UPND says early vote-counting trends favour Hichilema
The United Party for National Development (UPND) says early trends from vote-counting centres across Zambia are encouraging for President Hakainde Hichilema, while stressing that no presidential election result has yet been declared.
Lusaka, 14 August – In a statement issued in Lusaka on Friday, UPND National Management Committee member Mulambo Haimbe said information emerging from tallying centres suggested the governing party was performing strongly in several parts of the country.
Mr Haimbe said turnout had been high in Southern, Western and North-Western provinces, while the picture emerging from Central Province was described as favourable to President Hichilema.
He also said the party was seeing gains for the president in Northern Province, adding that overall voter turnout appeared to be settling closer to Zambia’s historical norm.
However, Mr Haimbe was careful to distinguish the early trends from official results.
“These are early indications, not results,” he said, stressing that only the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) had the constitutional authority to declare the outcome of the presidential election.
He said the UPND had not declared victory and would not do so before the ECZ completed the official process.
The statement comes amid unverified claims of victory circulating from some quarters as the country waits for the official tally.
Mr Haimbe criticised such claims, saying they lacked verifiable sources, data and methodology. He urged political parties, candidates and their supporters to allow the ECZ to complete the collation, verification and announcement of results without pressure.
He pointed to the role of party agents at polling stations, who signed official results forms, and said the law provided procedures for the tabulation of results and the resolution of electoral grievances.
The UPND also praised the conduct of the election, describing it as peaceful, orderly and well administered.
Mr Haimbe said the election had been conducted in a markedly different environment from the 2021 election, when he said opposition figures had faced repeated arrests, some media houses had been shut down and internet access had been disrupted on polling day.
“None of that happened this time,” he said, crediting Zambians and the country’s democratic institutions for the peaceful conduct of the election.
He called on citizens to remain patient and exercise restraint while the ECZ completes its constitutional mandate.
“Whatever the coming days hold, one thing is already settled. Zambia has delivered a peaceful, orderly and well administered election,” Mr Haimbe said.
The official presidential result will be determined by the ECZ following the completion of the statutory verification and collation process.
-Nkanionline 2026 #NewsOnDemand