🇿🇲 BRIEFING | “Watch My Steps” — Hichilema Signals Campaign Machine Has Yet to Fully Move
President Hakainde Hichilema has delivered perhaps his clearest political warning yet to rivals already celebrating early campaign crowds, declaring that the ruling party’s electoral machine has not even entered full gear.
Speaking before UPND candidates and party officials in Kasama on Monday evening, Hichilema dismissed suggestions that the 2026 campaign is already taking shape around opposition rallies and growing political noise, insisting that what the country is currently witnessing is only the groundwork before a much larger mobilisation effort begins.
“I have not started having campaign rallies yet. Wait. I’m putting the seeds in order. Watch my steps,” the President told party structures.
The remarks landed with the confidence of a politician who has spent nearly two decades building campaigns, losing elections, studying voter behaviour and eventually capturing State House. They also offered the strongest indication yet that the President’s current provincial engagements are not designed as public rallies but as an organisational exercise aimed at aligning candidates, energising structures and preparing the party machinery before moving into full campaign mode.
For weeks, attention has increasingly shifted toward opposition gatherings, particularly on the Copperbelt where Tonse Alliance presidential candidate Brian Mundubile has drawn sizeable crowds while launching his campaign message. But Hichilema appeared unimpressed by early declarations of victory.
“I’m watching and I’m saying mwacepa sana. I heard some people, after having a rally in Kitwe, saying ‘we have already won.’ Mwacepa sana baice bandi,” he said, drawing laughter and applause from party members.
The statement reflected more than political bravado. It revealed a President determined to frame the election not as a contest of crowd sizes but as a test of organisation, endurance and national reach. Having already completed engagements across Central Province, Muchinga, Northern and Luapula, Hichilema is methodically moving through party structures while reinforcing a message centred on continuity, economic recovery and social programmes.
At the heart of that message remains free education, debt restructuring and what the ruling party describes as the foundations of a recovering economy. Hichilema argued that the August 13 election would ultimately be decided by whether voters choose to continue programmes already underway or pursue a different political direction.
“This election presents a lifetime chance to the people of Zambia to secure, through a vote of continuity, the lives of millions of our children who are accessing free education,” he said.
The President’s comments arrive at a moment when Zambia’s political atmosphere is becoming increasingly animated. Opposition campaigns are growing louder. Social media battles are intensifying. Manifestos are beginning to shape public debate. Yet inside UPND circles, there is a growing sense that the party believes its most visible campaign phase has not yet begun.
For now, Hichilema remains inside halls, meeting candidates, councillors, parliamentary hopefuls and provincial leaders. Outdoor rallies can wait.
If Monday’s message from Kasama is any indication, the President wants the country to know one thing: he believes the campaign everyone is talking about has not started yet.
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© The People’s Brief | Chileshe Sengwe
