Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema was leading the presidential election count on Sunday, with 105 of the country’s 226 constituencies declared by about 1500 GMT, according to the Electoral Commission of Zambia.
H. Hichilema had secured 54.82% of the declared votes, representing 1,056,812 votes, putting him on course for re-election without a run-off if he maintains an overall majority. His main challenger, Brian Mundubile, was in second place with 43%, or 830,841 votes.
The presidential election, held alongside parliamentary and local elections on Thursday, is being seen as a test of whether Hichilema’s economic gains since Zambia’s pandemic-era debt crisis will be enough to secure him a second term in Africa’s second-largest copper producer after the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Vote counting was temporarily halted on Friday after the Electoral Commission cited violence against officials and the theft of ballot papers. Police have denied a report from Mundubile’s camp that the opposition leader had been arrested and detained.
If no presidential candidate secures at least 50% of the vote, a second-round election will be held within 37 days of the initial poll.