From Mufulira to Ndola: Hichilema's Development Promise to the Copperbelt

President Hakainde Hichilema has swept across the Copperbelt on an energetic campaign tour, carrying a message of jobs, mining expansion and better services to district after district ahead of the 13 August election.

The tour opened in Mufulira, where the President pledged to draw fresh investment into mining to create jobs, especially for young people, and to fix long-standing water challenges. He announced plans to have Mopani Copper Mines allocate more dumpsites to youths, building on the D19 and D22 sites, with training in safe, legal mining and help accessing markets. He also directed Mopani and Konkola Copper Mines to award more supply contracts to youth-owned businesses and urged Mopani to settle outstanding pension concerns for former miners.

In Lufwanyama, he said delimitation would lift the CDF to K80 million, funding new and ongoing projects. He pledged to upgrade the M18 Lufwanyama–Kalengwa Road, build the Mumbuluma Bridge linking Lufwanyama and Mpongwe, improve network coverage and construct more boarding schools, while sustaining prompt FRA payments, an expanded FISP, free education, Cash for Work and the Social Cash Transfer.

Wrapping up the tour, the President thanked Masaiti for its loyalty and urged residents to protect the progress at the polls. In Luanshya he set out plans to revive the district, granting small-scale miners safe access to dumpsites under the Chingola model, reopening Shaft 28, and establishing an ethanol plant and an explosives company, alongside road and sewerage upgrades. Pupils there thanked him for free education and school feeding, which he called life-changing.

The tour closed with a vibrant rally in Ndola, where the President reaffirmed his commitment to creating jobs and delivering development. He urged the Copperbelt to renew the UPND's mandate on 13 August.