Zambians Vote In Closely Contested Polls Amidst Covid

Posted by: Kyeyune Andrew Jonathan in African News August 12, 2021

Zambians voted in nationwide elections on Thursday after a tense campaign dominated by economic woes and Covid-19. 16 presidential candidates are vying for the country’s top job.

However, the frontrunners are incumbent Edgar Lungu, 64, and his old nemesis and business tycoon Hakainde Hichilema, 59. The two are facing off at the polls for the third time.

Hichilema, who is running for the sixth time, has a backing of an alliance of 10 parties.

Hundreds of people stood in line in the dark to cast ballots at a secondary school in Lusaka’s Matero Township. President Lungu appeared in the first group of people to cast their votes in Lusaka.

‘’Zambians are ready to vote and they have come in numbers,’’ President Lungu said after casting his vote at a school in Chawama.

The rising costs of living have evaporated the incumbent’s support base according to surveys. This time the elections might even be tighter than the 2016 polls when Hichilema lost by around 100,000 votes.

President Lungu, a lawyer by training, is accused of borrowing unsustainability, particularly from Chinese creditors to fund multiple infrastructure projects.

Under him, Zambia became the first African country to default on its sovereign debt since the coronavirus pandemic began. Meanwhile, inflation soared up to 24.6% in June, the highest rate in more than a decade.

‘’I am voting for change. We can’t continue on this path,’’ said Andrew Daka, 20, who voted for the first time today.

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