Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema’s lead in the Southern African country’s presidential election has widened, partial results from about 71% of constituencies showed on Monday.
Hichilema’s share of the valid votes rose to roughly 62%, up from 59% late on Sunday.
His main challenger, Brian Mundubile, was on 36% of valid votes, down from 39% overnight.
Hichilema took a commanding lead on Sunday in the country’s presidential race, securing more than 1.5 million votes from 135 of the 226 constituencies counted.
Numbers so far
Hichilema, 64, who is seeking re-election under the banner of the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND), has so far secured atleast 1,544,140 votes.
His closest challenger among the 12 other candidates, Brian Mundubile of the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP), has received no less than 1,030,662 votes.
Zambia is the continent’s second-largest copper producer after Democratic Republic of Congo and is of strategic interest for its critical minerals.
The consolidated results were announced at the National Election Results Center in the capital, Lusaka, around 2130GMT by Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) Chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis.
Campaign messages
For Hichilema, an economist and rancher, a second term in office would provide an opportunity to consolidate the gains made during his first term, which began in 2021 after he secured a landslide victory, defeating incumbent Edgar Lungu with a margin of more than one million votes.
He cites his achievements so far as mainly having restructured the country’s excessive debt, revived its mining sector and enhanced social sector support through programs such as free education for students in public primary and secondary schools.
Mundubile, 55, a lawyer, has seen his opposition alliance also win a number of parliamentary seats, particularly in constituencies along Zambia’s urbanized corridor running roughly through Lusaka and the Copperbelt.
Under Zambia’s Constitution, a presidential candidate must receive more than 50% of the valid votes cast to be declared president-elect. If no candidate reaches that threshold in the initial ballot, a second ballot is held between the leading candidates.
