Zambia President Hichilema has been reelected for a second term

Hichilema’s victory follows a closely watched election which saw the vote counting suspended last Friday and then restarted hours later under heightened security after the commission said there had been attacks against some polling station officials and some ballot papers had been stolen.

The government also confirmed that several leading opposition figures were arrested on the night of the elections, with the police accusing them of posing a threat to state security.

Mundubile said his home was raided by the police in what he called an attack on his life.

Thursday’s election was seen as a test of Hichilema’s economic recovery plan after the copper-rich nation was plunged into a debt crisis in 2020. Hichilema was elected in 2021 and oversaw the restructuring of Zambia’s sovereign debt while reining in inflation and stabilizing the currency.

International observers, including the European Union, said the election was largely peaceful, but said the “broader electoral process took place in an environment that limited fundamental freedoms.”

“Late legal changes, legal uncertainty, and unequal campaign conditions distorted the playing field,” said Michael McNamara, chief of the EU observation mission.

In a pastoral statement, the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed concern over the deployment of the army during the vote counting

“The maintenance of order during elections is constitutionally and statutorily the responsibility of the Zambia Police Service,” the bishops said.

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Magome reported from Johannesburg.

Jack Zimba And Mogomotsi Magome, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

Zambia President Hichilema has been reelected for a second term

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