LUSAKA, Aug 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Zambian president-elect Hakainde Hichilema slammed the southern African country’s outgoing “brutal regime” while promising a “better democracy” in his debut address to the nation, hours after winning the top job in a landslide.
Speaking shortly after his predecessor Edgar Lungu conceded defeat, the business tycoon and veteran opposition leader said his camp had been victims of a “brutal regime that is exiting.”
“I will be a president of all Zambians, of those that voted for me and of those that did not,” he pledged.
After a campaign dominated by the country’s economic woes and marred by sporadic violence, Hichilema garnered 2,810,757 votes against 1,814,201 for the incumbent Edgar Lungu, according to nearly final results.
Lungu conceded defeat, saying he congratulated “my brother… Hichilema for becoming the seventh republican president.”
In a nationally televised address, Lungu thanked Zambians for “a great opportunity to be your president. I will forever cherish and appreciate the authority you invested in me.”
The electoral commission proclaimed Hichilema president-elect in the early hours of Monday, bringing the curtain down on Lungu’s nearly six-year reign.
Hichilema, 59, pledged: “We will foster a better democracy… rule of law, restoring order, respecting human rights, liberties and freedoms.”
Wiping away tears, Hichilema said his victory was the “historic moment millions of Zambians have been waiting for.”
Hundreds of supporters had gathered on the dirt road leading up to Hichilema’s sumptuous residence in a leafy suburb of Lusaka, and they shouted: “Bally, Bally” (slang for “father”) as he began to speak.
“It is with great honour, humility, gratitude that I stand before you today to say change is here,” Hichilema said.
Recalling that he had been arrested 15 times, Hichilema said: “We are not going into the office to arrest those who arrested us.”
He added: “Once we restore the rule of law, we will see more economic investment.”
It was Hichilema’s sixth bid for the top job and his third challenge to his bitter rival Lungu, 64, after losing to Lungu by a wafer-thin 100,000-vote margin in 2016. — NNN-AGENCIES
