Zambians started voting on Thursday in a national election in which President Hakainde Hichilema is favoured to win a second term after overseeing an economic rebound during his first five years in office.
The country of 22 million people is voting in Presidential, Parliamentary and local government elections simultaneously.
Polls opened at six in the morning and will close at six in the evening, with results expected on Monday.
Hichilema has led the southern African copper producer since 2021 and is running on his economic record, having steered Zambia through a debt restructuring and recovery since it defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2020.
His main challenger is Brian Mundubile, an experienced parliamentarian but first-time presidential candidate who is leading an opposition alliance backed by supporters of Hichilema’s predecessor, the late former President Edgar Lungu
–Reuters–
