Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has won re-election for a second term, according to the electoral commission, following a race marred by allegations of fraud. Results released in the early hours of Tuesday morning showed Hichilema received roughly 60 percent of valid votes, compared with 38 percent for his main challenger, Brian Mundubile. This contest marked Hichilema’s seventh run for the presidency, where he leveraged the advantages of incumbency, while it served as the first bid for Mundubile.
After a relatively quiet run-up to the August 13 vote, tensions escalated quickly. On the night of the election, authorities arrested 11 people, including leading opposition figures, in a raid that involved an exchange of gunfire while Mundubile was present. The following day, the electoral commission suspended vote-counting for several hours due to reports of violence against polling staff and the theft of ballot papers.
Mundubile claimed he had received information regarding the possible alteration of results forms from polling stations and subsequently called for an urgent independent investigation. Hichilema’s camp dismissed these claims, stating that the challenger was lying. Despite the heated accusations and the volatile atmosphere surrounding the count, the commission confirmed the final tallies, solidifying Hichilema’s path to a second term in office.
