By EditorZambia
This quote should be stapled to every ballot paper in Zambia come 13th August 2026.
Because elections are not therapy sessions. They do not reward feelings, nostalgia, or anger. They reward realism, which tells us one hard truth, that voting President Hakainde Hichilema out of office would be a catastrophic self-inflicted wound. 
Let’s be blunt. Zambia inherited an economy on life support, debt-ridden, credibility shredded, institutions hollowed out, and public trust exhausted. That was not a talking point. It was a balance sheet. Anyone pretending otherwise is not being patriotic. They are being reckless.
President Hichilema did not walk into comfort zone. He walked into a crisis. Instead of hiding from it, he faced it head-on – restoring fiscal discipline, rebuilding international credibility, re-engaging creditors, stabilising the macroeconomic environment, and putting governance back on a rules based footing.
These are not flashy wins. They are foundational wins. The kind that determine whether a country moves forward or collapses quietly.
Those urging Zambians to “try something else” are asking the nation to ignore reality again. We have done that before. We remember how it ended.
You do not abandon a pilot while the plane is climbing out of turbulence. You do not change engineers while the bridge is halfway built. Furthermore, you do not remove a reformist president in the middle of economic reconstruction because progress is hard and patience is uncomfortable.
Economic recovery is not instant coffee. It’s plumbing unseen, technical, and unforgiving. Break it midstream, and the damage does not announce itself immediately. It shows up later as job losses, currency collapse, inflation spikes, debt distress, and vanishing investor confidence. By the time people realise what happened, it is too late.
Reality does not negotiate. Markets do not care about slogans. Creditors do not respond to insults. Additionally, development does not happen by wishful thinking.
President Hichilema represents continuity of reform, seriousness of purpose, and leadership grounded in economic literacy, not populism. Removing President Hichilema now would not be “change.” It would be regression disguised as courage.
Zambians must decide whether they want to confront reality or run away from it again.
History is clear: when nations vote against reality, reality always wins. The consequences are paid by ordinary people.
Don’t repeat the mistake.
Don’t gamble with recovery.
Don’t vote against reality.
Keep President Hakainde Hichilema in office so he can finish the work.
