Hichilema gives Nkombo’s old Ministry to the Man who defeated him

Lilanda gets Nkombo’s old ministry: coincidence or a message? President Hakainde Hichilema’s latest Cabinet appointments have produced an intriguing political detail in Southern Province. Vincent Lilanda, the newly elected Member of Parliament for Mazabuka Central, has been appointed Minister of Local Government and Rural Development — the same portfolio previously held by Gary Nkombo, the […]

Lilanda gets Nkombo’s old ministry: coincidence or a message?

Vincent Lilanda

President Hakainde Hichilema’s latest Cabinet appointments have produced an intriguing political detail in Southern Province.

Vincent Lilanda, the newly elected Member of Parliament for Mazabuka Central, has been appointed Minister of Local Government and Rural Development — the same portfolio previously held by Gary Nkombo, the man he defeated in the August 13 parliamentary election.

Nkombo at hospital after attack

Lilanda defeated Nkombo, who contested as an independent after falling out with the UPND, by 20,420 votes to 10,720 in Mazabuka Central. The result ended Nkombo’s long parliamentary hold on the constituency.

Now, barely weeks after that contest, Lilanda is moving into the Cabinet and taking charge of the ministry that once belonged to his defeated predecessor.

The appointment comes with an additional layer of history.

Hichilema terminated Nkombo’s appointment as Minister of Local Government in March 2025, replacing him with Gift Sialubalo.

Sialubalo subsequently won the newly created Kariba constituency in the August election. Parliament’s records show him as the MP for Kariba, while listing Lilanda as the new MP for Mazabuka Central.

The latest Cabinet changes therefore produce an unusual political sequence.

Nkombo lost the ministry.

He later lost the Mazabuka Central seat.

The man who defeated him has now been appointed to the ministry Nkombo once occupied.

And the man who replaced Nkombo in that ministry has moved to Parliament as MP for a newly created constituency.

So, is Hichilema simply choosing a new Cabinet based on the needs of his second administration — or is there a political message in giving Local Government to the man who has just defeated Nkombo?

There is no public evidence establishing that the appointment was made specifically to send a message to Nkombo.

But the symbolism will be difficult to miss.

Lilanda is not an unknown figure in local government. Before entering Parliament, he served as Mayor of Mazabuka and was president of the Local Government Association of Zambia.

That background gives him a direct connection to the ministry he has now been appointed to lead.

The other three appointments announced alongside him also carry their own continuity. Jack Mwiimbu has been retained at Home Affairs, Chipoka Mulenga at Commerce, Trade and Industry, and Elvis Nkandu at Youth, Sport and Arts.

But it is the Lilanda appointment that tells the more interesting political story.

It places a new face in a ministry associated with a former ally of the President, while simultaneously bringing the man who defeated that former ally in Mazabuka Central into Cabinet.

Whether that is simply the President rewarding an elected MP with relevant local-government experience, or whether Hichilema is also conscious of the political symbolism, is a question only State House can answer.

For now, the sequence is clear.

Gary Nkombo held Mazabuka Central and the Local Government portfolio. He lost both. Vincent Lilanda defeated him in Mazabuka Central — and has now been given the Local Government ministry.

Coincidence, political calculation, or simply a new chapter?

That may be the question many in Mazabuka and within the UPND will be asking.

Zambian Eye — Reporting Zambia. Explaining Zambia.