{"id":3226,"date":"2026-03-24T08:57:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T06:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/?p=3226"},"modified":"2026-03-24T09:01:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T07:01:37","slug":"president-hichilema-assures-free-and-fair-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/?p=3226","title":{"rendered":"PRESIDENT HICHILEMA ASSURES FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>President Hakainde Hichilema has assured the United Nations (UN), that the August elections will be free and fair, emphasising that this is the only right approach for a peaceful environment.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Hichilema has stated that elections should not be outcomes of negativity, emphasising the need for peace, ahead of the 2026 elections.<\/p>\n<p>He highlighted that a peaceful environment fosters positive outcomes for elections, unlike the opposite, citing the importance of free and fair elections.<\/p>\n<p>The Head of State was speaking when the United Nations family organisations, led by Beatrice Mutali, paid a courtesy call on him to present their annual brief.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing the UN team, President Hichilema reiterated that the United Nations is the government&#8217;s true partner, emphasising the continued partnership that has been observed over time, for all the work done together over the years.<\/p>\n<p>The President has highlighted how much he values the UN system, noting the recent geopolitical landscapes among other situations, while emphasising that Zambia will always rely on the UN family.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Hichilema further reiterated the call for Africa&#8217;s representation at the UN Security Council, citing the need for the continent to have a seat at the table.<\/p>\n<p>And Mr Hichilema echoed the government&#8217;s efforts to drive macroeconomic stability for the nation, stressing the importance of peace and stability.<\/p>\n<p>He noted that, due to global tensions and war, there is a need to adapt to the changing circumstances, saying the actions that the country and the UN undertake together, must evolve in response to current events.<\/p>\n<p>He thanked the UN for its support in the health sector, noting that every Zambian deserves access to healthcare, regardless of where they come from.<\/p>\n<p>The United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator Beatrice Mutali reiterated the UN&#8217;s mandate to support the country\u2019s electoral process.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;2026 being an election year and in line with our mandate of supporting electoral processes. We remain committed to enhancing our support for the election process,&#8221; she stated.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Mutali also added that the UN greatly values the Zambia-UN partnership and open-door policy for dialogues towards the UN system in Zambia.<\/p>\n<p>She was speaking when she gave a brief update and report of the UN engagements and key interventions in the country, such as the formulation of the Ninth National Development Plan (9NDP).<\/p>\n<p>She noted that the UN is engaging with the ministry of Finance and National Planning which is currently awaiting the final roadmap.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The UN has worked with relevant ministries and partners to support the localisation of global commitments that Zambia has signed up to, in order to align with the country&#8217;s priorities,&#8221; she stated.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Hakainde Hichilema has assured the United Nations (UN), that the August elections will be free and fair, emphasising that this is the only right approach for a peaceful environment. Mr Hichilema has stated that elections should not be outcomes of negativity, emphasising the need for peace, ahead of the 2026 elections. He highlighted that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":3213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,14,15,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latestnewsright","category-international","category-onlyzanis","category-politics","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3226"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3229,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3226\/revisions\/3229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}