The stolen mandate: Why congratulating Hakainde Hichilema is like congratulating a thief
By Thandiwe Ketiš Ngoma
TO OFFER congratulations to Hakainde Hichilema following the August 13, 2026 presidential election is not an act of diplomatic courtesy – it is an endorsement of democratic subversion. Celebrating a “second term” built on state-sponsored violence, electoral suppression, systemic rigging and judicial paralysis is equivalent to congratulating a thief on a successful robbery.
1. Industrial-scale rigging and State-backed electoral violence
The integrity of the 2026 general election was systematically dismantled at the ground level, with state security forces – the police and military – working in tandem with the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ). Reports from voting centres across the nation painted a clear picture of compromised integrity:
Stolen ballot papers: In several polling precincts such as Mandevu Constituency, pockets of violence erupted where marked ballot papers were forcibly seized by ruling UPND cadres – specifically led by individuals like Kalufyanya— in full view of armed police officers who refused to intervene. The stolen ballots were later discovered dumped in a nearby sewage line, completely destroying the vote’s integrity.
Tear-gassing of tallying facilities: In Kabwe, state security forces deployed tear gas directly inside an active counting room. The resulting panic forced electoral observers, opposition agents and polling staff to flee, leaving unverified ballot boxes completely unguarded and vulnerable to tampering.
The unconstitutional six-Hour blackout: The ECZ abruptly halted the counting and announcement of presidential results nationwide for nearly six hours without any valid constitutional basis. This blackout broke the chain of custody for vote tallies across the country, transforming what should have been a transparent process into an exercise in opacity.
2. Suppression of stakeholders and discrepancies on Gen 20 forms
When official counting resumed, major discrepancies emerged between the figures declared at the national tabulating center and the verified totals recorded on local Gen 20 forms.
When Mr Enock Roosevelt Tonga – leader of the Third Liberation Movement and accredited election stakeholder representing main opposition presidential candidate Hon Brian Mundubile under the Tonse Alliance banner—attempted to formally raise a point of order questioning these clear numerical mismatches, the Commission ordered his immediate removal. Zambia Army commandos and UPND cadres manhandled Mr Tonga and forcibly dragged him from the national tallying centre. He was subsequently taken into police custody and detained without formal charge, treating democratic accountability as a criminal offence.
3. The Kabulonga raid, extrajudicial killing and political treason charges
The post-election crackdown turned lethal on the evening of August 14, 2026. A joint task force executed a heavy night raid on the Kabulonga residence of main opposition candidate Hon Brian Mundubile.
During the operation, state security personnel opened fire, fatally wounding former transport minister and Lunte MP Hon Mutotwe Kafwaya. For nearly five days, senior government officials explicitly denied reports of Kafwaya’s death. The state’s cover-up collapsed only after Kafwaya’s spouse, Mrs Dinis Ng’andu Kafwaya, filed an urgent habeas corpus application in the High Court. Under direct judicial compulsion, the Zambia Police Service released a statement on August 19 finally acknowledging that Kafwaya had died from gunshot wounds sustained during the raid.
Rather than answering critical questions—who ordered the raid, who opened fire and why the State concealed the casualty—the administration immediately levelled treason charges against opposition leader Brian Mundubile, Makebi Zulu and their coalition partners. Framing opposition leaders as an armed “militia” is a transparent strategy to rebrand an extrajudicial killing as a national security issue, using extraordinary state power to neutralise political opponents.
4. Judicial lockout: The denial of constitutional redress
The electoral heist was sealed by the systematic blockade of the judicial system. Opposition candidate Hon Brian Mundubile publicly announced his intent to challenge the presidential election outcome in the Constitutional Court pursuant to Article 105 of the Zambian Constitution, which mandates that an election petition must be filed within seven days of the result declaration.
However, on August 24, 2026—the exact deadline to lodge the petition—Chief Justice Dr Mumba Malila ordered the nationwide closure of court premises under the guise of “security reasons”. State forces deployed armed personnel and police tape to lock the Supreme Court, High Court, and Constitutional Court facilities across Lusaka, Ndola, Livingstone and Chipata. By physically barring access to the courts, the State denied the opposition its constitutional right to legal redress before the statutory window expired.
Scriptural parallel: The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy
Scripture warns us in John 10:10 that “the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy”. The parallels between this biblical warning and the actions of the current regime are impossible to ignore:
He stole: The true election results were hijacked, overridden by state security apparatuses and replaced with an engineered outcome. The sovereign mandate of the Zambian people was stolen under the cover of a nationwide tallying blackout and compromised polling stations.
He killed: The blood of Hon. Mutotwe Kafwaya cries out from Kabulonga. The fatal shooting of an unarmed former minister during a night raid—followed by five days of government deceit—exposes a regime willing to deploy lethal state violence against its own citizens to retain power.
He destroys: Beyond the physical loss of life, the administration is actively destroying the foundational pillars of our republic. The judicial system has been neutralised, state institutions have been weaponised, political unity has been shattered and the democratic future of Zambia is being systematically torn down.
An illegitimate mandate
Those who wish to congratulate Hakainde Hichilema and call him a legitimate president may do so, but on principle, he is not. He remains an illegitimate president because he was not elected by the sovereign will of the Zambian people; he was imposed on them through the combined force of the military, the police and the ECZ.
If he had won genuinely, he would have had no need to deploy state security forces to raid polling centres, intimidate tallying officials, execute night raids on opposition leaders, or unconditionally order the closure of the courts to prevent Hon Brian Mundubile from filing his petition. A true leader derives authority from the ballot box, not from weaponised state power.
HH stole the true election results, killed Mutotwe Kafwaya and is now actively destroying our beloved country, Zambia. History will not remember this administration for a democratic victory, but for an unconstitutional seizure of power that robbed the nation of its voice.
