Zambia's Hichilema leads presidential vote count

LUSAKA, Aug 16 (Reuters) - ‌Zambia's President ​Hakainde ​Hichilema was well ahead in counting for national elections on Sunday with ‌nearly half the constituencies declared, the electoral commission ⁠said.

Hichilema had 54.82% or 1,056,812 of the declared votes, ‌figures showed, putting him ‌on track for re-election without a second-round runoff if he keeps the overall majority.

His main ​challenger, Brian Mundubile, was in second place with 43% or 830,841 of the declared ⁠votes, with 105 out of 226 constituencies announced by around ​1500 GMT.

The presidential vote — held alongside parliamentary and local elections on Thursday — is seen ​as a test of ‌whether Hichilema's economic gains since a pandemic-era debt crisis are enough to ⁠win him a second term in Africa's second-largest copper producer after the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Electoral ⁠Commission of Zambia temporarily halted vote counting on Friday, citing ​violence against officials and the theft of ballot papers.

Zambia's police have denied a report by opposition leader Mundubile's ‌camp that he was arrested and detained.

If no presidential candidate gets at ‌least 50%, a second-round vote will take ⁠place within 37 days ‌of the initial ​poll.

(Reporting by Chris Mfula and Nelson Banya; Editing by Alexander Winning and Andrew ‌Heavens)

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• Nvidia invests in data center developer Cloverleaf Infrastructure
• Euro zone consumer confidence rises to -15.5 in August
• Canada retail sales rise 0.6% in June, StatsCan says