Stone-throwing anger has left Zambia’s President Suri uneasy.

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has taken up the fight after being attacked by stone throwers while trying to deliver a speech for a month.

Footage of him crouching and being kicked out of a rally in the Copperbelt province shocked Zambians, with many people regardless of political affiliation condemning what happened.

But with nine months left until the election and re-election bid, the president is under pressure.

On Tuesday, at his first press conference in 18 months, Hichilema came out to defend his record and outlined his performance on key issues of the economy and development.

“This level of hatred is shocking. You can see the poison and you can touch it,” he said, urging Zambians to love one another.

But for those who continue to struggle every day, that message may not resonate.

According to Simon Mwila, a candidate for mayor of the capital Lusaka, the president has lost touch with “the real pulse of the people.” He tried to explain why people throw stones and not flowers.

Sishuwa Sishuwa, a Zambian historian and senior lecturer at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, argues that the president has turned his back on what he once stood for.

“During his time in power and over the past four years, Hichilema has turned out to be almost everything he disliked about his predecessor, Edgar Lungu, and in some cases even worse,” the academic told the BBC.

It was a charge rejected by the president, who pointed to his track record of resolving the debt crisis he inherited and stabilizing finances.

On November 8, Hichilema may have hoped for a friendlier reception in the village of Chingola. Especially since he arrived with $450,000 (£340,000) to rebuild a local market that had been destroyed by fire.

Instead, an angry crowd forced him to give up the address.

Police blamed the problem on a “disorderly public” who were believed to have looted local shops. At least 27 people were arrested on charges of violence and arson.

At a press conference this week, Hichilema accused illegal artisanal miners of being behind the violence while his government seeks to crack down on these unregistered miners.

“We will never allow any gangsters to come back,” he said.

Hichilema, who has already made five failed presidential bids in the 2021 elections, rode a wave of popularity to power with a landslide victory over Lungu.

By voting day, the country had defaulted on its debt, annual inflation had reached 25% and power outages were frequent.

Under the slogan “Bally will fix it” (“bally” is slang for father in Zambia), he positioned himself as the solution to almost every problem facing the country.

Debt payments were subsequently renegotiated and inflation declined.

Hichilema this week said that while four years ago there was a “huge mountain of debt” and “we were living beyond our means,” Zambia’s credit rating had now improved and it was attracting investment from around the world.

He also insisted the country’s vital mining sector was rebounding.

But as the August 2026 elections approach, Hichilema is finding that he is not necessarily appreciated for what he has achieved, but rather criticized for not changing.

Economist Trevor Hambayi described the development of the country’s finances as “a most important success story.”

Better budget controls have helped increase investments in infrastructure, education, social programs, health, and hiring essential government workers.

Annual inflation has fallen to just below 12% and the currency, the kwacha, has strengthened recently after a sharp decline early in President Hichilema’s administration.

But Mr Hambayi told the BBC that the failure to solve the power crisis had had a huge impact on people, along with “the high cost of living and lack of employment opportunities”.

“These are indicators that speak to ordinary Zambians.”

The Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection, which is based in Lusaka and monitors the cost of living, said in an October report that people were squeezed by high prices of essential food and non-food items that “consume an increasing share of household income.”

Even though inflation has eased, “many families are still unable to meet their basic needs without compromising the quality of food or skipping meals,” he added.

The president acknowledged the energy problem in September, saying the government was “feeling the pain and frustration of the power outages our citizens are facing.”

And this week he said Zambia’s power generation capacity, which relies on hydropower, had been “decapitated” by the recent drought.

“This challenge has been a wake-up call. Now we have woken up,” he added, promising more solar and thermal energy projects.

During his 15 years in opposition, Hichilema portrayed himself as a defender of democratic values.

But once he entered parliament, he was accused of passing repressive measures he had previously opposed, including the cybersecurity law.

The bill is considered necessary to deal with issues such as online fraud and child pornography, but has been criticized for allowing surveillance of people the state deems undesirable.

Dr Sishuwa, an academic, also accused Hichilema of using the law against his opponents, exactly what he had criticized in previous administrations.

“After brilliantly repealing the presidential defamation law, we quickly used other repressive laws to arrest critics and political opponents on a variety of charges, including sedition, defamation, hate speech, espionage, and unlawful assembly,” he said.

The president insists his government respects the rule of law and has not targeted anyone for political reasons.

Hichilema also supported a controversial constitutional review process, including a plan to increase the number of constituencies to have more members in parliament.

While in the opposition, he successfully campaigned against a review that included similar ideas, which he said would allow then-President Lungu to remain in power and that the election was too close to initiate such big changes.

He now argues that the constitution requires Zambia to create new constituencies every 10 years.

The President said that redistricting exercises, or increasing the number of districts, are important to ensure that resources are distributed equally.

And he addressed critics who plan to hold a national prayer rally on Friday to protest the process, saying there is already a consultation process and debate in the state House of Representatives and there are legal ways to object.

With next year’s election approaching, the president seems concerned about how people are reacting to him.

Hichilema called for tempers to cool down but urged patience, saying it would take time for long-term development and investment programs to have an impact.

But for some, patience may be wearing thin, as evidenced by his barrage of stones.