By Osoro Nyawangah
Hakainde Hichilema, Zambia’s president-elect and a self-made millionaire businessman, is the youthful and energetic leader of the major opposition political party in Zambia the United Party for National Development (UPND).
He later obtained an MBA degree in Finance and Business Strategy
from the University of Birmingham, UK.
Since then, Hichilema, affectionately known as HH, has carved out
an impressive track record in business, both locally and internationally.
A large commercial famer, Hichilema is now the second biggest
cattle rancher in Zambia with nearly 100,000 herds of cattle to his name on
four ranches, and is one of the biggest suppliers of meat to the local Zambian
market, as well as one of Zambia’s biggest exporters of hard-currency-earning
beef products.
He also holds substantial investments in Zambia’s tourism sector.
Following his university education Hichilema ascended to top positions in Zambia’s corporate world, landing such prestigious jobs as CEO of Coopers and Lybrand at the tender age of 32 years old, from 1994 to 1998, and later as CEO of Cooper’s successor, Grant Thornton, from 1998 to 2006.
He was the biggest local shareholder in two foreign-owned
companies; including Barclays Bank Zambia Plc. Hichilema is also a trained
Business Negotiator, a qualified Change Management Practitioner and is a member
of the Zambia Institute of Directors.
HH won the presidency of the UPND in 2006 following the death of
its leader, Anderson Mazoka, his business mentor, tribesman and close friend.
Since then, ruling party politicians have, unsuccessfully, poured their energy
into trying to keep him tied up in legal cases which he has refused to let
stand in his way.
In
the 2006 election,
Hichilema was the candidate of the UDA and ran against incumbent president Levy Mwanawasa of the Movement for Multiparty
Democracy and Patriotic Front candidate Michael Sata.
He
received the endorsement of former President Kenneth
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 the 2008 election, which was called following the death of President Levy Mwanawasa. He came 3rd with 19.7% of the vote.
In June
2009, Hichilema's party, the UPND, formed a pact with Michael Sata's Patriotic Front (PF) to contest the 2011 election together.
However,
indecision on the pact candidate, deep mistrust and accusations of tribalism from both sides resulted in the collapse of the
pact in March 2011.
He was one
of the two main candidates in the January 2015 presidential
election, which he lost by a narrow margin of 27,757 votes (1.66%)
against the ruling party's candidate, Edgar Lungu.
He
denounced the election as a sham and urged his supporters to remain calm. He
again faced Lungu as the main opposition candidate in the August 2016 presidential
election, and was again narrowly defeated.
In April 2017, he was arrested on
suspicion of treason and charged with attempting
to overthrow the government. He was in prison for 4 months before being
given a Nolle prosequi,
Hichilema ran for
President for a sixth time in the election held on 12 August 2021. The returning
officer Esau Chulu accordingly declared that he had won the
election in the early hours of 16 August.
He has run his campaigns on a strong economic platform, arguing
that Zambia needs a leader who understands business and can turn around the
economy in order to unlock developmental benefits in health, education and
elsewhere.
On the night of 11 April 2017 the Zambian Police broke
and entered Hakainde Hichilema's compound to arrest the country's main
opposition leader, ordered by President Edgar Lungu’s government and charged him with treason after he was accused of endangering the president's life after his motorcade allegedly refused to give way to the one
transporting President Lungu, a case which many viewed as a minor traffic offence and not one that could amount to treason.
Hichilema strongly denied the charge, which carries a maximum sentence
of death penalty.
The police used excessive force to enter Hichilema's residence
damaging his home and property, beat up all his workers, stole colossal sums of
money.
Teargas canisters were thrown inside Hichilema's home gassing Hichilema, his asthmatic wife, and his children, who collapsed several times due to inhaling the gas.
Hichilema's arrest was widely condemned. The United States, the European Union and the European Parliament denounced
the arrest.
The Africa Liberal Network condemned
the arrest as an attempt by President Lungu to silence dissent and opposition. The
Catholic bishops strongly condemned the arrest and said Zambia had become a
dictatorship under President Edgar Lungu.
Hichilema said in an interview on HARDtalk that during his time in prison he was held
in solitary confinement for
eight days without food, water, light or visitation, was tortured by having his
private parts pepper sprayed, and accused president Lungu of having tried to
kill him.
His wife, Mutinta, was turned away by prison officials when she took
food for him.
Hichilema's arrest was the subject of the episode of Al Jazeera's The Stream TV
program titled Is Zambia's Democracy in Danger which aired on
30 May 2017.
Zambia's first president Kenneth Kaunda was turned away by prison officials when
he visited Hichilema in Prison.
Mmusi Maimane, leader of
the Democratic Alliance (South
Africa) was also turned away by Zambia
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.
This prompted South Africa's Foreign Ministry to summon Zambia's
Ambassador to South Africa Emmanuel Mwamba to explain the actions of the
Zambian regime.
Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo visited Hichilema in prison and Secretary
General of the Commonwealth,
Baroness Patricia Scotland visited
him in prison twice.
While Hichilema was in Jail, President Lungu imposed a state of emergency, a
move critics saw as an effort to tighten his grip on power.
Protests broke out in Zambia, South Africa and the United Kingdom demanding the release of Hichilema and condemning
Edgar Lungu's authoritarian rule
and deteriorating human rights in Zambia.
Celebrations took place throughout Zambia when he 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.
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, congratulated the Zambian authorities for dropping
the treason charges against Hichilema and releasing him from prison.
Hichilema became more popular after his release and was awarded the
Africa Freedom Award in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was invited to speak at
Catham House in London and was also invited to speak in South Africa by Democratic Alliance Members
of Parliament.
He was conferred with
the Africa Freedom Award by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation
for Freedom on 27 October 2017 at an event held in
Johannesburg, South Africa
A book about Hichilema's time in Prison called Hakainde
Hichilema's Prison Diary was released on 29 September 2017 by
Journalist Fredrick Misebezi. He endorsed the book and urged the public to
read it.
On 23 December 2020, Hichilema received a warning and caution at the Zambian Police Headquarters in Lusaka 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.
As Hichilema arrived for questioning, police clashed with UPND supporters
and in an attempt to disperse the crowd, police reportedly shot dead a State
Prosecutor and a UPND supporter.
He is passionate about delivering improvements in Zambia’s
education system so that every young Zambian has that same opportunity he had
to receive government support that can empower youths to launch a successful
career in which they can earn a decent wage, provide for their family and help
grow the Zambian economy.
Finally, Hichilema is not just a politician and a businessman, he
is also a philanthropist, donating to community activities and projects such as
clinics, schools, sinking boreholes and building dams to enhance agriculture
activities.
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