnited Party for National Development, a liberalpolitical party. Following the death ofAnderson Mazoka in 2006, he was elected as the party's new President. He also served as the leader of theUnited Democratic Alliance (UDA), an alliance of three opposition political parties.
In the2006 election, Hichilema was the candidate of the UDA and ran againstincumbent presidentLevy Mwanawasa of theMovement for Multiparty Democracy andPatriotic Front candidateMichael Sata. He received the endorsement of former PresidentKenneth Kaunda. The election was held on 28 September 2006 and Hichilema took third place with about 25% of the vote.
Hichilema ran as the UPND candidate in the2008 election, which was called following the death of President Levy Mwanawasa.[8] He came 3rd with 19.7% of the vote. In June 2009, Hichilema's party, the UPND, formed a pact withMichael Sata's Patriotic Front (PF) to contest the2011 election together. However, indecision on the pact candidate, deep mistrust, and accusations oftribalism from both sides resulted in the collapse of the pact in March 2011.[9]
He was one of the two main candidates in theJanuary 2015 presidential election, which he lost by a narrow margin of 27,757 votes (1.66%) against the ruling party's candidate,Edgar Lungu. Hichilema denounced the election as asham and urged his supporters to remain calm.[10][11] He again faced Lungu as the main opposition candidate in theAugust 2016 presidential election, and was again narrowly defeated.[12] In April 2017, he was arrested on suspicion oftreason and charged with attempting to overthrow the government.[3] He was in prison for four months before being given anolle prosequi.[4][13]
On 17 December 2017, Hichilema featured onZNBC's Sunday Interview, making him the first opposition political leader to be hosted on that program.[14] This was after management at ZNBC had granted a request by the UPND through its spokesman, Charles Kakoma, who had written to ZNBC Director General Richard Mwanza requesting that Hichilema is featured on the Sunday Interview on 17 December.[15][16]
Hichilema was invited to speak atThe Royal Institute of International Affairs, commonly known as Chatham House, on 31 October 2017.[17] He returned to Chatham House following his election as President, on 5 November 2021.[18]
Hichilema was arrested on 11 April 2017. On the night of 11 April 2017 theZambian Police broke into Hichilema's compound to arrest the country's main opposition leader, ordered by PresidentEdgar Lungu's government[19][20][21] and charged withtreason after he was accused ofendangering the president's life after hismotorcade allegedly refused to give way to the one transporting Lungu,[21] a case which many viewed as a minortraffic offence[22][23] and not one that could amount to treason. Hichilema strongly denied the charge, which carries a maximum sentence ofdeath penalty.[21]
The police used excessive force[24] to enter Hichilema's residence damaging his home and property, beat up all his workers, stole money, jewellery, as well as underwear, shoes, speakers, blankets, carpets and food from the kitchen and defecated on Hichilema's bed.[25]Teargascanisters were thrown inside Hichilema's home[26] gassing Hichilema, his asthmatic wife, and his children, who collapsed several times due to inhaling the gas.[25]
Hichilema said in an interview onHARDtalk that during his time in prison he was held insolitary confinement for eight days without food, water, light, or visitation, was tortured by having his penispepper sprayed, and accused President Lungu of having tried to kill him.[27] He was the first Zambian opposition political leader to be hosted on HARDtalk and the third Zambian politician featured after former PresidentLevy Mwanawasa and former Vice-PresidentGuy Scott. The arrest was the subject of the episode ofAl Jazeera'sThe Stream TV program titledIs Zambia's Democracy in Danger?, which aired on 30 May 2017.[28]
Zambia's first presidentKenneth Kaunda was turned away by prison officials when he visited Hichilema in Prison.[29] Former President ofNigeriaOlusegun Obasanjo visited Hichilema in prison.[30] Secretary General of theCommonwealth, BaronessPatricia Scotland visited Hichilema in prison twice.[31]Mmusi Maimane, leader of theDemocratic Alliance (South Africa) was also turned away byZambia Police when he came to Zambia to attend Hichilema's court appearance. He was not allowed to disembark from the plane, had his phone confiscated, and was roughed up.[32] This prompted South Africa's Foreign Ministry to summon Zambia's Ambassador to South AfricaEmmanuel Mwamba to explain the actions of the Zambian regime.
While Hichilema was in jail, President Lungu imposed astate of emergency,[33] a move critics saw as an effort to tighten his grip on power.[20]
Hichilema's arrest was widely condemned. TheUnited States,[34] theEuropean Union[35] and theEuropean Parliament[36] denounced the arrest. TheAfrica Liberal Network condemned the arrest as an attempt by President Lungu to silence dissent and opposition.[37] The Catholic bishops strongly condemned the arrest and said Zambia had become adictatorship under President Edgar Lungu.[19]Julius Malema, the leader of South Africa's EFF party, accused Zambia's president Edgar Lungu ofapartheid style repression for detaining Hichilema on treason charges[20] and called president Lungu a "coward".[20]Mmusi Maimane, the leader of South Africa's DA party, who was denied entry into Zambia to visit Hichilema in Jail[32] (stopped from exiting the plane atLusaka'sKenneth Kaunda International Airport) strongly denounced the trumped up charges against Hichilema.[38]
Protests broke out in Zambia, South Africa[39] and theUnited Kingdom[40] demanding the release of Hichilema and condemning Edgar Lungu'sauthoritarian rule and deteriorating human rights in Zambia.
Celebrations took place throughout Zambia when Hichilema was released from prison on 16 August 2017 and scores of people lined up the roads of Lusaka to have a glimpse of Hichilema as his motorcade left prison.[41] Former UN Secretary GeneralKofi Annan, congratulated the Zambian authorities for dropping the treason charges against Hichilema and releasing him from prison.[42] Thanksgiving prayers were held to celebrate Hichilema's release from jail at theCathedral of Holy Cross in Lusaka on 29 August 2017 and Hichilema was present at the event which drew large crowds and was aired live on television. The event was originally scheduled to take place the previous week on 24 August but was blocked by heavily armed state police who sealed off the venue. Hichilema became more popular after his release and was awarded the Africa Freedom Award inJohannesburg, South Africa. He was invited to speak at Chatham House in London and was also invited to speak in South Africa byDemocratic Alliance Members of Parliament.[43] A book about Hichilema's time in a prison calledHakainde Hichilema's Prison Diary[44] was released on 29 September 2017 by journalist Fredrick Misebezi.[29] Hichilema endorsed the book and urged the public to read it.[45]
On 23 December 2020, Hichilema received a warning and caution at theZambian Police Headquarters inLusaka for an alleged offence of "conspiracy to defraud contrary to section 313 of the Penal Code, Cap 87 of the Laws of Zambia", relating to the purchase of a property in 2004.[46] As Hichilema arrived for questioning, police clashed withUPND supporters. In an attempt to disperse the crowd, police reportedly shot dead a State Prosecutor and a UPND supporter.[47]
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Hichilema ran for President for the sixth time in the election held on 12 August 2021. The electoral commission chairmanEsau Chulu declared that he had won the election in the early hours of 16 August.[1][2] Following his victory, Hichilema declared his wish to appoint qualified Zambians into his administration. Among his appointments were those ofSylvia Masebo,Situmbeko Musokotwane, andJito Kayumba, among others. On 24 August Hichilema was inaugurated as President of Zambia in theNational Heroes Stadium in Lusaka.[48]
On 20 December 2024, two people were arrested on suspicion of plotting to hex Hichilema after being hired by a brother of politicianJay Emmanuel Banda.[49] They were sentenced to two years' imprisonment on 15 September 2025.[50]
In 2021 for the76th United Nations General Assembly he made his first international trip to the United States, meetingWorld Bank andInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) heads and American Vice PresidentKamala Harris. In 2022 Zambia voted to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the UN. In April that year a USOffice of Security Cooperation was established in the country. The same month a new Chinese Chamber of Commerce was founded in Lusaka, and on 31 May Hichilema and PresidentXi Jinping had a phone call.[51] On 21 September 2022, Hichilema addressed the general debate of the77th session of the United Nations General Assembly.[52]
In May 2022, at the annualAfrican Mining Indaba held in Cape Town, Hichilema delivered a keynote speech where he "welcomed two landmark investments", byFirst Quantum Minerals (FQM) worth $1.25 billion in expanding the production ofKansanshi mine and extending its life, and $100 million in investment to operationalize the $250 millionEnterprise Nickel Mine.[53] That month Zambia and theDemocratic Republic of the Congo also signed an agreement for developing an electric batteryvalue chain.[51]
In 2022 the President Hichilema and Tanzanian PresidentSamia Suluhu Hassan agreed to revitalize theTAZARA Railway and upgrade it tostandard gauge throughpublic-private partnership.[54]
Hichilema refers to himself as the country's 'chief marketing officer', and has travelled to the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and Africa to promote the Zambian economy. In addition to the UAE (Expo2020) and Belgium (EU-Africa summit). Hichilema has conducted regional trips to Angola, Botswana, the DRC, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Namibia and Rwanda. He also participated in the 2022 Commonwealth Summit (CHOGM 2022) held in Kigali. In October 2021, he led a delegation toCOP26 and in 2022, Zambia chaired the African Group of Negotiators atCOP27.[55]
In 2024, he fired three constitutional court judges.[56][57]
Awards
Honorary academic awards
| Year | University | Country | Honour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Valley View University |  Ghana | Doctorate[59] |
| 2024 | Heriot-Watt University |  Scotland | Doctorate[60] |
| 2024 | University of Zambia |  Zambia | Doctorate[61] |
Hichilema is married toMutinta and has three children.[7] He is a baptized member of theSeventh-day Adventist Church[62][63] and on 12 December 2020, he and his wife were invested asMaster Guides in Lusaka.[63] Hichilema is amillionaire and the second-largest cattlerancher in Zambia.[64]
In December 2014, he denied being aFreemason and labeled people accusing him as malicious.[65] He also sued BishopEdward Chomba of theEastern Orthodox Church fordefamation after the former called him aSatanist and a Freemason.[66]
Hichilema was named in thePanama Papers, with the leak stating that he was the director ofBermuda-based company AfNat Resources Ltd from March to August 2006. The company engaged innickel exploration in Zambia and other African countries. According to theInternational Consortium of Investigative Journalists, "the company was listed on London's alternative investment market until 2010 when it was purchased by Canadian mining company Axmin for about $14 million."[67][68]
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | President of theUPND 2006–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of Zambia 2021–present | Incumbent |
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* Acting President | ||
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