Zambia’s Hichilema wins second term as president

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema ⁠has won re-election for ⁠a second term, according to the electoral commission, after a race marred by allegations of fraud.

Results released by the election commission in the early hours of Tuesday morning showed that Hichilema received roughly 60 percent of valid votes, compared with ⁠38 percent for his main challenger, Brian Mundubile.

It was Hichilema’s seventh run for the presidency, and he was widely expected to win due to the advantages of incumbency, while it was Mundubile’s first bid to become head of state.

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 next day, the electoral commission suspended vote-counting for hours due to ⁠reports of violence against polling staff and the theft of ballot papers.

Mundubile said he had received information ⁠about the possible alteration of results forms from ⁠polling stations and called for an urgent independent investigation. Hichilema’s camp said he was lying.