Hakainde Hichilema (born 4 June 1962) is a Zambian businessman, farmer, and politician who is the seventh and current president of Zambia since 24 August 2021.

On 11 April 2017, Hichilema was arrested and charged with treason, a move that was seen as an illegitimate act by Lungu to silence a political rival.

He received a scholarship to study at the University of Zambia and graduated in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in Economics and Business Administration.

In June 2009, Hichilema's party, the UPND, formed a pact with Michael Sata's Patriotic Front (PF) to contest the 2011 election together.

On the night of 11 April 2017 the Zambian Police broke into Hichilema's compound to arrest the country's main opposition leader, ordered by President Edgar Lungu's government[13][14][15] and charged with treason after he was accused of endangering the president's life after his motorcade allegedly refused to give way to the one transporting Lungu,[16] a case which many viewed as a minor traffic offence[17][18] and not one that could amount to treason.

[21] Hichilema said in an interview on HARDtalk that during his time in prison he was held in solitary confinement for eight days without food, water, light, or visitation, was tortured by having his penis pepper sprayed, and accused President Lungu of having tried to kill him.

[24] The arrest was the subject of the episode of Al Jazeera's The Stream TV program titled Is Zambia's Democracy in Danger?,[25] which aired on 30 May 2017.

[29] While Hichilema was in jail, President Lungu imposed a state of emergency,[30] a move critics saw as an effort to tighten his grip on power.

[41] Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, congratulated the Zambian authorities for dropping the treason charges against Hichilema and releasing him from prison.

The event was originally scheduled to take place the previous week on 24 August but was blocked by heavily armed state police who sealed off the venue.

[45] On 23 December 2020, Hichilema received a warning and caution at the Zambian Police Headquarters in Lusaka for an alleged offence of "conspiracy to defraud contrary to section 313 of the Penal Code, Cap 87 of the Laws of Zambia", relating to the purchase of a property in 2004.

The electoral commission chairman Esau Chulu declared that he had won the election in the early hours of 16 August.

On 17 December 2017, Hichilema featured on ZNBC's Sunday Interview, making him the first opposition political leader to be hosted on that program.

[7] He is a baptized member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church[60][61] and on 12 December 2020, he and his wife got invested as Master Guides in Lusaka.

[64] Hichilema was named in the Panama Papers, with the leak stating that he was the director of Bermuda-based company AfNat Resources Ltd from March to August 2006.