Zambia Election: President Nears Win, Opposition Reports Armed Attack on Rival’s Home
Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has taken an early lead in the country’s general election. This comes as his main rival’s party alleges an armed raid on its leader’s home. Vote counting began after polls closed on Thursday. The results are being announced gradually.
More than half of Zambia’s election areas have reported their counts. President Hichilema has won almost 59 percent of the votes. This data comes from the electoral commission on Sunday. His closest challenger is Brian Mundubile of the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP). Mr. Mundubile has received about one-third of the votes. A candidate needs over 50 percent to win outright. The final election results are expected in the next few days.
However, the election process has faced some problems. Vote counting stopped for about six hours on Friday. This happened due to reports of violence and claims of stolen ballot papers. An observer mission from the European Union said this pause was too long. They noted only a small number of polling stations were affected. A 57-year-old polling agent was killed near Lusaka on election day. Police have arrested nine suspects in connection with this death.
The opposition NRPUP has made a serious accusation. They said on Sunday that armed personnel entered Mr. Mundubile’s home. This happened in Lusaka on Friday night. The NRPUP believes these were members of the Zambian army. They claim live ammunition was fired. One Member of Parliament was wounded. Several people were forcibly taken away, and their location is unknown.
Mr. Mundubile urged his supporters to remain calm. He asked them not to retaliate. The NRPUP is calling for urgent talks with regional and international groups. They want answers about this alleged incident. Zambian authorities have not yet responded to these claims. Officials from President Hichilema’s party have previously said the opposition exaggerates issues.
The EU monitoring mission has also shared its observations. They saw an armed person seizing someone on August 10. The mission believes the election was competitive. However, they found it favoured the current President. They noted strong bias in state media coverage. They also observed that government activities and campaign efforts were often mixed.
Zambia has a history of peaceful power transfers through elections. President Hichilema won by a large margin in 2021. His first term has seen some economic growth. But over 70 percent of Zambia’s 22 million people still live on less than $3 a day. This is despite the country having rich reserves of copper and other minerals.
