Opinion | Zambia: Beyond election winners and losers

By Dr Tendai Mbanje In the aftermath of Zambia’s recent elections, much of the public discourse has been reduced to a simplistic binary: President Hakainde Hichilema won; the opposition lost.

Hakainde was a strong candidate; elections were not perfect, but he won the elections.

Commentators have echoed variations of this refrain, portraying the outcome as little more than a contest of personalities and numbers.

Such assessments, while convenient, are dangerously narrow.

They obscure the deeper essence of what elections truly represent and risk eroding the standards by which democratic progress is measured.

Elections are not a sporting match where one side triumphs and the other concedes defeat.

They are the lifeblood of democratic governance, a rights‑based mechanism through which citizens exercise sovereignty, renew the social contract, and hold institutions accountable.

To reduce them to winners and losers is to strip them of their meaning and weaken the democratic fabric itself.

At their core, elections embody rights.

They are not merely about ballots cast and tallies counted; they are about the recognition and protection of fundamental freedoms.

The right to vote, the right to stand for office, the right to participate freely and fairly, and the right to have one’s choice respected are indivisible and interconnected.

They are reinforced by freedoms of expression, speech, assembly, and association without which participation becomes hollow.

When citizens are denied these rights, or when they are curtailed through intimidation, censorship, or administrative manipulation, the legitimacy of the electoral process collapses.

A genuine election is not defined by who emerges victorious but by whether the rights of all participants were secured and respected.