Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
Sishuwa Sishuwa

Creator

Sishuwa Sishuwa

Sishuwa Sishuwa is a Zambian writer, historian, and Senior Lecturer at Stellenbosch University

In a bid to secure another term, Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema is controlling the judiciary, tampering with legislation and limiting activities by the opposition ahead of next year’s elections. Photo: Supplied
AUTHORITARIANISM

Zambia’s 2026 election: How Hichilema is tilting the playing field against opponents

As President Hakainde Hichilema lays his groundwork for Zambia’s 2026 election, a disputed outcome appears almost inevitable

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
29 min read
Former president Edgar Lungu’s body is still in South Africa because of a row between Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema and the Lunga family over where he should be buried. Photo: File
BURIED

Zambia: Missed opportunities in the feud over Edgar Lungu’s burial

If President Hakainde Hichilema cannot manage a funeral, how can he manage a country?

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
18 min read
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema.
BILL 7

Unpacking the dangers of the proposed amendments to Zambia’s constitution, Part II

President Hichilema is keen to win the support of MPs through inducement because their votes will determine the fate of his proposed changes to the constitution

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
6 min read
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema.
BILL 7

Unpacking the dangers of proposed amendments to Zambia’s Constitution, Part 1

President Hakainde Hichilema seeks to control the National Assembly by adding 92 new seats and creating 55 new constituencies in areas that have historically voted for him

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
15 min read
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema faces elections next year. Photo: Supplied
AUNG SAN SUU KYI

Zambia: Understanding Hakainde Hichilema’s transition from reformist to  despot

Faced with public discontent, fear of losing power has driven Zambia’s president to change the constitution and enact repressive laws ahead of next year’s election

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
17 min read
A report by the United Nations’ special rapporteur says human rights are at a crossroads in Zambia as the country prepares for general elections next year. (Photo by GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP)
OPINION

The dying embers of human rights in Zambia ahead of the 2026 election

A report by the United Nations’ special rapporteur says human rights are at a crossroads in Zambia as the country prepares for general elections next year

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
16 min read
Constitutional law lecturer O’Brien Kaaba
OPINION

Why is O’Brien Kaaba laundering Hichilema’s sham anti-corruption fight in Zambia?

Every regime has its intellectual apologists. It seems Zambia’s president has his own

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
17 min read
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema.
ARREST THREAT

‘After I criticised his abuse of state institutions, Zambia’s president wants me arrested’

When an academic warned of the continuing politicisation of institutions in Zambia, the state tried to prove him wrong. It now seems happy to prove him right if it can lock him up

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
27 min read
In making its case for removing the three judges on the grounds of alleged incompetence, the JCC stated that they did not qualify to be appointed to the office of judge because they lacked specialised training or experience in human rights or constitutional law. Photo: (Judiciary of Zambia)
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

How the commission that disciplines judges in Zambia has gone rogue

The Judicial Complaints Commission has elevated itself far above the Constitution

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
11 min read
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema.
CONSTITUTION

Why Zambia’s president is threatening to delay the country’s 2026 elections

Hakainde Hichilema is so desperate to cling on to power that he is preparing the ground to amend the Constitution before the elections

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
27 min read
Jason Mwanza protests in front of the very same Freedom Statue in Lusaka where Hakainde Hichilema protested before he became the president of Zambia. Mwanza has been detained for his lone protest.
ARRESTS

Zambian government leaves human rights on death row

Reminding President Hakainde Hichilema to fulfil his election campaign promises is now an offence in Zambia

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
6 min read
Just as minibus taxi passengers allow themselves to be bullied by the driver and his minion, citizens allow themselves to be dominated by a villainous minority. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
OPINION

The pathology of power in Zambia: How citizens can reclaim their clout

Just as minibus taxi passengers allow themselves to be bullied by the driver and his minion, citizens allow themselves to be dominated by a villainous minority

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
8 min read
In a bid to secure another term, Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema is controlling the judiciary, tampering with legislation and limiting activities by the opposition ahead of next year’s elections. Photo: Supplied
2021 ZAMBIA ELECTIONS

How President Hakainde Hichilema is using lawfare to subvert democracy in Zambia

Hichilema is steadily eroding the country’s democracy by weakening critical institutions — the judiciary, police, parliament, electoral commission and civil service — to ensure…

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
27 min read
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema.
HAKAINDE HICHILEMA

In Zambia today, stealing a political party is big business

President Hakainde Hichilema is weakening state institutions, impairing the opposition and undermining democracy

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
37 min read
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema.
COPPERBELT

Understanding Hichilema’s talk of a coup plot in Zambia

Is there any weight behind the Zambian president’s warning?

  • Sishuwa Sishuwa
17 min read