The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has halted the announcement of election results nationwide after violence broke out during vote counting at s
The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has halted the announcement of election results nationwide after violence broke out during vote counting at several polling stations, Chief Electoral Officer Brown Kasaro announced on Friday.
Kasaro said the commission would review the situation after 24 hours, leaving the country in suspense just a day after polls closed in a tightly contested presidential race.
The disruption caps a campaign season already marked by sporadic unrest.
In the final days of campaigning, security and political tensions had risen, prompting police to deploy additional officers and issue warnings against violence, disruptions at polling stations, and the spread of false results.
Counting had begun in parts of the country after polling stations closed at 18:00 on Thursday, with the ECZ working to compile results from constituencies before verifying and releasing them from the National Results Centre in Lusaka.
Officials had projected that most parliamentary and council outcomes would be known by Friday, with the final presidential result expected on Monday, August 17.
Roughly 8 million Zambians were registered to vote across more than 13,500 polling stations in an election widely seen as a referendum on President Hakainde Hichilema’s economic record, as he seeks a second term against a field led by opposition alliance leader Brian Mundubile.
With the count now suspended and no fresh timeline confirmed, attention turns to whether the ECZ can restore order and public confidence before results resume, a test that could shape perceptions of the vote’s credibility as much as the outcome itself.
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