...as he promises pontoon, roads and development at Samu Lya Moomba LUSAKA – President Hakainde Hichilema has warned newly elected Members of Parliament that his second term will demand greater performance, telling them they must work for the people who elected them rather than simply occupy seats in Parliament. “I will be tough this term,” ...as he promises pontoon, roads and development at Samu Lya Moomba LUSAKA – President Hakainde Hichilema has warned newly elected Members of Parliament that his second term will demand greater performance, telling them they must work for the people who elected them rather than simply occupy seats in Parliament. “I will be tough this term,” President Hakainde Hichilema has warned new MPs to deliver for voters, while promising a pontoon, roads and infrastructure at Samu Lya Moomba in Monze.

…as he promises pontoon, roads and development at Samu Lya Moomba

LUSAKA – President Hakainde Hichilema has warned newly elected Members of Parliament that his second term will demand greater performance, telling them they must work for the people who elected them rather than simply occupy seats in Parliament.

“I will be tough this term,” President Hichilema said on Sunday, October 4, 2026, when he graced the Samu Lya Moomba Traditional Ceremony of Chief Choongo of the Tonga people in Monze District.

The President used the traditional gathering to deliver a message that went beyond ceremony, placing responsibility on the Members of Parliament elected in the August 2026 general elections to demonstrate what they were elected to do.

He said MPs must work hard and ensure that they deliver on the mandate given to them by voters, rather than simply sitting in councils and waiting for the next election.

The message comes just days after the new Parliament began taking shape, with President Hichilema also recently urging MPs to put national interests above personal and partisan interests and to make Parliament a vehicle for legislation, oversight and national development.

For Hichilema, the challenge appears to be moving the political conversation from winning elections to delivering results.

And at Samu Lya Moomba, he connected that expectation directly to demands coming from traditional leaders and communities.

Pontoon promise from his own pocket

One of the more striking commitments came when the President responded to a request from traditional leaders for a pontoon.

Hichilema told the gathering that he would use his personal money from his ranching business in the area to purchase the pontoon being requested by the chiefs.

The commitment puts a very practical issue at the centre of the ceremony: movement and connectivity for communities that depend on crossings and transport infrastructure.

The President also promised that Government would work on roads and other infrastructure raised by the traditional leaders.

The commitments are significant because many of the demands presented at traditional ceremonies are ultimately about basic connectivity — roads, bridges, water, schools, health facilities and economic infrastructure that determine how easily communities can access markets and public services.

The Monze area has also had longstanding road concerns. Government has previously assured communities that the Monze–Niko Road would be completed, with the road viewed as important to economic activity in the area.

Samu Lya Moomba: development meets history

The Samu Lya Moomba ceremony carries significance beyond the traditional gathering itself.

The site is associated with Zambia’s independence history, with freedom fighters and traditional leaders having used the area during the struggle against colonial rule.

Speaking at this year’s ceremony, Hichilema called for the preservation of historical sites such as Samu Lya Moomba so that younger generations can understand the struggles that led to Zambia’s independence.

He also linked the history of the site to the values he said Zambia needs in its next phase — unity, discipline and hard work.

The President said the unity demonstrated by freedom fighters and traditional leaders during the independence struggle should continue to guide the country as it pursues economic development.

The message comes as the country begins a new political term following the August elections.

Power generation on the agenda

The President also announced that Government intends to establish a thermal power plant in the chiefdoms of Chief Choongo and Chief Hamusonde as part of the broader target of generating 10,000 megawatts of electricity.

Hichilema said increasing power generation remains part of the Government’s development agenda.

The announcement is particularly relevant to Southern Province, where agriculture, livestock, businesses and households have all been affected by the country’s power challenges in recent years.

Rather than treating electricity as a standalone energy issue, the President’s message at Samu Lya Moomba tied power generation to the wider economic transformation agenda.

The beef opportunity

Livestock also featured prominently in the President’s message.

Hichilema challenged traditional leaders to support Government’s ambition of building a US$1 billion beef export industry by strengthening livestock disease control, increasing production and ensuring better management of grazing areas.

That message has particular relevance in Monze and the wider Southern Province, where cattle production is an important part of the local economy.

The President’s reference to his own ranching business in the area also connected his personal experience in livestock farming with the development demands being raised by the traditional leadership.

But the challenge is bigger than increasing the number of cattle.

For Zambia to turn livestock into a major export industry, issues such as animal disease control, grazing management, processing capacity, transport infrastructure, market access and reliable electricity will all matter.

Water and the coming weather challenge

Hichilema also directed councils to prioritise water-related programmes as the country prepares for projected El Niño conditions during the 2026/2027 season.

The concern is that dry periods could put additional pressure on communities already facing water shortages.

The President said councils should ensure communities can continue accessing water during dry periods.

Government officials at the ceremony said preparations were already under way.

Green Economy and Environment Minister Gilbert Siame said Government was working to ensure communities that could be affected by the projected conditions were adequately prepared, while Acting Southern Province Permanent Secretary Gift Monde said the province had information and preparations in place.

Farmers still waiting for FRA payments

Agriculture was another issue raised by the President.

Hichilema said Government was making progress towards settling outstanding payments owed to farmers who supplied grain to the Food Reserve Agency.

He also urged farmers not to sell all their maize, advising them to retain enough for household consumption

Government is also rehabilitating and constructing maize storage sheds, while cooperatives are being encouraged to develop their own storage facilities that could also become sources of income.

What the President’s warning to MPs means

The political message at Samu Lya Moomba may ultimately be the one that receives the most attention.

“I will be tough this term” was not presented simply as a warning to the public. It was directed at those holding elected office and came alongside a demand for visible results.

The President told the newly elected MPs that voters had not sent them to Parliament merely to occupy seats.

That places a different expectation on the new Parliament: representation must translate into legislation, oversight and development in constituencies.

It is also consistent with the message Hichilema delivered at State House earlier in the week, when he told the Speaker, Deputy Speakers and MPs that Parliament should prioritise national interests, constructive debate and legislation that supports the country’s growth agenda and job creation.

At Samu Lya Moomba, however, the message was taken directly into the communities represented by those MPs.

The demands from the chiefs were concrete — a pontoon, roads and infrastructure.

The President’s response was equally concrete: Government would work on those needs, while he personally committed to purchasing the pontoon from his own resources.

The bigger test now is implementation.

For the communities of Chief Choongo and surrounding areas, the significance of Sunday’s promises will not ultimately be measured by what was said at the traditional ceremony, but by whether the pontoon arrives, roads are worked on, infrastructure projects move and the broader development commitments begin to take shape.

That is also where the President’s warning to MPs becomes more consequential.

The new political term has begun.

The question now is whether the promises made at ceremonies, in Parliament and at State House will translate into measurable changes in the communities that elected the country’s new political leadership.

Samu Lya Moomba, meanwhile, once again brought together history, traditional leadership and politics — with 71 traditional leaders, government officials, 40 UPND Members of Parliament and hundreds of community members attending this year’s ceremony.

For Zambia’s new term, the message from Monze was clear: unity and history may provide the foundation, but the President is now demanding work and delivery.

And he says he intends to be tough about it.

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