By Zambian President Edgar Lungu has slammed the Presidential elections describing them as not free and fair with allegations if rigging being thrown around.
The incumbent made the remarks following the release of the first official results which indicate that opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema is heading for victory.
Zambia went to the elections on Thursday and Hichilema’s United Party for National Development js currently leading by a huge margin having polled 449,699 votes against The Patriotic Front’s Lunch who got 266,202 votes according to results tallied from 31 of the 156 constituencies.
The Zambian economy recorded a ression for the first time since 1998 and the winner of the election faces the task of boosting Zambia’s flagging economy, which became the continent’s first country during the coronavirus pandemic to default on its sovereign debt in November.
Lungu came to power in 2015 after winning a disputed snap election to finish the term of President Michael Sata who died in office. Lungu was then elected to a full five-year term in 2016, although his main rival again alleged fraud.
The incumbent’s bid for a second term in office suffered a set back due to allegations of systematically restricting democratic freedoms by closing some media outlets.In June Human Rights Watch said that Lungu’s run had taken the country to the brink of a human rights crisis by detaining opposition politicians and targeting critics.
The Elections Commission of Zambia is expected to announce the winner on Sunday and the election will go to a second round vote if none of the candidates garners more than 50% of the votes.
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