Hichilema Names First Five Nominated MPs

41 Views…Haimbe, Chilengi, Nkoma, Siame and Anakoka Take Oath The five are among up to 11 MPs the President can nominate under the new parliamentary structure, with the Speaker saying the swearing-in of other nominated and proportional-representation MPs will follow. LUSAKA — President Hakainde Hichilema has nominated the first five Members of Parliament under the […]

41 Views…Haimbe, Chilengi, Nkoma, Siame and Anakoka Take Oath

The five are among up to 11 MPs the President can nominate under the new parliamentary structure, with the Speaker saying the swearing-in of other nominated and proportional-representation MPs will follow.

Mulambo Haimbe

Noel Nkoma

LUSAKA — President Hakainde Hichilema has nominated the first five Members of Parliament under the new structure of Zambia’s 14th National Assembly, with former Foreign Affairs Minister Mulambo Haimbe among those sworn into office.

The other four nominees are Dr Roma Chilengi, former Director-General of the Zambia National Public Health Institute; economist Noel Nkoma; University of Zambia academic Dr Gilbert Siame; and former Luena MP Mubita Anakoka.

The five were sworn in by National Assembly Speaker Nelly Mutti, SC, who indicated that the swearing-in of the remaining nominated MPs and proportional-representation MPs would proceed in due course.

Why this matters

This is the first group of presidential nominees entering the expanded National Assembly created under the constitutional changes that took effect ahead of the 2026 election.

The Constitution now provides for 226 constituency-based MPs, 40 proportional-representation MPs and not more than 11 nominated MPs. The nominated positions may be used to enhance representation of special interests, skills or gender.

That gives us a very good ZE EXPLAINS box:

Who are Hichilema’s five nominees?

Mulambo Haimbe — former Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Dr Roma Chilengi — former Director-General, Zambia National Public Health Institute.

Noel Nkoma — economist.

Dr Gilbert Siame — University of Zambia academic.

Mubita Anakoka — former MP for Luena Constituency.

Then:

What happens next?

The five are only the first group of presidential nominees. Up to six additional nominated MPs could still be appointed if the President uses the full constitutional allocation of 11.

The House will also gain members through the new 40-seat proportional representation system, while two constituency seats — Lumezi North and Mandevu — remained outstanding after the initial swearing-in of elected MPs.