Key takeaways
- Iris Kaingu, the independent member of parliament elect for Mwandi, has congratulated President Hakainde Hichilema on his re-election and pledged to work with him “in our respective roles”.
- Kaingu unseated the UPND’s Sibeso Sefulo by 485 votes on 13 August, 6,595 to 6,110, running without a party ticket.
- The Electoral Commission of Zambia declared Hichilema the winner on 18 August with about 60 percent of the presidential vote against Brian Mundubile’s 38 percent.
- In a 266-seat National Assembly elected under new mixed-member rules, the goodwill of independent MPs carries more weight than it did under the old system.
- For Mwandi, a constituency with a long list of unfixed development problems, an MP on working terms with the executive changes the odds on delivery.
Hon Iris Kamwi Kaingu has added her name to the list of Zambians congratulating President Hakainde Hichilema on his re-election. In a message issued on Wednesday, the member of parliament elect for Mwandi wished the President “every success as You begin this new term of service” and said she looked forward “to working together, in our respective roles, towards a Zambia that continues to create opportunity, dignity and a better future for all our people.”
The note is short. Its sender is one of the more striking figures of the parliamentary count. Kaingu took Mwandi from the ruling party on 13 August, defeating the UPND’s Sibeso Sefulo by 485 votes, 6,595 to 6,110, as an independent candidate. Five days later the Electoral Commission of Zambia declared Hichilema re-elected to a second five-year term with about 60 percent of the presidential vote against Brian Mundubile’s 38 percent. Our Election 2026 hub tracks the full sequence, from the counting suspension to the declaration.
| Candidate | Reported share of the vote |
|---|---|
| Hakainde Hichilema (incumbent) | about 60% |
| Brian Mundubile | about 38% |
The message in full
“Warm congratulations to His Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema on the renewal of his mandate to lead our country.
I wish You every success as You begin this new term of service and look forward to working together, in our respective roles, towards a Zambia that continues to create opportunity, dignity and a better future for all our people.
Wishing the President wisdom and strength as he continues to serve our great nation.”
Hon Iris Kamwi Kaingu, Member of Parliament Elect, Mwandi Constituency
Cooperation from outside the party system
Kaingu owes the ruling party nothing and, since 13 August, holds one of its former seats. She first contested Mwandi in 2021 on the Patriotic Front ticket and finished third with 2,831 votes. A brief association with the UPND followed, then an exit, then an independent campaign that, by her own account, survived an approach intended to get her to withdraw. Her father, Michael Liwanga Kaingu, represented the same constituency after the 2006 and 2011 elections.
Read against that record, the message is less a party courtesy than an opening position: an independent MP telling a re-elected President she intends to deal with him directly, in her role and in his. It also fits the wider mood since the declaration. Four defeated opposition presidential candidates have conceded and congratulated Hichilema, and the Emoluments Commission and the teachers’ union ZUPED have done the same.
Why one independent’s goodwill matters
The 2025 constitutional amendments rebuilt the National Assembly as a mixed chamber of 226 directly elected members plus 40 filled through proportional representation, 266 in all. We explained the mechanics here.
Under that arithmetic, a group of independents is no longer a rounding error. Governments with comfortable majorities rarely need them, but budgets, constitutional amendments and speaker elections are the moments when a few votes outside the party whips count. An independent who has publicly committed to working with the executive, rather than against it, is one fewer complication in those moments.
The more practical channel is money. Each constituency receives a multi-million-kwacha allocation from the Constituency Development Fund each year, and the speed at which those projects move often depends on how easily an MP can get a ministry or a district council to act. A working relationship with the executive does not guarantee delivery. It removes one excuse for its absence.
What to watch
For Mwandi and Western Province
Voters in Mwandi returned a familiar family name with an independent label, as our profile of her campaign set out. The expectations that come with it are local and concrete: roads, clinic staffing and youth employment in a part of the country that national development planning has repeatedly passed over. Her first CDF project list and her first question in the House will be the earliest measures of whether a changed representative translates into changed priorities.
For investors and businesses
For anyone weighing exposure to Zambia, the message is a small piece of a larger continuity story. Hichilema’s second term begins with the policy framework investors already know, and our analysis of what it means for the economy, markets and diplomacy is published separately. The inauguration and the 2027 budget presentation, both due in the months ahead, will carry more weight than any congratulatory note. Businesses chasing government or parastatal work in Western Province now deal with a new set of offices: a new MP, a new council term and the same CDF cycle. Listing in our business directory or attending one of our upcoming events is a practical way to stay visible to them.
For policy watchers
The early reading of the second term is continuity with a delivery problem: stability achieved, prosperity still to be shared, as we argued here. Whether independent MPs become reliable partners or a floating bloc is one of the quietly important questions of this Parliament.
The bottom line
Congratulations are the cheapest currency in politics. What gives this one value is the sender: an independent who beat the ruling party in Mwandi, writing to a President who won without needing her vote. The phrase to hold onto is “in our respective roles”. Committee assignments, budget votes and CDF execution records will show, over the coming year, whether that becomes a working arrangement or stays a pleasantry.
Related coverage
- Hichilema Wins Zambia’s 2026 Election in a Landslide as ECZ Declares Outright Victory
- Four Opposition Presidential Candidates Concede and Congratulate Hichilema
- God’s Power Is Limitless: Iris Kaingu Elected MP for Mwandi
- How Zambia’s Mixed-Member Proportional Representation System Works
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