Zambia elections haunted by ghost of incumbent president’s arch-rival
As Zambians go to the polls, the ghost of the current president’s predecessor hangs over the elections. Hakainde Hichilema, 64, is bidding for a second
As Zambians go to the polls, the ghost of the current president’s predecessor hangs over the elections. Hakainde Hichilema, 64, is bidding for a second term leading the southern African country after defeating his arch-rival Edgar Lungu by a landslide in 2021. A feud between the two men, their families and supporters has dominated Zambian politics, to the extent that the quarrel has continued even after Lungu died in South Africa in June 2025. Zambia’s government went to court to try to stop the burial of Lungu by his family, who did not want Hichilema presiding over a state funeral. In June, South Africa’s supreme court of appeal ruled in favour of Lungu’s family, overturning a previous high court decision in favour of the government. View image in fullscreen Edgar Lungu and his wife at a rally in Lusaka in 2015. Photograph: Rogan Ward/Reuters In this election, Hichilema is facing the Tonse Alliance of opposition parties led by Brian Mundubile, 55, who was a government chief whip under Lungu. Mundubile’s running mate Makebi Zulu acted as the Lungu family’s spokesperson during the burial row, and on the campaign trail the two men have promised to bring Lungu’s body back to Zambia for a dignified burial.
The way death is dealt with is very important in Zambia, said Christopher Vandome, a senior research fellow at the thinktank Chatham House. “Even Hichilema supporters want to see due respect given to those that have died,” he said. “When it appears things get messy, it just makes the incumbent look disrespectful.” The shadow of Lungu has also hung over allegations by the Tonse Alliance that Hichilema has deployed authoritarian tactics during the election campaign, including raiding its offices and detaining 36 members of Mundubile’s team. Hichilema’s team furiously denied the claims, invoking Lungu’s treatment of Hichilema during the last election. “Zambians know what repression looks like. In 2021, the opposition leader [Hichilema] had been arrested 15 times, Prime TV [a private station] and the Post [a newspaper] had been shut down, and on election day the internet was switched off,” said a spokesperson for the ruling United Party for Development. “Today the opposition campaigns freely across all 10 provinces, no media house has been closed and the airwaves are open.” View image in fullscreen Brian Mundubile, the main opposition challenger, waves to supporters as he leaves a radio station in Lusaka. Photograph: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Transparency International Zambia monitors have recorded incidents of police interrupting opposition rallies, said Tamika Halwiindi, a coordinator at the organisation.
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