Official outcomes present the incumbent receiving roughly 61 % of votes, in contrast with 38 % for his foremost challenger, Brian Mundubile.
Printed On 18 Aug 2026
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has received re-election for a second five-year time period, in accordance with the electoral authorities, after a race marred by allegations of fraud.
Outcomes launched by the election fee within the early hours of Tuesday morning confirmed that Hichilema acquired roughly 61.4 % of legitimate votes, in contrast with 38 % for his foremost challenger, Brian Mundubile.
Really useful Tales
listing of 4 gadgetsfinish of listing
“I due to this fact declare Hichilema Hakainde S to be president-elect of the Republic of Zambia this 18th day of August, 2026,” fee chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis stated.
It was Hichilema’s seventh run for the presidency, and he was extensively anticipated to win because of the benefits of incumbency, whereas it was Mundubile’s first bid to turn into head of state.
After his victory was introduced, a whole lot of Hichilema’s supporters gathered within the capital, Lusaka, sporting the pink colors of his United Social gathering for Nationwide Growth (UPND), singing, dancing and setting off firecrackers in celebration.
Hichilema, 64, issued an announcement after his victory, saying he was “really humbled by the belief you will have positioned in our palms”. He additionally advised those that had backed his opponents, “We hear you, and we are going to proceed to be just right for you.”
There was no speedy response from Mundubile, the opposition chief.
Tensions had gripped the nation in current days after a comparatively quiet run-up to the August 13 vote.
On the evening of the election, authorities arrested 11 folks, together with main opposition figures, in a raid that concerned an alternate of gunfire, whereas Mundubile was current.
The federal government stated the raid focused “militia exercise”, with these arrested allegedly caught in possession of military-grade weapons meant for an armed riot.
Mundubile’s Nationwide Reconciliation Social gathering for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP) rejected that account, saying the raid occurred at their chief’s dwelling and left a member of parliament wounded by gunfire.
The following day, the electoral fee suspended vote-counting for hours resulting from experiences of violence in opposition to polling employees and the theft of poll papers.
Mundubile stated he had acquired info in regards to the attainable alteration of outcome types from polling stations and referred to as for an pressing unbiased investigation.
Hichilema’s camp stated he was mendacity.
Worldwide observers, together with the European Union, stated the election was largely peaceable, however that the “broader electoral course of occurred in an atmosphere that restricted basic freedoms”.
“Late authorized modifications, authorized uncertainty, and unequal marketing campaign situations distorted the taking part in area,” stated Michael McNamara, chief of the EU statement mission.
Some 5 million votes have been solid within the election.
Zambia, dwelling to 22 million folks and Africa’s second-largest copper producer, has a protracted file of peaceable transfers of energy by the poll field. Each change of president because the return to multiparty politics in 1991 has been achieved by elections.
