President Hakainde Hichilema  

Hakainde Hichilema was sworn into office on 24th August 2021 as the seventh President of Zambia. Leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND) since 2006, President Hichilema is a self-made businessman, entrepreneur, and farmer.  

He was born into humble beginnings in the town of Monze, and as a youth President Hichilema attended school barefoot before being admitted to the University of Zambia on a full government bursary. There he graduated with a BA in economics and business administration before going on to earn an MBA in finance and business strategy from the University of Birmingham. In the corporate world, President Hichilema rose quickly through the ranks, becoming the chief executive officer of both Coopers Lybrand Zambia in 1994 and Grant Thornton Zambia in 1998. He is a large commercial farmer - the second biggest cattle rancher in Zambia and one of the biggest suppliers of meat to the local market, as well as one of Zambia’s biggest exporters of hard-currency-earning beef products. President Hichilema also holds substantial investments in Zambia’s tourism sector. 

President Hichilema was elected to State House in August 2021, comfortably beating incumbent Edgar Lungu by a margin of 59.02% to 38.71%. The election saw the highest voter turnout figures ever recorded in Zambia, with President Hichilema particularly successful in attracting votes from young people, who were drawn to his platform of job creation and economic repair.  

In office the President is firmly focused on reviving the economy for the benefit of all citizens and has undertaken an extensive restructuring of Zambia’s debt, as well as attracting more than $37 billion in new foreign investment. Under his leadership the New Dawn administration has rolled out a number of flagship policies to improve the daily lives of citizens, from the introduction of free education at the primary and secondary level to a substantial increase in the Constituency Development Fund from K1.6 million to K30.8 million per constituency.

Having been wrongly imprisoned on charges of treason for 127 days in 2017, President Hichilema is a vocal advocate for human rights and justice and is strongly committed to upholding the rule of law. Since his election the colonial-era defamation law has been repealed and the death penalty abolished. In January 2024 President Hichilema signed the Access to Information bill into law, 20 years after it was first introduced to parliament.

Finally, President Hichilema is not just a politician and a businessman, he is also a philanthropist, donating to community activities and projects such as clinics, schools, sinking boreholes and building dams to enhance agriculture activities in Zambia. He is married to Mutinta and together they have three children.