Almost five-million Zambians came out to vote on 12 August, and overwhelmingly rejected incumbent Edgar Lungu as president. After five attempts, Hakainde Hichilema swept ahead to victory by over a million votes and a secured a majority in the National Assembly. The opposition victory transcended the numerous lines of polarisation that have characterised voting patterns in the past, such as ethnicity, regional affiliation and age. Now Hichilema will have to embody Kenneth Kaunda’s ‘one nation one Zambia’ slogan in its fullness. With a mandate to lead for the next five years, Hichilema’s United Party for National Development and the new president himself has his work cut out for him.