Highvie Hamududu — The man who divorced the UPND only to become its “Side Chick”
By Moses C Kuwema
Born on March 23, 1970, Highvie Hamududu is an economist by profession.
He was first elected Member of Parliament for Bweengwa Constituency in 2006 and served until 2016, when the UPND opted not to adopt him for another parliamentary bid. Instead, the party settled for Kasautu Michelo.
I must confess that during his time in Parliament, Hamududu was among the MPs whose contributions to debates were always captivating.
In March 2017, Hamududu resigned from the UPND. Two months later, in May, he launched the Party of National Unity (PNU) and became its president.
The party was later rebranded as the Party of National Unity and Progress (PNUP) in January 2021.
During the launch of the party, Hamududu said his move was not born out of frustration. Rather, he said colleagues had convinced him that he had the potential to become President of Zambia.
In the 2021 general elections, Hamududu contested the presidency and finished sixth out of the 16 candidates—receiving 10,480 votes out of the 4,832,763 valid votes cast, representing 0.21 percent of the total vote.
At parliamentary level, PNUP performed better than some parties that had existed for much longer. The party produced one MP Wamunyima Imanga, who won the Nalolo parliamentary seat after polling 8,666 votes against PF candidate Enock Mundia’s 5,484 votes.
Following the 2021 elections, Hamududu became something of a household name, particularly among younger voters who had heard his name repeatedly during the ECZ’s announcement of presidential results.
In November 2024, while appearing alongside President Hakainde Hichilema at an event in Mansa, Hamududu announced that PNUP would join the UPND Alliance.
The decision triggered the resignation of PNUP vice-president Kasote Singongo, who described the move as unilateral and undertaken without adequate consultation with party members.
In 2025, PNUP’s sole Member of Parliament, Wamunyima Imanga, was appointed Chairperson of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Bill 7.
Then, in March 2026, Hamududu announced that he would not contest the August 13 general elections and that his party would instead support President Hichilema’s re-election bid.
According to Hamududu, the decision followed the party’s assessment of what it considered positive leadership demonstrated by President Hichilema during his first term in office.
Since then, Hamududu has become a regular presence at public events attended by the President.
As for Hamududu’s long-held ambition of becoming Republican President, I am not entirely convinced that becoming a political “side chick” is the wise and strategic path envisioned by the colleagues who once persuaded him that he had the potential to lead the nation.
Yes! Unlike the leaders of some of the UPND’s alliance partners, such as Charles Milupi (72), Felix Mutati (67), and Nevers Mumba (66), Hamududu, at 56 years old, still has many active years ahead of him in politics and arguably more time to pursue his presidential ambitions.
However, while some side chicks eventually become wives, my observation of Zambian politics over the years is that political parties that align themselves too closely with ruling parties rarely find their own path to State House.
Has Hamududu, through this alliance, effectively sealed that fate for himself and his party?
Only time will tell.
You will get shocked that he will be a PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE UNDER UPND ticket in 2031 if Elvis Nkandu or Mweetwa won’t lead it.
He is a stable Man, calm and collected.
