Zambia has been thrown into political turmoil in the days after its national presidential election, as a raid by security forces in the capital Lusaka has triggered a bitter war of words between the incumbent government and the leading opposition candidate, with vote counting continuing amid lingering disputes over electoral integrity.
According to senior government official Patrick Kangwa, Zambia’s top civil servant, security forces seized a cache of high-grade military weapons and ammunition during the Friday night operation, and took 11 individuals into custody. Those arrested include multiple senior opposition figures, among them Patrick Mwansa – husband to Tasila Lungu, daughter of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu. Kangwa alleged the group was plotting an armed insurrection against the state, with connections to illegal military training camps and foreign co-conspirators. He confirmed the operation developed into an exchange of gunfire after suspects opened fire on responding law enforcement officers, warning the plot posed a severe, immediate threat to national security.
The opposition’s presidential candidate, Brian Mundubile, who was present at the raided location, has issued a sharply contrasting account of the incident. The opposition leader called the raid “an attempt on my life”, confirming that several of his colleagues were shot during the operation while he was present. He has also alleged he was assaulted by army officers during interrogation related to two election-related videos he published, a claim that Zambian authorities have outright denied.
The political friction comes as official vote counting for last Thursday’s presidential election remains ongoing. With results tallied from more than half of all constituencies, Mundubile is currently trailing incumbent president Hakainde Hichilema. Before the latest raid, the opposition candidate had already prematurely claimed victory and leveled widespread allegations of electoral fraud, including claims of military interference at vote tallying centers, tampering with ballot boxes, and systemic voting irregularities. He even went so far as to accuse neighboring Tanzania of deploying individuals to interfere in the election outcome, a claim Tanzanian officials have dismissed as entirely false and baseless.
Zambian election authorities have rejected all allegations of misconduct, and preliminary assessments from international election observers have characterized election day itself as largely peaceful and well-ordered. Observers have, however, raised several pre-election concerns, including issues around last-minute changes to electoral rules, uneven access to media for opposition candidates, and broader threats to media freedom in the lead-up to the vote.
The vote counting process hit a brief interruption on Friday, when the Electoral Commission of Zambia suspended tallying and result announcements citing incidents of violence against polling staff and theft of marked ballots. The suspension was lifted the same day after security officials confirmed the surrounding threat had been contained. All 11 suspects arrested in the insurrection plot are currently being held in custody at multiple Lusaka-area police stations as investigations continue.