ZAMBIA’S HICHILEMA ON TRACK FOR CLEAR VICTORY AMID REPORTS OF VIOLENCE AND BIAS

Mon 17 August 2026:

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema holds an early lead in the general election and appears headed for a possible first-round victory, though the process has been clouded by opposition allegations that armed personnel raided the home of his main challenger.

Polls closed on Thursday, and by Sunday more than half of the country’s constituencies had been counted. According to the electoral commission, Hichilema had secured nearly 59 percent of the votes so far.

His nearest challenger, Brian Mundubile of the opposition National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP), trailed with about a third.

A candidate needs more than 50 percent to avoid a run-off, and final results are expected within days.

However, Hichilema’s lead is being weighed against a campaign international monitors have already called unfair, and a count that has been far from smooth.

Reports of violence

Vote tallying was suspended for roughly six hours on Friday after reports of violence against polling staff and allegations that marked ballots had been stolen, a pause the European Union’s observer mission described as “disproportionate”, since only a small fraction of Zambia’s polling stations were affected.

The electoral commission said the threat to the count had since been brought under control.

A 57-year-old polling agent was killed near the capital, Lusaka, on election day, and police arrested nine suspects.

EU election observers reported witnessing the seizure of a person by armed personnel on the morning of August 10.

In its preliminary findings released on Saturday, the European Union monitoring mission characterised Zambia’s election as competitive yet tilted in favour of the incumbent. The mission highlighted significant bias in state media coverage and the mixing of official government activities with campaign efforts.

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Armed raid accusation

The NRPUP, contesting the election as part of the opposition Tonse-Pamodzi alliance, has since made a far graver allegation. It said in a statement on Sunday that armed personnel it believes to be members of the Zambian army entered Mundubile’s Lusaka home on Friday night, firing live ammunition and wounding a member of parliament, before forcibly removing several people whose whereabouts the party says remain unconfirmed.

Mundubile said there was “no political language that can sanitise what happened”, but he appealed to his supporters not to retaliate.

The NRPUP called for “urgent regional and international engagement” with the government to provide answers about the alleged incident.

Zambian authorities have not responded to the claim at the time of writing.

Officials from Hichilema’s governing United Party for National Development (UPND) have previously accused the opposition of exaggerating irregularities to cast doubt on a legitimate result.

Zambia has maintained peaceful transfers of power through elections since the restoration of multiparty democracy in 1991. President Hakainde Hichilema secured a landslide victory in the 2021 vote.

His first term has seen a return to economic growth. However, more than 70 percent of the country’s 22 million people continue to live on less than $3 a day, according to the World Bank, despite Zambia’s large reserves of copper and other minerals.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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