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x whatsapp-stroke copylink google Add Al Jazeera on Google info By AFP and Reuters Published On 18 Aug 2026 18 Aug 2026 Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has won re-election for a second term, according to the electoral commission, after a race marred by allegations of fraud.
Results released by the election commission in the early hours of Tuesday morning showed that Hichilema received roughly 60 percent of valid votes, compared with 38 percent for his main challenger, Brian Mundubile.
It was Hichilema’s seventh run for the presidency, and he was widely expected to win due to the advantages of incumbency, while it was Mundubile’s first bid to become head of state.
After his victory was announced, hundreds of his supporters gathered in the capital, Lusaka, wearing the red colours of his United Party for National Development (UPND), singing, dancing and setting off firecrackers in celebration.
Hichilema addressed supporters in Lusaka, saying he was “truly humbled by the trust you have placed in our hands,”. He also told those who had backed his opponents, “we hear you, and we will continue to work for you”.
Yet that conciliatory tone stood in contrast to the tension that had gripped the race just days earlier, after a relatively quiet run-up to the August 13 vote.
On the night of the election, authorities arrested 11 people, including leading opposition figures, in a raid that involved an exchange of gunfire, while Mundubile was present.
The government said the raid targeted “militia activity,” with those arrested allegedly caught in possession of military grade weapons meant for an armed insurrection.
Mundubile’s National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP) rejected that account, saying the raid took place at Mundubile’s own home and left a member of parliament wounded by gunfire.
In a statement, the party called the government’s claims “spurious and entirely false”.
The next day, the electoral commission suspended vote-counting for hours due to reports of violence against polling staff and the theft of ballot papers.
Mundubile said he had received information about the possible alteration of results forms from polling stations and called for an urgent independent investigation.
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