Excavators or Two Million Jobs: What Will Zambians Choose?

By ZR Reporter

As Zambia heads to the August 13 general elections, voters are being presented with very different promises about what development should look like.

Brian Mundubile has been associated with promises of tangible community projects, including the reported provision of excavators, while President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND are campaigning on a broader economic agenda anchored by a pledge to create two million additional jobs over the next five years. The contrast raises a bigger question about what voters value most.

For some communities, an excavator can represent immediate development, particularly in areas where access to machinery can support local projects and economic activity.

For young people without employment, however, the promise of a job may carry a different weight because it means a regular income and greater economic independence.

But beyond the size or visibility of the promises, voters still have to ask whether they are achievable.

Where will the money come from?Who will implement the promises?How many people will benefit?And, most importantly, when will ordinary Zambians begin to see the results?The election therefore presents voters with more than competing political slogans. It presents different ideas about how development should be delivered — through visible community interventions or through a larger economic programme aimed at creating opportunities on a national scale.

Ultimately, the question is not simply which promise sounds better, but which one voters believe can actually be delivered.

© Zambia Reports | August 2026