Lungu leads by 59,578 votes

Patriotic Front (PF) candidate Edgar Lungu has maintained the lead in last Tuesday’s presidential election which is being contested by ten other political parties.

 

Mr. Lungu has so far polled 533,613 votes, which represent 50.85 percent of votes in 80 constituencies that have since been announced today.

 

He is followed by United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema who polled 474,035 votes which represents 45.18 percent.

 

Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) chairperson Justice Ireen Mambilima announced the results today at the national tallying centre at Mulungushi International Conference Centre today in Lusaka.

 

Justice Mambilima disclosed that Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) president Nevers Mumba is in the third position with 8,035 votes followed by Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) leader Edith Nawakwi with 7,697 and United National Independence Party (UNIP) president Tilyenji Kaunda has managed to get 4,965 votes from 80 constituencies.

 

In the sixth position is National Restoration Party (NAREP) leader Elia Chipimo Junior who got 3,358 votes closely followed by the Fourth Revolution Party with 3,292 votes and Godfrey Miyanda of the Heritage Party managed to get 3,035 votes while the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) president Daniel Pule has attracted 1,706.

 

The Forum for Democratic Alternatives (FDA) leader Ludwig Sondashi is second from the bottom with 970 votes while Green Party leader Peter Sinkamba only managed to get a paltry 727 votes in results from 80 constituencies that have been announced so far.

 

Justice Mambilima stated that ECZ has verified all the results it has announce and therefore there were no discrepancies.

 

She disclosed that 2,724 voters in some selected constituencies have been affected by bad weather and that voting was currently underway.

 

And Justice Mambilima has cautioned organisations conducting parallel voter tabulation (PVT) to stop alarming the nation by announcing results gotten through speculations.

 

She said there was nothing wrong with PVT if it is conducted genuinely but noted that it was wrong to speculate results and announcing them to the public.

 

Meanwhile, Justice Mambilima has explained that there is no law allowing the Commission to recount votes once the polling agents have signed and sent to the tallying centre.

 

She was responding to a named party representative who asked whether the Commission will not declare the winner of Tuesday’s polls before recounting the votes.

Justice Mambilima further advised that the only body that can permit a recount is the Supreme Court if the aggrieved party takes the matter to court.

 

And ECZ Director Pricilla Isaac told journalists that collection of results in Kaputa where voting closed today was being done by the Zambia Air Force (ZAF) while results in some polling stations in Mitete which also experienced delays were being collected by ZAF today.

 

Ms. Isaac disclosed that voting in two polling centres in Chama South Constituency has not started because the bridge leading to the centres has collapse.