The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has announced presidential results from 135 of the country’s 226 constituencies, with incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema extending his lead over NRPUP candidate Brian Mundubile to 513,478 votes as the national tally continues.
The latest figures were announced during the Commission’s third results session on August 17, which continued into the early hours of the morning.
Thirty constituencies were added to the previous tally of 105, bringing the number of declared constituencies to 135.
Hichilema, the UPND presidential candidate, has so far polled 1,544,140 votes, compared with Mundubile’s 1,030,662. On the basis of the two leading candidates, Hichilema has secured about 60 percent of the vote against Mundubile’s 40 percent.
The remaining candidates are trailing by a considerable margin. Citizens First leader Harry Kalaba has 11,711 votes, followed by ZMP candidate Kelvin Walia with 11,062. Socialist Party leader Fred M’membe has 6,905, while independent candidate Given Katuta has 4,382 votes.
Other candidates, including Given Chansa of MEE, Brian Mushimba of OPP, Richard Silumbe of LM, Akim Njovu of DU, Howard Kunda of Zawapa and Richwell Siamunene of NFP, have each recorded fewer than 3,300 votes across the 135 constituencies.
The declared constituencies have a combined registered electorate of 4,793,053. Of these, 2,623,640 votes were valid, while 77,647 were rejected, giving total votes cast of 2,701,287 and a turnout of 56.36 percent.
At the beginning of the session, the ECZ Chief Electoral Officer addressed an earlier discrepancy involving Kembe East and Kembe West. He explained that a results spreadsheet had inadvertently printed the Kembe East schedule twice instead of displaying the two constituencies separately. He stressed that the error did not affect the underlying vote totals and that the correction was made to provide greater clarity to political stakeholders and the media.
Commissioners subsequently proceeded with the constituency-by-constituency announcement, covering parts of Northwestern, Northern, Southern, Copperbelt, Central, Western, Luapula and Eastern provinces.
Hichilema maintained a strong advantage in many of the constituencies announced, particularly in Southern Province and several urban areas. In Mazabuka Central, for example, he secured 38,895 votes against Mundubile’s 3,410.
Mundubile, however, recorded strong performances in several constituencies. In Nshanga on the Copperbelt, he polled 22,090 votes against Hichilema’s 10,207. He also led in Lima constituency in Lusaka Province with 22,486 votes against Hichilema’s 8,578, while in Chifubu he secured 20,789 votes compared with the President’s 10,295.
Turnout also varied widely across the constituencies, ranging from about 43 percent in some areas to more than 85 percent in Kabompo West and over 91 percent in Fumbo.
The ECZ’s running tally shows Hichilema’s advantage widening progressively as more constituencies have been declared. His lead stood at 21,312 votes after the first five constituencies, increased to 81,626 after 27, reached 120,639 after 70 and stood at 225,971 after 105 constituencies. It has now more than doubled to 513,478 votes after 135 constituencies.
With 91 constituencies still outstanding, the ECZ has emphasised that no presidential winner has yet been formally declared. Under Zambia’s electoral system, a presidential candidate must obtain more than 50 percent of the valid votes to win outright and avoid a second round.
The Commission said the next results session would begin at 09:00, when the remaining constituencies will continue to be processed and announced.
The ECZ is expected to continue releasing results in successive sessions until all 226 constituencies have been declared and the final presidential outcome is established.
