Hichilema’s Chawama Defeat: An August Reckoning?

By Kapya Kaoma

President Hakainde Hichilema self-inflicted embarrassment in Chawama confirms the Bemba saying, “umwana ekalisha elyo anya.”

One wonders why he forced a by-election in Chawama so close to the general election–it was just poor politics. Now everyone knows how weak he is–he has lost to the most disorganized opposition. Indeed, pride comes after the fall. Even attempts to rig didn’t work.

HH holds power, but today, he knows that the myth that Zambia has no opposition was shattered in Chawama. What the president faces is no longer a political party—it is the Zambian people themselves. It is time he confronted that reality. His much-celebrated Bill 7 may yet haunt him. Zambians are not stupid.

I am not among those who believe a Southern Province vote will save this presidency. It won’t. Hichilema’s political capital is exhausted. His presidency is already history.

I said the same about President Edgar Lungu, but the comparison matters. Lungu, for all his failures, governed with visible outcomes. Roads were built. New state of the art Airports expanded. Hospitals opened. Cities changed. I condemned him for unleashing cadres and tolerating abuse, but development happened under his watch. There was something tangible to point to. What, then, does President Hichilema point to? Nada!

He arrived branding himself “Mr. Clean.” Five years later, Zambia is drowning in corruption allegations, patronage politics, and selective justice. Opposition leaders have been absorbed, institutions compromised, and watchdogs neutralized.

The Anti-Corruption Commission and the Drug Enforcement Commission operate under his authority, yet scandals multiply while investigations target only those linked to the previous administration. The man who promised to declare his assets has ruled for five years without doing so.

Zambians still do not know what he owns, who his business partners are, or how many companies doing business with the state are linked to him. Transparency was promised; secrecy delivered. This is not reform. It is the new dawn of corruption. Even the law is applied selectively.

Hate speech is tolerated when it is spoken in Choma, but criminalized when uttered in the Northern Province. Tribalism, it seems, only exists outside Southern Province. Patriotic Zambians are told who to vote for—or face consequences. Had such language been directed at Bembas, arrests would have followed. We remember what happened to Kambwili.

These contradictions have destroyed the president’s credibility. Hichilema lied his way into office and forgot that lies have consequences. Instead of confronting the truth, he treated Zambians as though they had no memory.

But people remember. Promises were made and broken. Lives grew harder. Suffering deepened. While citizens endured economic pain, the president expanded his comforts, occupying multiple State Houses and insisting conditions were better than before.

Zambians know otherwise. They are living the reality. Chawama is not an accident. It is a warning. But it is only the beginning.

No amount of money will erase memory. On August 13, President Hichilema will learn what President Lungu learned before him: regional loyalty is not enough. Just as the Eastern vote could not save Lungu, the Southern vote will not save Hichilema.

Power fades. The people remain. UPND will be crying too! As with PF, Kapya Kaoma will be blamed for its demise.