Twenty-four ministers in an afternoon: Hichilema fills the 30-ministry Cabinet, gives Tambatamba the mines and splits Energy between Kapala and Chikote

The Cabinet of four is over. President Hakainde Hichilema appointed and swore in 24 Cabinet ministers at State House on Wednesday 28 October, Zambia Monitor and Open Zambia reported, a day after the National Assembly adopted the Vice-President's motion creating a government of 30 ministries. Anadolu Agency reported that all ten provincial ministers were sworn in at the same ceremony. Reuters, in a report carried by CNBC Africa, described the appointments as cabinet changes following the President's re-election in August.

The 24 join the four ministers appointed in September: Anadolu Agency lists their portfolios as Health, Finance and National Planning, Green Economy and Environment, and Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Situmbeko Musokotwane holds Finance and has been acting at Agriculture; Mulambo Haimbe, the Foreign Affairs Minister, was in Moscow on Wednesday for the Russia-Africa Summit.

Who got what

Zambia Monitor's list runs as follows. Ambrose Lufuma stays at Defence. Clement Andeleki takes Home Affairs and Internal Security, the post Jack Mwiimbu held in the first term; Mwiimbu moves to Justice. Moses Moyo, the former Second Deputy Speaker, takes Agriculture, and Olive Chiboola, elected in August for the new Namwala East constituency, takes Fisheries and Livestock. Caroline Katotobwe, a policy and governance specialist from civil society, takes the new Ministry of Trade and Exports; Noel Nkoma, an economist and former chairman of the National Road Fund Agency board, takes Industry; Lucky Sichone, the Konkola MP and former Mayor of Chililabombwe, takes Small and Medium Enterprise Development.

Brenda Tambatamba, Labour Minister since 2021 and before politics a sustainability manager at Barrick's Lumwana mine, becomes Minister of Mines and Minerals Development; Anadolu Agency says she is the first woman to hold the post. The old Ministry of Energy goes to two former energy ministers: Peter Kapala takes Electricity and Makozo Chikote takes Petroleum. Princess Kasune moves from Justice to Tourism, Collins Nzovu from Water to Infrastructure and Urban Development, Patrick Mucheleka takes Lands and Elisha Matambo, the former Copperbelt provincial minister, takes Water Development and Sanitation.

Elvis Nkandu, the former Youth, Sport and Arts Minister, becomes Minister of Information and Media and chief government spokesperson. Harry Kamboni, the Kalomo Central MP and former chair of Parliament's education committee, takes Education, and Douglas Syakalima, nominated to Parliament and sworn in as an MP on Tuesday, News Diggers reported, takes the new Ministry of Skills and Higher Education; Felix Mutati, nominated the same day, returns to Technology and Science and Gift Sialubalo returns to Local Government and Rural Development. Misheck Nyambose takes Labour and Social Security, Sheal Mulyata takes Community Development and Social Services, Likando Mufalali takes Youth and Sports, and Christopher Chibuye, the Mkushi North MP and a former PF member, becomes the first Minister of Culture and Arts.

What the President told them

Zambia Monitor reported the President's remarks at the ceremony. He told the ministers to uphold the Constitution, respect the rule of law and serve every Zambian equally, and he warned that any minister who blocked or delayed investment would be treated as behaving badly in Cabinet. Where a law stood in the government's way, he said, it should be changed through Parliament rather than broken.

We stay within the law. We operate within the law.
— President Hakainde Hichilema at the swearing-in at State House on Wednesday 28 October, as reported by Zambia Monitor

He directed that beneficiaries of the Social Cash Transfer, FISP and the Food Security Pack be chosen on eligibility alone, with no distinction by where people live, and said he had confronted those responsible for distortions in how social support was distributed. He described the government as starting from a "zero base" and said incentives could be granted to investors because Pay As You Earn alone would lift revenue. Anadolu Agency quoted a State House post after the ceremony: "As a government, we have a duty and a responsibility to deliver equitable development to all our people."

The argument over size

The appointments came as the argument over 30 ministries continued. News Diggers reported on Wednesday that Socialist Party president Fred M'membe called the expansion proof that the administration was "out of touch" with the hardship facing ordinary Zambians, saying the country needed a "lean and efficient administration" rather than a "bloated government" and could be run with at most ten Cabinet portfolios. In the same report, Highvie Hamududu, the leader of the Party of National Unity and Progress, defended the expansion and called the additional cost "insignificant". The Zambia Daily Mail reported that the Vice-President, moving Tuesday's motion, argued that electricity needed a ministry of its own to look for new ways to generate, transmit and supply power, and that culture and arts should be treated as an economic opportunity.

The documents before Parliament, as Open Zambia's account of the appendix noted and as Lusaka Brief reported on Tuesday and Wednesday, carry no cost estimate for the additional ministries. Citizens First had asked on Tuesday for the budget to be postponed until a full Cabinet was in place, and the Vice-President told Parliament the same day that the presentation would move from Friday 30 October to Friday 6 November, News Diggers reported; that story is covered separately in this edition.

Sources: Zambia Monitor, “'Zambia, here are your ministers,' Hichilema unveils new cabinet, portfolios (See list)” (28 Oct 2026); Open Zambia, “President Hichilema Names 24 Further Ministers to Complete His Cabinet” (28 Oct 2026); Reuters (via CNBC Africa), “Zambia's president appoints new mines minister in cabinet changes after election” (28 Oct 2026); Anadolu Agency, “Zambia's president swears in 24 Cabinet ministers” (29 Oct 2026); News Diggers, “Zambians are struggling, why appoint 30 ministers, M'membe wonders” (28 Oct 2026); Zambia Daily Mail, “Govt rewired” (28 Oct 2026); News Diggers, “Govt pushes 2027 budget unveiling to Nov 6” (28 Oct 2026); Zambia Monitor, “Haimbe arrives Moscow for Russia-Africa Summit, as ministry outlines reasons for attendance” (27 Oct 2026); Zambia Monitor, “Govt admits owing Zambian farmers K14.6 billion” (27 Oct 2026); Open Zambia, “Thirty Ministries Proposed in Hichilema's Government Realignment” (27 Oct 2026).