LUSAKA, Zambia — Zambia’s election outcome should be viewed as more than a domestic political contest because it could have wider implications for competing political movements across Southern Africa, political and global affairs analyst Dr. Abigale Mupambi says.
Speaking to Southern Africa News Channel, Mupambi said the contest was being closely watched across the Southern African Development Community as a test of both President Hakainde Hichilema’s democratic reform agenda and the strength of the region’s traditional liberation movements.
Hichilema came to power in 2021 after defeating then-President Edgar Lungu, ending the Patriotic Front’s decade in government.
Mupambi said Hichilema’s political fortunes were important beyond Zambia because his victory had been viewed as a boost for democratic movements in the region.
She said voters would also judge whether Hichilema’s government had delivered tangible economic benefits to ordinary Zambians, including what she described as a “trickle-down economy.”
Failure to retain support, she argued, could therefore be interpreted as a setback not only for Hichilema and his United Party for National Development but also for democratic forces elsewhere in Southern Africa.
On the other side of the political contest, Mupambi pointed to the continuing influence of parties rooted in Southern Africa’s liberation history.
She said a resurgence by forces associated with the Patriotic Front and the Tonse Alliance could be viewed as “reclaiming of the ground” by a political tradition that stretches back to Zambia’s founding President Kenneth Kaunda.
Mupambi linked that tradition to liberation movements that have remained influential across the region, including South Africa’s African National Congress, Namibia’s SWAPO, Tanzania’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi and Mozambique’s FRELIMO.
She said the election should therefore be understood within a wider contest between different political models competing for influence in Southern Africa.
Mupambi also raised concern about violence surrounding the electoral process, describing deaths linked to pre-election clashes as a “sad reality.”
“The question is, are we ready for elections as Southern Africa?” she said.
She argued that the violence should prompt a wider regional conversation about how elections and political transitions are managed.
For Mupambi, Zambia’s political direction ultimately matters beyond its borders because developments in one SADC country can influence political thinking and democratic practice elsewhere in the region.
