Kakubo takes the oath for a constituency that did not exist five years ago, and keeps a sitting Cabinet minister in the National Assembly.
Key takeaways
- Stanley Kakubo, UPND, took the oath of office as MP for the newly created Kapiri Mposhi West Constituency in the National Assembly.
- He won the seat in the August 2026 general election with 8,509 votes, beating independent candidate Jackline Nkausu by more than 5,500 votes in a four-way race.
- Kapiri Mposhi West is one of two constituencies carved from the old Kapiri Mposhi seat after the Electoral Commission’s boundary delimitation; UPND also holds Kapiri Mposhi East.
- This is Kakubo’s third consecutive term representing the area, after first winning Kapiri Mposhi in 2016 while UPND was in Opposition, then again in 2021.
- Kakubo is also Zambia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Zambian ministers must hold a parliamentary seat, so the win keeps a sitting Cabinet member in the National Assembly.
Stanley Kakubo stood in the National Assembly chamber this week and took the oath of office for a constituency that carries his name on the ballot for the third time running, though its boundaries are new. Kapiri Mposhi West did not exist in its current form until the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s delimitation exercise redrew the old Kapiri Mposhi seat ahead of the August 2026 general election, splitting it into Kapiri Mposhi West and Kapiri Mposhi East.
Kakubo, standing for the ruling United Party for National Development, polled 8,509 votes against independent candidate Jackline Nkausu’s 2,932, according to the returning officer’s declaration reported by Lusaka Times. Berlington Mubanga of the National Restoration Party for Unity and Prosperity took 2,858 votes, and independent Kelvin Muyowe took 1,024. Out of 15,966 votes cast in the constituency, 643 were rejected. UPND’s strength in the area went beyond the parliamentary contest: the party won 16 of 18 local government seats across both Kapiri Mposhi constituencies.
Third term, new boundaries
Kakubo first entered Parliament in 2016 as MP for Kapiri Mposhi, at a time when UPND sat in Opposition under Hakainde Hichilema. He held the seat again in the 2021 election that brought Hichilema and UPND to power, and was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation shortly after. The 2026 delimitation then split his old constituency in two, and voters in the western half returned him for a third term under the new name.
Delimitation changes like this one are easy to miss next to the presidential race, but they reshape who sits in the National Assembly and how safe an incumbent’s margin really is. A minister who has spent a decade building a base in one constituency does not automatically carry that base into a redrawn one. Kakubo’s result, a win by more than 5,500 votes, suggests the boundary change did little to dent his standing in the area.
Why a minister needs his own seat
Zambia’s Cabinet is drawn from sitting members of the National Assembly, so a minister who loses their constituency loses their ministry with it. Kakubo’s win removes that risk for at least the next five years and lets him continue as the country’s top diplomat without an interruption tied to a parliamentary by-election. For a ministry currently managing Zambia’s relations with creditors, regional blocs and investors, that continuity is not a small detail.
What Kakubo said
In a statement after the ceremony, Kakubo described the oath as “more than a constitutional requirement,” calling it “a solemn promise to serve with integrity, courage and dedication.” He framed the win as part of a longer arc rather than a single victory: “Three elections. Three mandates. But one enduring purpose: to serve the people and my Country.”
That framing will be tested less by ceremony than by delivery. Kapiri Mposhi West inherits the development backlog of the old constituency, from road and health infrastructure to the market access questions that shape rural incomes in Central Province. Whether a third mandate translates into faster progress on those fronts is the question voters in the new constituency will be asking long after the flowers from this week’s swearing-in have been cleared from the chamber.
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