August 23, 2021

Zambia’s new president inherits challenging problems

topic:	Election
located:	Zambia
editor:	Bob Koigi

The recent smooth and peaceful transition of power in Zambia, after veteran opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema defeated incumbent president Edgar Lungu, has stamped Zambia as a paragon of democracy in a continent with a history of post-election violence and delayed concessions. 

It is the third time the southern African nation is experiencing a peaceful transition of power to an opposition party since the country’s independence from Britain in 1964.

The huge voter turnout and the opposition party’s victory have affirmed the citizens’ hunger for change. Young people, who are traditionally known as a low voter turnout group, came out in large numbers, with some donning their academic gowns in protest of their low employment rates despite their academic qualifications.

Satiating Zambians’ palpable hunger for change is President Hichilema’s herculean task. He inherits a handful of challenging problems.. The economy is in a recession with a runaway debt burden and rising inflation. 

At the end of last year, Zambia became the first country in Africa to default on its international debt payments. Depressed commodity prices from before the pandemic struck coupled with reduced economic activity occasioned by COVID-19 have only exacerbated matters.

President Hichilema therefore has a monumental duty of instituting policies and legislations that will jumpstart the economy, provide jobs for the youth, improve the livelihoods of the common people and attract more foreign investment. An improved economy and a healthy democracy are enough to transform the country into one of the most progressive in the continent. The world is watching the new president. 

Photo by Element5 Digital