LUSAKA-(MaraviPost)-Former Mines and Minerals Development Minister Paul Kabuswe has lost his Chililabombwe parliamentary seat in Zambia’s 2026 general election, marking a significant setback for the governing United Party for National Development (UPND) on the Copperbelt.
The defeat was reported as results from the election continued to emerge, with local media reporting that Kabuswe was among several senior ministers who failed to retain their parliamentary constituencies.
Kabuswe had represented Chililabombwe since 2021, when he defeated the incumbent Richard Musukwa, and was subsequently appointed by President Hakainde Hichilema to lead the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development. Zambia’s Parliament lists him as the constituency’s representative from August 2021.
His loss comes after a closely watched campaign in a constituency located in Zambia’s Copperbelt, a region where mining remains central to the economy and where political competition has traditionally been intense.
The outcome also adds to a broader parliamentary setback for the UPND, with reports indicating that other senior government figures, including Transport and Logistics Minister Frank Tayali and Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Chipoka Mulenga, also lost their seats.
Kabuswe had entered the 2026 campaign as the UPND candidate for Chililabombwe and had publicly defended the party’s prospects in the constituency.
In July, he rejected suggestions that opposition forces had already secured victory in the wider region.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia’s parliamentary results page lists Kabuswe among the candidates who contested Chililabombwe, although the commission’s online results display was still showing incomplete figures at the time of reporting.
Kabuswe’s defeat therefore represents not only a personal electoral loss but also a closely watched development for President Hichilema’s administration as it assesses voter sentiment across the Copperbelt.
