Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema was sworn in for a second term Tuesday at a ceremony attended by a handful of African leaders
Thousands of cheering supporters wearing the red colours of Hichilema’s UPND party packed the Lusaka stadium as he took the oath.
The 64-year-old won 60 percent of the vote followed by former provincial government minister Brian Mundubile on 38 percent, according to official results.
Hichilema has been credited with steering Zambia through a major economic turnaround during his first five-year term, which started in 2021.
He pursued market-friendly reforms, abolished the death penalty and made primary and secondary education free.
Critics say, however, that the economic growth has yet to translate into better living standards for ordinary households stretched by rising prices.
More than 70 percent of Zambia’s 22 million people live on less than three dollars a day, according to World Bank data.
There are also charges that Hichilema’s government has narrowed the space for political dissent.
Copper remains the backbone of Zambia’s economy, generating around 70 percent of export earnings, with China a major investor and its largest bilateral creditor.
Since gaining independence from Britain in 1964 under founding president Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia has earned a reputation as one of southern Africa’s more stable democracies, with a history of peaceful transfers of power.
