LUSAKA, Zambia — Zambia’s national electoral governing body has abruptly halted the counting of ballots in the country’s hotly contested presidential election on Friday, responding to widespread reports of physical assaults on polling staff and the unauthorized removal of a number of ballot boxes and papers from counting centers.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia announced the immediate suspension in an official statement, citing the rapidly deteriorating security landscape and persistent credible threats of violent unrest across multiple counting sites as the core justifications for the decision. According to the commission’s announcement, the halt will remain in place for a 24-hour period, after which electoral officials will re-evaluate the on-ground security conditions to determine whether counting can safely resume.
The presidential election, held Thursday across the copper-rich southern African nation, has incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema running to secure a second five-year term in office. Hichilema faces competition from 13 opposition challengers, with Brian Mundubile — leader of a unified coalition of major opposition parties — standing out as the incumbent’s most formidable competitor for the presidency.
While Zambia has built a reputation for holding largely peaceful democratic elections over recent decades, the lead-up to this year’s vote has been marked by rising political tensions. The opposition and independent human rights organizations have levelled criticism at Hichilema’s administration ahead of polling, claiming the government has implemented restrictive measures to suppress dissenting political voices.
In one high-profile incident in the pre-election period, Mundubile’s opposition coalition accused Hichilema’s government of orchestrating a raid by law enforcement agents on the alliance’s national campaign headquarters just days before voting was scheduled to begin. The coalition has stated that the raid was a deliberate, politically motivated action intended to disrupt its campaign operations and disadvantage its candidates ahead of the poll.
This development comes as part of ongoing coverage of African political events from the Associated Press, with full updates available via the AP Africa news hub.