By Brian Matambo – Lusaka, Zambia

The Zambia We Want (ZWW) Party held its presidential elections today, 23 September 2025, at Lieutembm University in Lusaka. Five candidates entered the race: Ernest Mwansa, Dr Auxilia Bupe Ponga, Richewell Siamunene, Robert “Bob” Sichinga, and Kapembwa Simbao.

After hours of ballots and counting, the outcome stunned the hall. No candidate managed the required 50+1 majority. The field has now narrowed to two: Ernest Mwansa and Kapembwa Simbao. A rerun has been declared to decide who will lead ZWW into the future.

THE CONTESTANTS WHO STEPPED FORWARD
Each candidate brought weight and pedigree. Ernest Mwansa leaned on a track record that stretched from rural electrification to parliamentary reforms. Dr Ponga drew on a lifetime of civil service and global partnerships. Richewell Siamunene projected the grit of a field organiser and unifier. Robert Sichinga, ever the economist, warned that Zambia was “in intensive care” and needed surgery, not slogans. Kapembwa Simbao stood like an engineer on the factory floor, insisting governance be stripped and rebuilt for quality.

It was not noise. It was not pageantry. It was democracy at its most disciplined.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF ELECTION
The elections were preceded by a peer review session on 22 September, where aspirants faced their colleagues with manifestos, scorecards, and scrutiny. This two-stage process, peer review then election, is a model rarely seen in Zambian politics. It stripped away the theatre and forced candidates to stand on character, record, and policy.

By the time votes were cast, members knew not just the promises but the histories, the failures, and the strategies of each contender. That depth made today’s results more than just numbers, it made them a verdict on ideas.

WHY MWANSA AND SIMBAO
The runoff between Ernest Mwansa and Kapembwa Simbao is telling. Mwansa represents the reformer’s tradition, a politician whose legacy lies in reforms, institutional change, and tangible delivery. Simbao represents the systems engineer, a leader who diagnoses dysfunction and proposes structural fixes, from judicial independence to energy generation and industrial policy.

Both men embody seriousness. Both speak in solutions, not slogans. In a political culture too often dominated by noise, the ZWW members chose to elevate two men who can spar with the incumbent on substance, not just rhetoric.

A TEMPLATE FOR ZAMBIA
What happened at Lieutembm University is not just a ZWW story. It is a message to every political party ahead of 2026. Elections can be open. They can be orderly. They can be idea-driven. They can elevate competence instead of charisma, evidence instead of improvisation.

ZWW has offered Zambia a rare spectacle: internal democracy that is transparent, competitive, and respectful. Where UPND and PF have stumbled through factionalism and imposition, ZWW has produced a disciplined race that ended in a real contest, not a coronation.

THE ROAD AHEAD
Now the suspense sharpens. Mwansa and Simbao will face off in a rerun. The winner will not simply be ZWW’s president. He will be the flagbearer of a new kind of politics, where manifestos are prescriptions, not brochures, where facts lead, not fables.

Zambia is watching. And after today, one thing is clear: the Zambia We Want has set a standard the whole nation desperately needs.

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