Hakainde Hichilema's 'tough race' to presidency

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).

Hichilema was born on June 4 1962 in the southern district of Monze. After attending school locally, he was admitted to the University of Zambia on a government bursary where he studied and graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics and Business Administration.

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.