Zambia’s opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has taken an early lead in the country’s presidential election over incumbent Edgar Lungu, according to the first results from the electoral commission on Saturday.
Hichilema tallied 171,604 votes versus the 110,178 garnered by Lungu in the results for 15 of the southern African nation’s 156 constituencies.
Those 15 constituencies include perceived Lungu strongholds, suggesting that Hichilema has gained ground since the last elections in 2016, when he lost by a slim margin in a contested vote marred by allegations of rigging by Lungu.
A total of 296,210 votes were cast in those constituencies, representing a 71.75 percent turnout rate, chief electoral officer Patrick Nshindano told a media briefing in the capital, Lusaka.
The first results, initially expected on Friday, were delayed after counting went on overnight because of the huge voter turnout and because political parties objected to the electoral commission’s initial figures in one constituency, which differed from those from monitors on the ground.
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