The politics of Zambia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic,whereby the president of Zambia is head of state,head of government and leader of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government,while legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. Formerly Northern Rhodesia,Zambia became a republic immediately upon attaining independence in October 1964.
The president of Zambia is the head of state and the head of government of Zambia. The office was first held by Kenneth Kaunda following independence in 1964. Since 1991,when Kaunda left the presidency,the office has been held by seven others:Frederick Chiluba,Levy Mwanawasa,Rupiah Banda,Michael Sata,Edgar Lungu and the current president Hakainde Hichilema,who won the 2021 presidential election. In addition,acting president Guy Scott served in an interim capacity after the death of President Michael Sata.
The United Party for National Development (UPND) is a liberal political party in Zambia,led by Hakainde Hichilema,the current president of the country. The party is an observer member of the Africa Liberal Network.
The Patriotic Front (PF) is a social democratic political party in Zambia. The party was formed by Michael Sata as a breakaway party of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) in 2001 after the President Frederick Chiluba nominated Levy Mwanawasa as its presidential candidate for 2001 elections. The party's main base of support are usually the youth and poor people in urban centres.
Hakainde Hichilema is a Zambian businessman,farmer,and politician who is the seventh and current president of Zambia since 24 August 2021. After having contested five previous elections in 2006,2008,2011,2015 and 2016,he won the 2021 presidential election with 59.02% of the vote. He has led the United Party for National Development since 2006 following the death of the party founder Anderson Mazoka.
Michael Charles Chilufya Sata was a Zambian politician who was the fifth president of Zambia,from 23 September 2011 until his death on 28 October 2014. A social democrat,he led the Patriotic Front (PF),a major political party in Zambia. Under President Frederick Chiluba,Sata was a minister during the 1990s as part of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) government. He went into opposition in 2001,forming the PF. As an opposition leader,Sata –popularly known as "The King Cobra",emerged as the leading opposition presidential contender and rival to President Levy Mwanawasa in the 2006 presidential election,but was defeated. Following Mwanawasa's death,Sata ran again and lost to President Rupiah Banda in 2008.
Guy Lindsay Scott is a Zambian politician,who served as acting President of Zambia from 2014 to 2015,and was the Vice President from 2011 to 2014.
Catherine Namugala a Zambian politician. She was the First Deputy Speaker of the Zambian Parliament until 2021. She was nominated to that position by President Edgar Lungu,on 18 September 2016. She is the former Minister of Tourism,Environment and Natural Resources in the Zambian Cabinet. She also served as the Member of Parliament (MP),representing Mafinga in the Zambian Parliament from 2001 until 2016.
Presidential elections were held in Zambia on 20 January 2015 to elect a president to serve the remainder of the term of President Michael Sata,following his death on 28 October 2014.
General elections were held in Zambia on 11 August 2016 to elect the President and National Assembly. A constitutional referendum was held alongside the elections,with proposals to amend the bill of rights and Article 79.
Christine Kaseba is a Zambian physician,surgeon and politician who served as the First Lady of Zambia from September 2011 until her husband's death in October 2014. She is the widow of former President Michael Sata,who died in office on October 28,2014. Kaseba made an unsuccessful bid for President of Zambia in the January 2015 special presidential election to succeed her husband. She was appointed Zambian Ambassador to France on April 16,2018.
Edgar Chagwa Lungu is a Zambian politician who served as the sixth president of Zambia from 26 January 2015 to 24 August 2021. Under President Michael Sata,Lungu served as Minister of Justice and Minister of Defence. Following Sata's death in October 2014,Lungu was adopted as the candidate of the Patriotic Front in a Convention of the Patriotic Front in Kabwe,for the January 2015 presidential by-election,which was to determine who would serve out the remainder of Sata's term. In the election,he narrowly defeated opposition candidate Hakainde Hichilema and took office on 25 January 2015.
Miles Bwalya Sampa is a Zambian politician,currently serving as Member of Parliament for Matero Constituency and president of the Patriotic Front. The veteran politician previously served as Mayor of Lusaka,having been elected in August 2018. His election in 2021 would see him return to Parliament representing Matero Constituency,a position he served from 2011 to 2016.
Joyce Nonde-Simukoko is a Zambian politician. She was appointed the Minister of Labour and Social Security in the Cabinet of Zambia by President Edgar Chagwa Lungu on 15 September 2016.
Felix Chipota Mutati is a Zambian politician and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party. Mutati did not run for a Member of Parliament seat in the 2021 Zambian general election and received a nominated seat by the president. As a nominated Member of Parliament,he was appointed Minister of Technology and Science on 17 September 2021 by the ruling Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema.
Nkandu Phoebe Luo is a Zambian microbiologist and politician who was a vice presidential candidate for the Patriotic Front in the August 2021 election. She is a microbiologist who previously served as Head of Pathology and Microbiology at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka and has carried out extensive research into HIV/AIDS.
Sylvia Masebo is a Zambian entrepreneur,politician,and National Assembly of Zambia representative for Chongwe constituency with the United Party for National Development (UPND). Sylvia Masebo holds a degree in Banking and Finance. She first stood on the ticket of Zambian Republican Party (ZRP) in 2001,then the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) in 2003,then the Patriotic Front (PF) in 2011,and then the UPND in 2021.
Emmanuel Tawanda Chenda is a Zambian politician and diplomat. He served as Member of the National Assembly for Bwana Mkubwa between 2011 and 2016. He also held the posts of Minister of Agriculture and Livestock,Minister of Commerce,Trade and Industry and Minister of Local Government and Housing between 2011 and 2015. In November 2017 he was appointed Ambassador to neighbouring Zimbabwe.
Sydney Mushanga is a Zambian politician. He currently serves as Member of the National Assembly for Bwacha.
Edgar Lungu's eligibility to run in the 2026 Elections remains a contentious and ongoing legal issue. Lungu,who served as the sixth President of Zambia from January 2015 to August 2021,assumed office following the death of President Michael Sata. After winning the 2015 presidential election and being re-elected in 2016,he was defeated by Hakainde Hichilema in the 2021 general election. The controversy centers on whether his partial term from 2015 should count towards the two-term limit stipulated by the Zambian Constitution.
