President Hakainde Hichilema has reassured the nation that the general elections set for August 13, 2026, will take place in a calm and peaceful environment.<\/p>\n
President Hichilema has stated that he carries the solemn duty to protect every citizen and their property beyond the election period, further assuring that security agencies have been placed on high alert to safeguard peace before, during and after elections.<\/p>\n
According to a statement issued to ZANIS by Statehouse Chief Communications Specialist, Clayson Hamasaka, the President has noted that he took oath as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, to defend and uphold the constitution.<\/p>\n
He has since affirmed that all arms and institutions of government will continue operating effectively, despite the dissolution of Cabinet and Parliament.<\/p>\n
The President has therefore directed all Permanent Secretaries and controlling officers to ensure uninterrupted service delivery to Zambians during the election period.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur citizens should continue to access all government services without disruption. People should still receive healthcare, education and other essential public services,” he said.<\/p>\n
President Hichilema also called on political players to conduct issue-based campaigns, emphasising that political competition should focus on service.<\/p>\n
The Head of State added that despite belonging to different political parties, Zambians remain one united people.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolitical competition should be about improving service delivery for our citizens. As we enter the campaign period, I urge my fellow politicians to avoid insults and name-calling, and instead concentrate on issues that affect our people,” he stated.<\/p>\n
The President further appealed to all Zambians, particularly the youth, to use social media responsibly, stressing that digital platforms must build the nation and not tear it down.<\/p>\n
\u201cSocial media is a powerful tool for civic participation, but during this campaign, it must be used with integrity. We must not allow our digital spaces to become channels for misinformation, insults or incitement. The standards of conduct we expect on the campaign trail should apply online\u201d, he stressed.<\/p>\n
President Hichilema also reminded Zambians that peace and unity are a foundation of the work that follows, and further appealed to citizens to uphold peace and unity in the spirit of One-Zambia, One Nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cA peaceful election is the ground on which we deliver Zambia\u2019s harvest together. Our differences as parties must never come at the cost of our common task, building a country for every Zambian, in every province, in every household\u201d, he emphasised.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Hakainde Hichilema has reassured the nation that the general elections set for August 13, 2026, will take place in a calm and peaceful environment. President Hichilema has stated that he carries the solemn duty to protect every citizen and their property beyond the election period, further assuring that security agencies have been placed on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,15],"tags":[26,63,25],"class_list":["post-4136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latestnewscentre","category-onlyzanis","tag-ineverycornerofzambia","tag-presidenthakaindehichilema","tag-zanis","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4136","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=4136"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4138,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4136\/revisions\/4138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zanis.gov.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}