Zambia’s Hichilema re-elected president as main rival in hiding over alleged threats
News
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has been re-elected for a second five-year term after securing a 60% share of the vote, the electoral commission has announced.
Hichilema’s win was widely expected, with his closest challenger Brian Mundubile getting 38% of the votes cast. The remaining 12 candidates trailed far behind.
Mundubile, 55, has said he will mount a legal challenge to the results, saying his NRPUP party had evidence that there were voting irregularities.
Details
Earlier, the party confirmed to the BBC that Mundubile had gone into hiding in a “secure location under the protection of an international human rights body due to threats made against him”.
Local media had reported that Mundubile and his running mate Makebi Zulu were at a UN agency in the capital, Lusaka, fearing arrests.
It came after some leading opposition figures were arrested in a raid on Friday who the authorities accused of plotting an insurrection. Mundubile called the claim a fabrication.
Analysis
In a statement, Mundubile said the results were not “a true reflection of what took place across this election”.
“We have evidence. We have records. We have documented what we could as events unfolded. We will now place that evidence before the appropriate legal institutions and pursue every lawful avenue available to us within the prescribed period,” he said.
After being declared the winner, Hichilema, 64, said in a statement: “We are truly humbled by the trust you have placed in our hands.”
Stay informed with the latest news on Wararka.so — your trusted source for Somalia and world news.
