11/09/2025
Why You Should Manage Expectations As HH Opens Parliament This Friday
............During this Friday's address to Parliament, you don't expect new solutions to challenges facing the country, the President will speak to what his administration has already done from January, 2025 to date...........
President Hakainde Hichilema will this Friday open the 5th session of the 13th National Assembly.
What does this mean?
The 13th National Assembly is a particular term of Parliament, which consists of elected members of parliament. Whereas a session refers to a specific meeting period within the assembly's term. In this case, it's the fifth session, indicating that the assembly has had four previous sessions. During this session, the assembly will discuss and address various issues, including budget reviews, policy discussions, and legislative business.
According to Acting Clerk of the National Assembly, Loveness Mayaka, the ceremonial opening will allow MPs to debate various policy pronouncements made by the President during his address.
Having said that, what should citizens expect?
While, it is okay to expect solutions to problems facing the country, it is expecting too much that this address by President Hichilema will provide desired results. In short, manage your expectations.
You may wish to know that this session is coming before presentation of the 2026 national budget to be unveiled by Minister of Finance Situmbeko Msokotwane. The budget will be coming three months before the close of 2025. The budget will be presented on 26th September, 2025.
In other terms, the address by President Hichilema may give some insight and hints of the outlook of the upcoming budget with regards to what his administration has in stock for citizens ahead of 2026. This is because the 2026 budget takes into account the expenditure plans of the government for the coming new year.
Therefore, during this Friday's address to Parliament, you don't expect new solutions to challenges facing the country, the President will speak to what his administration has already done from January, 2025 to date. For example, the President will not provide new solutions to negative effects of electricity loadshedding. Why, this President has spoken to this problem before and he has given details as how his administration is addressing the problem. Mr. Hichilema has been quite vocal about transforming Zambia's electricity sector. One of his achievements is to commission Zambia's largest solar plant, the 100MW Chisamba Solar Power Plant, marking a significant step towards diversifying the country's energy mix and reducing reliance on hydropower, which has been impacted by droughts.
The Speech Analyst
11.09.2025