LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Vote counting in Zambia’s presidential election was suspended Friday and then restarted hours later under heightened security after the electoral commission said there had been attacks against some polling station officials and some ballot papers had been stolen.
The main opposition leader claimed he had been questioned by the army, and police said one person was killed at a polling station during Thursday's vote. Police identified
the person as a party official and said they had arrested nine suspects.
While the counting was suspended, riot police and soldiers in armored vehicles were deployed to parts of the capital, Lusaka, including the main vote tallying center, though there were no immediate reports of any major unrest.
It was an unusual set of developments for the southern African country of 22 million people, which has held largely peaceful elections since it returned to multiparty democracy in 1991.
“The violence is targeted at poll staff and in some instances has resulted in the theft of marked ballot papers in ballot boxes,” the Electoral Commission of Zambia said in a statement announcing vote counting had been halted.
It did not say who was responsible for the violence or the alleged theft of ballot papers.
Electoral commission head Mwangala Zaloumis later announced counting would start again and said the violence affected a small number of polling stations in Lusaka.
“Following a review of the security situation and consultations with the relevant law enforcement agencies, I’m pleased to inform you and to inform the nation that the security threat to the electoral process has been contained,” she said at a press briefing.
The main opposition candidate, Brian Mundubile, said in a video statement that his alliance of parties had “received deeply troubling reports from several parts of the country” and called into question the credibility of the election.
He later said on social media that he was being interrogated by the army.
Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, who ran for a second five-year term, called for Zambians to “remain peaceful, patient and patriotic as we await the official outcome from those entrusted with managing the vote” in a statement on X.
Thursday's election was seen as a test of Hichilema's economic recovery plan after the copper-rich nation was plunged into a debt crisis in 2020. Hichilema was elected in 2021 and oversaw the restructuring of Zambia's sovereign debt while reining in inflation and stabilizing the currency.
But critics say that economic stability has not trickled down to many people in Zambia, where poverty is widespread and frustration has grown over the high cost of living and electricity shortages.
There was also criticism of Hichilema ahead of this election by the opposition and independent rights groups, which said his government was squeezing dissent. Mundubile’s alliance accused the government of being behind a law enforcement agency raid on its offices days before the election and claimed the action was designed to hurt the alliance’s campaign.
Hichilema, 64, was one of 14 candidates in the presidential election, but his biggest challenge was thought to come from Mundubile, a 55-year-old law graduate who emerged this year as the leader of the opposition alliance.
Zambians also voted for members of Parliament and local government councilors. About 8 million people were registered to vote at more than 13,500 polling stations. Final results were expected by Monday, according to the electoral commission.
Mundubile had said the suspension of the vote counting could lead to “an opportunity for interference with or manipulation of the results.”
“Put the records before the nation and allow every number to be reconciled. The people of Zambia voted. Their decision must be respected,” he said.
Mundubile said he had received information that members of the military had taken control of vote counting stations in at least one town and boxes containing ballots had been taken away from stations in other places, though he did not provide any evidence for those claims.
Zambia gained independence from Britain in 1964 and was a one-party state from 1973 to 1991. It has held largely peaceful votes and transfers of power between parties and political alliances since then.
Hichilema himself was once imprisoned on charges of treason when he was an opposition leader in 2017 during a bitter rivalry with then-President Edgar Lungu. He was held for four months after his motorcade did not give way to Lungu’s on a road and claimed he was tortured during his imprisonment.
Hichilema was released after international condemnation of the arrest and beat Lungu in an election in 2021.
Mundubile served in Lungu's government and rose to lead the opposition alliance challenging Hichilema after Lungu died last year.
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AP video journalist Alfonso Nqunjana contributed to this report.
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