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Zambia resumes vote count after pause over violence

Mwanzo TV · back to the audit
Zambia resumed vote counting Friday after a nationwide suspension over alleged attacks on polling staff and the theft of marked ballot papers ratcheted up tensions.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) halted the count around noon, a day after presidential and parliamentary elections and hours after opposition leader Brian Mundubile claimed victory.

"I am pleased to inform the nation that the security threat to the electoral process has been contained and that the necessary measures have been put in place to enable the process to continue," ECZ chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis said.

The first batch of results would be announced at 10:00 pm local time (2000 GMT), she said.

The copper-rich southern African country has a long record of transferring power through the ballot box, with every change of president since the return to multiparty politics in 1991 achieved through elections.

But opposition parties and civil society groups had warned of a tightening political environment, citing curbs on campaigning, allegations the government denied.

The country went to the polls on Thursday in an election focused on economic hardship.

President Hakainde Hichilema, in power since 2021, faced 13 challengers, with Mundubile, a 55-year-old former minister in the previous Patriotic Front (PF) government, emerging as his main rival.

Mundubile on Friday claimed a first-round victory in the presidential election and said his party had also secured a parliamentary majority.

"We have serious grounds for concern that the widespread intimidation surrounding this election is being orchestrated and exploited by elements associated with the state, in a manner to interfere with the democratic will of the Zambian people," he said after the count was suspended.

It is unclear whether the suspension will delay the announcement of official presidential results which were expected on Monday.

Hichilema on Friday said his team was receiving "encouraging results".

Posting on social media, he urged citizens to "remain peaceful, patient and patriotic as we await the official outcome from those entrusted with managing the vote".

Transparency International Zambia said on Friday it had recorded more than 150 incidents of violence during the campaign and election process.