Zambia elections: Lungu stretches lead as vote count continues

Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu has stretched his lead as vote counting from Thursday’s election continues with results from more than half the constituencies announced.

As at 20:00 GMT on Sunday, Lungu had garnered 955,035 votes compared to opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema whose vote tally stood at 840,232 from 90 out of 156 constituencies.

Stats from 90 of 156 constituencies announced so far #ZEIC #ZambiaDecides pic.twitter.com/eSyO5Nfu6P

— Zambia Elections2016 (@ZEIC_2016) August 14, 2016

Earlier on Sunday, Hichilema blasted the national election commission for the slow progress in releasing results from this week’s closely-fought presidential vote.

Hichilema, the leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND) has alleged fraud in Thursday’s vote, and demanded to speak to the electoral commission’s chairman at its headquarters where the ballots are being counted, but he was blocked by police.

Observers say this year’s contest is likely to be the closest in Zambia’s history.

Recent constitutional changes require the winner to secure more than 50 percent of the vote, meaning a run-off is possible should neither Lungu nor Hichilema secure a majority in the first round.