ZNFU Congress Elects New Leadership

ZNFU Ushers in New Leadership.

By Kalata News

The Zambia National Farmers Union has at their 119 Congress ushered in a new executive leadership.

Zvikomborero Mahombe was elected President of the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) replacing the long-serving president, Jervis Zimba.

He was elected on November 6, 2025, during the ZNFU’s 119th Annual Congress held in Lusaka.

Mahombe narrowly defeated his rival Maria Zaloumis by a single vote (43 votes to 42).

His election, however, is being challenged in the Lusaka High Court by Maria Zaloumis, who is seeking a nullification of the results, alleging serious irregularities in the electoral process.

The President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, has congratulated Mahombe and expressed his government’s commitment to working with him to advance the country’s agricultural sector.

Speaking after the Congress, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema who was Guest of Honour at the 119th Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) National Congress, held at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka said, “We encourage our farmers to embrace smart and sustainable practices, including active participation in the energy sector, to harness emerging opportunities created by the growing demand for power.”

“We extend our sincere appreciation to the outgoing ZNFU President, Mr. Jervis Zimba, for his exemplary leadership and dedication to the farming community, and convey our best wishes to the incoming President, Mr. Zvikomborero Mahombe, as he works closely with Government to further advance and transform Zambia’s agricultural sector.” Hakainde Hichilema.

Journey to this Congress.

The journey to this congress was never smooth. Several law suits were filed against ZNFU for various issues including abrogating their constitution and bad governance.

• Initial Ruling: On March 11, 2025, the Lusaka High Court, through Judge Gaudentia Salasini, granted an ex parte (one-sided) interim injunction ordering Zimba to immediately stop holding himself out as the ZNFU president and cease performing his duties, pending the determination of the lawsuit. The court also ordered the cancellation of a special ZNFU council meeting scheduled for March 13, 2025.
• Subsequent Ruling: In April 2025, the same High Court judge, Judge Salasini, discharged the interim injunction against Zimba. The court found that Mungandi’s initial application did not make full disclosure of all material facts and that the injunction had unreasonably interfered with the rights of other ZNFU members. The court ruled that Zimba was still the legitimate president and ordered the special council meeting to proceed immediately.

Future of ZNFU

It is the hope of the farmers and other members of ZNFU that the new leadership will deal with these and many other issues as concern ZNFU and its running.

Paramount among the expected changes would be the clean-up of the ZNFU’s Secretariat to among other things ushering in an executive to professional run the institution in service to its members, provide support to small scale farmer issues against the interests of commercial farmers/agrobusinesses. Another issue would be introducing transparency and prudent management of union funds by both the executive as well as Secretariat.

There is also need for acceptance and inclusion of new farming methods such as genetically modified organism (GMO) farming methods, legalisation and operationalization of growing of cannabis /hemp for industrial and medicinal purposes.

ZNFU will also need to bring in at the secretariat a team of experts to fund raise for value -addition farming projects that will elevate small scale farmers to improve their yields and ensure more of their produce if value-added before hitting the markets.