Zambia incumbent takes early election lead as opposition alleges armed raid | Elections News
Hichilema Leads in Zambia’s General Election Amid Allegations of Violence
By Al Jazeera Staff
Published August 17, 2026
Zambia’s incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema is positioned for a potential outright victory in the general election, showcasing an early lead amid allegations of violence and an uneven campaign landscape.
Voting commenced following the closure of polls on Thursday. By Sunday, with results from over half of the constituencies counted, Hichilema had garnered nearly 59 percent of the vote, according to the Electoral Commission. His main competitor, Brian Mundubile of the opposition National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP), has reportedly secured around a third of the votes.
To avoid a runoff, a candidate must receive more than 50 percent of the vote, with final results anticipated within days. However, Hichilema’s leading position is tempered by international observers’ critiques of the election process as unfair, compounded by disruptions during the ballot count.
The vote tallying process was delayed for approximately six hours on Friday due to reports of violence against polling personnel and allegations that marked ballots were stolen. The European Union’s observer mission criticized the interruption as “disproportionate,” noting that only a small fraction of polling stations were impacted. The Electoral Commission indicated that the situation has since stabilized.
Tragically, a 57-year-old polling agent was killed on election day near Lusaka, prompting authorities to arrest nine suspects in connection with the incident.
The NRPUP has raised a serious allegation, claiming that armed individuals, believed to be military personnel, stormed Mundubile’s residence in Lusaka on Friday night. According to the party, the intruders opened fire, wounding a member of parliament and forcibly removing several individuals whose current whereabouts are unknown. Mundubile condemned the incident as beyond the realm of political rhetoric but urged his supporters to refrain from retaliation.
The NRPUP has called for immediate regional and international intervention to address these claims. As of now, Zambian authorities have not publicly responded to the allegations.
Members of Hichilema’s United Party for National Development (UPND) have previously accused the opposition of exaggerating irregularities to undermine the integrity of the electoral outcome.
On August 10, EU monitors reported witnessing the detention of an individual by armed personnel, contributing to a broader context of intimidation noted in their preliminary findings. The mission characterized the election as competitive, yet skewed in favor of Hichilema, highlighting significant biases in state media coverage and the intertwining of governmental activities with campaign efforts.
Zambia has historically experienced peaceful transitions of power through elections since reinstating multiparty politics in 1991. Hichilema achieved a decisive victory in 2021, and his administration has coincided with a resumption of economic growth. Despite this progress, the World Bank reports that over 70 percent of Zambia’s 22 million citizens live on less than $3 a day, even with the country’s extensive mineral reserves, including copper.
