Tight presidential race expected as Zambia goes to polls

UPND President Hakainde Hichilema has accused the country’s election mangers the Electoral Commission of Zambia of deliberately not providing the G12 in Lusaka so as to live room for manipulation of results.

The victor of Thursday’s election, for which 22 out of 156 constituencies have been counted, must get more than 50% of the vote to avoid a run-off.

The PF had blamed Hichilema’s United Party for National Development (UPND) for the delays, saying it had raised numerous complaints with the electoral commission.

With 132 out of 156 constituencies counted, Lungu was on Monday slightly ahead with 1 454 165 votes to Hichilema’s 1 383 594.

Supporters of Lungu’s ruling Patriotic Front (PF) and Hichilema’s United Party for National Development (UPND) have clashed in the run-up to the poll, forcing the electoral commission to temporarily suspend campaigning at one point.

James Bulaya, a 40-year-old mechanic who voted for Lungu, said: “I think the electoral commission is just trying to do a good job”.

Meanwhile, Zambia’s electoral body and worldwide observers expressed satisfaction with a peaceful voting process amid high voter turnout.

In the past, Zambia’s record of peaceful transitions of power had been held up as a democratic model in Africa.

It said police were still investigating a report that an ECZ official had given his identity card on Friday to a man who could then enter the commission’s computer room and tamper with the results. When Lungu narrowly beat Hichilema in a presidential election previous year to replace the late Michael Sata, Turnout slumped to just 32 percent from almost 54 percent in 2011.

Zambia’s president has been re-elected in a closely contested vote. However, officials were anticipating tension after the close of voting and the final announcement of results: A victor must get more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff election.

UNIP, which is now led by Kaunda’s son Tilyenji, performed dismally, taking position seven out of the nine parties that were in the race.

Hichilema has said there have been “irregularities” in the vote counting and has demanded a recount in the district of Lusaka, home to the country’s capital.

Sata died in 2014, and the 2015 election gave Lungu the right to finish his term.

An EU monitoring team, which had 120 observers on duty across Zambia, is due to give its first assessment of the election on Saturday.