Zambian President-Elect Hichilema embodies hope for democratic gains in Africa
16 August 2021
The Democratic Alliance congratulates Zambian President-Elect Hakainde Hichilema and his United Party for National Development following his wonderful victory in Zambia’s presidential election held on 12 August 2021.
His victory is an incredible triumph for Mr. Hichilema, who as opposition leader endured incarceration, intense deprivation and torture at the hands of Edgar Lungu’s authoritarian government.
It is also a major triumph for democracy on the African continent. Zambian voters came out in great numbers on Thursday to show that peaceful democratic change is possible in Africa and in the South African Development Community (SADC) region.
They have shown that Africans are more than capable of using their vote to hold bad leaders accountable at the ballot box. And they have decisively rejected the notion that Africans are forever beholden to outdated liberation movement political parties that turn the state into an extraction machine for the connected few.