Zambia: Hakainde Hichilema, the eternal opponent of the presidency

Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema won the presidential elections.

© RODGER BOSCH / AFP

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2 min

Zambia has a new president.

Hakainde Hichilema, 59, married father of 3 children, must be invested head of state next Tuesday.

Nicknamed HH or Bally, the longtime political opponent was widely elected on August 12 with nearly a million votes in advance and a strong turnout over incumbent President Edgard Lungu according to the electoral commission.

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Hakainde Hichilema was running for the sixth time in the presidential election.

The eternal opponent, finally elected, had so far lost in all the ballots for fifteen years.

The businessman, long regarded by his detractors as an opportunist in politics, was catapulted into the head of the UPND party in 2006.

But HH presents himself today as " 

an ordinary citizen

 ".

An eloquent speaker, he was able, during the campaign, to get rid of his elitist image, swapping his made-to-measure suits for fatigues or jeans.

CEO and investor

Born in 1962 to a poor family in the south of the country, raised as "

 a simple boy who looked after the cattle 

", he obtained a scholarship at the University of Zambia.

A graduate in economics and business management, he then went to England for an MBA at the University of Birmingham.

At 26, he found himself CEO of the Zambian branch of an international accounting firm.

He then invests in real estate, then in finance, breeding, health and tourism.

He has served on the boards of several large Zambian companies.

Hakainde Hichilema, arrested fifteen times since entering politics, now promises "

change

" in the country, starting with the recovery of its economy.

 People's expectations are high, 

” the newly elected president.

►Also read: Zambia: the new president Hakainde Hichilema facing economic challenges

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