A former CEO at two international accounting firms and the second-biggest cattle rancher in Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema is not everyone’s idea of a revolutionary. Invariably wearing a suit and speaking the language of double-entry bookkeeping and tax benchmarking fluently, Hichilema can seem more at home in the boardroom than on the campaign trail.
But he has also been a political prisoner and tortured in a Lusaka jail for leading an opposition party. Now he promises a new start for Zambia after six years of state capture and economic freefall.