Joseph Munsanje took the oath of office as Member of Parliament for Mbabala on Tuesday, joining more than a hundred elected legislators sworn in at the start of Zambia’s 2026-2031 National Assembly.
Key takeaways
- Joseph Munsanje was sworn in as Mbabala’s MP on 8 September, as Speaker Nelly Mutti administered the oath to elected members of the new National Assembly.
- It is Munsanje’s second term. The UPND legislator first won the Southern Province seat in 2021 and was returned to Parliament after the 13 August general election.
- Vice President Mutale Nalumango took her own oath a day earlier, on 7 September, formally opening the five-year 2026-2031 parliamentary term.
- Mbabala is a 12-ward constituency in the northern part of Choma District, Southern Province. February 2026 boundary talks carved a new Choma South constituency out of neighbouring Choma Central, leaving Mbabala’s own boundaries unchanged.
- Munsanje holds an MPhil in Development Studies and has worked as a development specialist and social worker; Parliament’s record of his qualifications does not itemise a doctorate.
Munsanje was among the elected members Speaker Nelly Mutti swore in at Parliament Buildings in Lusaka on 8 September, as the National Assembly worked through the roughly 224 constituency and nominated seats returned from the 13 August general election. The exercise followed Vice President Mutale Nalumango’s own oath a day earlier, which formally opened the chamber’s 2026-2031 term.
A second term for Mbabala’s UPND MP
Munsanje represents Mbabala, a 12-ward constituency in the northern part of Choma District in Southern Province. He first won the seat for the UPND in 2021, succeeding a line of MPs that includes Emmanuel Hachipuka and Ephraim Belemu, both of whom also sat for the party. Tuesday’s oath returns him for a second term after the 13 August general election, in which President Hakainde Hichilema was also re-elected.
Parliament’s own biographical record lists Munsanje’s qualifications as a Grade 12 certificate, a Bachelor of Social Work, an MPhil in Development Studies and a Certificate in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, with a professional background as a development specialist and social worker. He was born on 14 February 1973 and is married.
A constituency left intact by this year’s boundary review
Mbabala’s borders were a live question earlier in 2026. During February’s delimitation sittings, stakeholders adopted a model that created a new Choma South constituency by dividing neighbouring Choma Central, an arrangement that left Mbabala intact. The distinction matters locally: Choma South’s first MP, Trevor Mwiinde, was sworn in this week too, but Munsanje’s own constituents kept the same ward boundaries and Constituency Development Fund allocation they had going into the election.
That continuity carries into the new term’s priorities. Mbabala’s local economy is predominantly agricultural, and the constituency’s CDF allocation has previously supported health infrastructure alongside the roads, schools and water projects typical of rural Southern Province seats. What Munsanje’s second term adds to that record is now the practical test facing his constituents.
What comes next
The National Assembly’s swearing-in continues over several sittings before members proceed to elect a Speaker and hear the presidential address that formally opens the legislative programme for 2026 to 2031. Munsanje joins a UPND caucus that returned with a substantial majority of the roughly 224 seats declared following the 13 August poll.
Related coverage
- Mwiinde Sworn In as Choma South MP, Renews Call to Respect Election Outcomes
- Jacqueline Sabao Sworn In for Second Term as Chikankata MP
- HH Widens Gap to 225,971 Votes as ECZ Confirms 105 Constituencies
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