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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tZambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema casts his vote at a polling station in Lusaka, Zambia, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (AP Photo\/Anita Reed)<\/p>\n
\u201cI therefore declare, Hichilema Hakainde S, to be president-elect of the Republic of Zambia this 18th day of August, 2026,\u201d commission chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis said.<\/p>\n
Hichilema\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Mundubile said his home was raided by the police in what he called an attack on his life.<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s election was seen as a test of Hichilema\u2019s 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\u2019s sovereign debt while reining in inflation and stabilizing the currency.<\/p>\n
International observers, including the European Union, said the election was largely peaceful, but said the \u201cbroader electoral process took place in an environment that limited fundamental freedoms.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLate legal changes, legal uncertainty, and unequal campaign conditions distorted the playing field,\u201d said Michael McNamara, chief of the EU observation mission.<\/p>\n