Zambia : Hichilema Closes 127-rally Campaign As 50,000 Students March To State House In Show Of Support

President Hakainde Hichilema has completed a nationwide campaign tour covering all 116 districts of Zambia, addressing 127 public rallies since launching his re-election bid on 28 June, as thousands of students marched to State House pledging to deliver him millions of votes ahead of Thursday’s general election.

State House said the tour began with a rally outside the National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka and progressed through all ten provinces, with the President addressing rallies in Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Muchinga, Northern, Luapula, Lusaka, Southern, Western and North-Western provinces before concluding his final leg in Luapula on 9 August.

More than 50,000 students from over 50 universities and colleges marched to State House grounds on Monday to rally behind the President, drawn from institutions including the University of Zambia, Levy Mwanawasa Medical University, Chalimbana University and the National Institute of Public Administration.

Clad in red and white, the students carried banners praising Hichilema’s record on free education and chanted messages of solidarity as they gathered at the golf course, where the President addressed them amid music and dancing.

“We have an election this week on Thursday, in order to continue expanding education, including support, including private schools, Bally needs to return to this house. You are welcome to State House, your State House, this is the people’s State House,” Hichilema told the students.

He said his administration had already achieved much in its first term but that more work remained. “We started a journey in 2021, restructured the economy, restructured the debt, restructured the mining sector, the energy sector, restructured the education sector, restructuring agriculture, we have done a lot but we still have a lot more to do,” he said.

Hichilema pledged to introduce structured internships for students in their second and third years of study, saying government would attach them to companies so they would have employment secured before graduation. He recalled his own experience of being hired directly out of an internship without waiting for exam results.

The President also said his administration planned to extend student loans to private colleges and universities and confirmed that meal allowances, already restored, would remain in place. He said government intended to expand bursaries, hostel space and sanitation facilities to help students remain healthy while they study.

University of Zambia Students’ Union president Mwanto Kabaso thanked the President for a sanitation overhaul at the institution and for the accommodation allowance increase from K3,900 to K5,850, saying the university’s highest office now felt like “a paradise on earth.”

UNZASU vice-president Jemimah Mwaba, representing the Zambia National Students Union, said the President’s leadership had touched every generation of students, from bursaries and meal allowances to sanitation and support for the elderly through social cash transfers.

National Council of Students’ Unions secretary-general Vincent Sakala said students had resolved to deliver Hichilema at least 5.8 million votes on Thursday, describing the figure as a reflection of the goodwill built up over the President’s five years in office.

Levy Mwanawasa Medical University student union president Brian Malambo said students believed Zambia’s economic future was secure under Hichilema’s plans for youth empowerment, and the university’s students conferred an honorary degree on the President in what they termed “Kwenyunology,” in recognition of his support for student loan extensions to the institution.

State House said the President’s tour had also included stops at the University of Zambia campus on 1 August, where he addressed thousands of students on the grounds ahead of the broader march that followed days later.

With campaigning due to close on Wednesday, the twin events, a completed nationwide rally circuit and a mass student demonstration of support, mark the final push of Hichilema’s re-election bid before Zambians go to the polls on Thursday

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