Re-Electing President Hichilema in 2026 Is a Vote Against Your Freedom
By Thandiwe Ketis Ngoma
In a true democracy, elections are sacred. They are not mere rituals; they are revolutions at the ballot box. They are how citizens reclaim power, reassert rights, and renew the promise of liberty. But as Zambia approaches the 2026 elections, the stakes are no longer just political. They are existential.
This election will not be about left or right. It will be about right or wrong. Freedom or fear. Democracy or dictatorship.
Let there be no illusions: a vote for President Hakainde Hichilema is not a vote for progress or continuity. It is a vote for a regime that surveils your private life, criminalizes your opinions, punishes your hunger with silence, and allows political violence to fester unchecked.
This is not a warning. It is a reality already in motion.
The Cyber Crimes Act: A Weapon Disguised as Law
Passed under the pretext of curbing cyber abuse, the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act has become a digital whip wielded not against criminals, but against critics.
This law gives the government the power to monitor private communications, remove content it deems “undesirable,” and prosecute citizens for online posts, comments, or even forwarded messages.
Worse, the definitions of “cyberbullying,” “hate speech,” and “fake news” are deliberately vague, leaving interpretation solely in the hands of the state. This is not about protecting people. It is about protecting power.
In today’s Zambia, you do not need to break the law to be arrested. You only need to speak inconvenient truths.
When Freedom Dies, So Does Dignity
We are already living in the early days of digital tyranny. Investigative journalists are harassed for exposing corruption. Activists are tailed and intimidated. Whistleblowers disappear into silence
Ordinary citizens are erasing posts, abandoning debates, and whispering their worries for fear of who might be listening.
And while freedoms are buried, so too is hope.
The cost of living has spiraled beyond reason. Mealie meal is now a luxury. Load-shedding has returned with a vengeance, paralyzing productivity and tormenting households. Fuel prices burn holes in every wallet. Everything is more expensive, except dignity, which has been made cheap.
A government that cannot feed its people but finds time to muzzle them is not a government of the people. It is a regime of self-preservation.
The Threat Is Not Coming. It Is Already Here.
President Hichilema once warned, “If you don’t vote for me in 2026, you’re going back to being beaten.”
But under his watch, the beatings have already returned, more organized, more vicious, and disturbingly, more protected.
The UPND has emboldened its cadres, turning them into street enforcers. They threaten, assault, and humiliate perceived enemies. Recently, respected activist Mama Chikamoneka was verbally attacked and publicly degraded by known party loyalists, including one cadre known as Shi Faith.
But what happened next was worse: nothing. No arrests. No investigations. No accountability.
Open Threats, Closed Eyes: The Death of Rule of Law
On social media, the curtain has been pulled back. In a chilling video, UPND youths from North-Western Province issued death threats against former President Edgar Lungu:
“We will teach him a lesson that will make him remember the day his mother cried giving birth to him.” “That idiot should watch his steps.” Calls for forced circumcision as humiliation. Explicit promises to slaughter him if he returns to active politics.
This was not political rhetoric. It was criminal incitement. Yet the police remained mute, paralyzed by partisanship.
In another disturbing incident, UPND cadres from Southern Province held a press conference where they launched a coordinated verbal attack on former President Lungu. With visible aggression, they declared that Hichilema had given the former head of state “too much freedom.” They warned that they would not allow Lungu and his supporters to travel the country freely, accusing him of having “killed people” during his rule and claiming that if he returns, he will “kill us again.”
Their message was chilling and unmistakable. They demanded that UPND leadership grant them six months of unchecked power to “put Lungu in his place.” They vowed to act where the president showed restraint. They threatened unrest if their desire for vengeance was not sanctioned by their own party.
This was not just a press conference. It was a declaration of mob justice. And once again, no condemnation. No arrests. No accountability.
This is the rule of the street replacing the rule of law.
Imagine This Is You
You are attacked by cadres at a bus station. You post about it online. Hours later, police knock on your door—not to arrest your attackers, but to arrest you for “cyberbullying.”
That is the Zambia we live in. One where the streets belong to the cadres and your thoughts belong to the state.
The Choice in 2026: Stand or Surrender
This is not just another election. This is a reckoning.
A vote for Hakainde Hichilema is a vote for higher prices, harsher silence, deeper fear, and darker years.
A vote for HH is a vote to normalize lawlessness, reward repression, and imprison free speech.
Zambia cannot afford five more years of this descent into sanctioned chaos and economic despair.
Final Word: Your Freedom Is the Real Ballot
This election is not about personalities. It is about principles. It is not about parties. It is about the people.
We must vote not from fear, but from resolve. Not for promises, but for principles. Not for power, but for peace.
Let us rise not with stones, but with our voices. Not with rage, but with resolve. And not with silence, but with the vote.
Zambia must choose freedom over fear. The time is now.
2026 is our last stand.
President Hakainde Hichilema must go.
John 8:32 “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
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