Hichilema faces a 280-seat House, and a nation waiting to hear the word “unity” President Hakainde Hichilema walks into Parliament Buildings in Lusaka today to open the First Session of the 14th National Assembly. He will set out the Government’s policy direction for 2026 and…

Hichilema faces a 280-seat House, and a nation waiting to hear the word “unity”

President Hakainde Hichilema walks into Parliament Buildings in Lusaka today to open the First Session of the 14th National Assembly. He will set out the Government’s policy direction for 2026 and 2027 before the largest and most varied House the country has ever assembled. He arrives with a comfortable majority and an ambitious economic blueprint, while churches, business and the opposition all ask him to answer a different question first: how to bring a divided country back together.

The chamber he addresses has changed beyond recognition. Constitutional and electoral reforms, enacted through the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act No. 13 of 2025, have expanded the National Assembly from 167 members to 280. They have also introduced mixed-member proportional representation for the first time.

There are now 226 elected constituency members, up from 156 after 70 new constituencies were created. Forty more MPs entered through proportional representation: 20 women, 15 young people and five persons with disabilities. The rest of the House is made up of nominated members, the Speaker, the Vice-President and the First Deputy Speaker.

For a legislature that held just 25 women among 167 members before the August vote, the reserved seats alone mark a sharp break with the past.

A building stretched to fit

The physical Parliament has had to grow with its membership. Clerk of the National Assembly Loveness Mayaka said seating in the chamber had been expanded and committee rooms refurbished, and 70 new constituency offices had been opened. Multimedia conference systems now run in the chamber and committee rooms.

Accessibility has received equal attention. Ramps and handrails have been installed and two lifts are being fitted. Braille facilities, tactile signage and wider sign language interpretation have been introduced so that members with disabilities can take a full part in proceedings.

Ms Mayaka said the work went beyond simply finding chairs for new faces.

“These interventions are not only intended to accommodate the increased number of members, but also, and most importantly, to strengthen the capacity of Parliament to operate as a modern, inclusive, accessible and effective institution,” she said.

The arithmetic of power

The governing United Party for National Development holds 169 seats, a clear working majority. The main opposition, the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP), holds 67. Independents hold 20 and smaller parties share the rest.

That majority comes with a ceiling. Two-thirds of a 280-member House is 187 votes, the threshold for constitutional amendments, leaving the ruling party 18 votes short on its own.

The House has already given a first glimpse of how votes may fall. Speaker Nelly Mutti and First Deputy Speaker Malungo Chisangano were returned unopposed last week. In the only contested ballot, Mufumbwe Independent MP Nshamba Muzungu beat Vincent Mwale 166 votes to 58 for the post of Second Deputy Speaker. Mwale’s 58 fell nine short of NRPUP’s 67 seats.

On her return to the chair, Ms Mutti tied the new Parliament directly to the Government’s economic programme. She said legislative oversight must turn growth targets into jobs.

Grow Zambia meets the dinner table

That programme is the Grow Zambia Agenda, built on the targets the President has made his second-term signature. By 2031 it aims for:

• 10 million tonnes of maize
• 10,000 megawatts of electricity
• five million tourist arrivals
• three million tonnes each of copper and soya beans
• one million tonnes each of wheat and sugar
• a US$1 billion beef export industry

Business wants to hear how those numbers will be reached. Private Sector Development Association chairperson Yusuf Dodia said the President should spell out measures on electricity, fuel and regulation, and then hand the challenge to industry.

“We expect the President to talk about policies that support the private sector to be efficient, and then challenge the private sector and say, look, everything has been set up for you. Can you now come and perform and achieve these goals?” Mr Dodia said.

Families, for their part, will be listening for the cost of living. The Media Network on Child Rights and Development says free education has pushed enrolment to 2.5 million learners, putting heavy pressure on classrooms, teachers and school feeding. Its executive director, Henry Kabwe, has asked for more money for teacher recruitment and stronger child protection.

The healing question

For all the talk of tonnes and megawatts, the loudest appeal ahead of today’s address is about the country’s mood after a bruising election.

The Council of Churches in Zambia wants what its general secretary, Reverend Canon James Phiri, called a clear and people-centred speech. He said it should be honest about hardship rather than a list of achievements.

“National development must ultimately be measured not only by economic indicators and policy pronouncements, but also by tangible improvements in the living conditions of ordinary citizens,” Rev Phiri said.

He also warned about the tone of national politics. “We are particularly concerned about the potential of inflammatory political language to deepen divisions and weaken national cohesion,” he said.

That concern is sharpest on the opposition benches. NRPUP presidential candidate Brian Mundubile, his running mate Makebi Zulu and 16 others remain in custody in Kabwe on treason charges. Leadership Movement president Richard Silumbe has called for an inclusive round table on the country’s future.

“The current political atmosphere in the country has crossed a red line,” Dr Silumbe said.

The President has signalled that he has heard the appeals. Responding recently to the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia, which asked him to make unity central to his address, Mr Hichilema committed to reaching across party lines.

“I heard your message loud and clear on unity to continue uniting the country. We will do our part to reach out to our colleagues… so that we can talk to each other,” he said.

What comes after the speech

The ceremony will follow its familiar choreography, but today’s address carries a heavier load than most. It must translate an economic plan into household terms, reassure investors and speak to a country still sore from the polls.

Once the President leaves the chamber, MPs will take up the policy pronouncements in his address on the floor of the House. This 280-member Parliament’s first real test begins there.