The choice we face
President Hakainde Hichilema
Fellow Zambians,
Later today we will file our nomination as a candidate to be your President, and in twelve weeks, our nation will go to the polls. The choice we face is not simply one between parties or personalities. It is a choice about who we are, what we are building together, and what kind of country we want to leave to our children.
The choice is clear.
This election is a choice between two Zambias. The one we are building, and the one we left behind. Between a nation rising and a nation in retreat. Between a harvest delivered, and a field abandoned.
Five years ago we planted seeds into hard ground. We planted them in a treasury that had been emptied. We planted them in classrooms without children and clinics without medicine. We planted them in mines and factories that had fallen silent, in homes where workers had been sent away without pay. We planted them where national hope had begun to wither.
Those seeds are now sprouting. There is a harvest ready and waiting for us to deliver. Children are studying diligently to become our skilled workers of tomorrow. Investment secured is adding megawatts to the national grid week by week. Cash for Work is putting wages in the pockets of Zambians so they can feed their families. The Constituency Development Fund (CDF) is rebuilding communities across the country, providing new facilities, skills training and a whole lot more.
It has not been easy, but it is important to remember just how far we’ve come.
We have faced everything from a historic drought to global conflict, navigating destabilised supply chains and erratic markets as we worked day and night to return the economy to solid ground. Ground where we could build a brighter future and nurture a better tomorrow.
Yet, despite these challenges, the numbers speak for themselves. They tell the story of what we have achieved with hard work, perseverance and unity. Today we have 2.6 million more children in school, with the school feeding programme reaching 4.7 million. CDF is up from K1.6 million in 2021 to K40 million in 2026. An additional 282 health facilities have been constructed and 18,000 health workers recruited. 700 MW has been added to the national grid with more coming online. 109,488 jobs created and $16.4 billion in investments actualised.
There is still much more that can be done and we firmly believe that our best days lie ahead. But, if we are going to deliver on this harvest, then we need to deliver on it together, as one nation. We must put our differences aside and pool our efforts. We need to ensure that development is felt in every corner of our Republic; from Mpulungu to Livingstone; from Mwami in Chipata to Sikongo in Kalabo, and across all communities along our lakes, rivers and Islands.
We must deliver this harvest peacefully. Zambia is more than a country. We are a family. And families do not raise their hands against one another. Our reputation as a beacon of democracy, peace and stability on this continent is not an accident of history. It is a conscious choice we individually and collectively make, election after election. We must make it again now.
For this to happen, two things are essential. Firstly, there must be zero tolerance for violence on any side, and the law must be applied firmly, fairly and without favour to all, regardless of political affiliation or social standing. Every voter should be free to wear their regalia, play their campaign songs and canvass without being subject to violence or intimidation.
Secondly, we must all play our part in promoting a healthy exchange of ideas and discussions on policy and vision, rather than allowing personal attacks and slander to prevail. The next twelve weeks are an opportunity for us to debate the challenges we face, the opportunities before us, and how we want to shape the future of our nation. To think about the future that we want to create for those children who will graduate from free education in the years to come, those babies saved by the newly recruited health workers in the maternity annexes now dotted around the country, and those youths learning new vocational skills through CDF. Not to tear each other down, score points or take for granted the freedoms we have built and defended together.
The stakes in this election couldn’t be higher. For our nation, the Republic of Zambia and our posterity.
No farmer walks away at harvest time. No mother forgets the children she has fed. And no nation, having come this far through such storms, turns back now.
So let’s go forward with unity in our hearts and conviction in our spirit. Together, let’s deliver Zambia’s harvest.
May God bless you all and may God bless our Nation, the Republic of Zambia. Thank you.
