Zambia's electoral commission suspended vote counting from Thursday's presidential and parliamentary elections after reports of attacks on polling staff and theft of marked ballot papers. President Hakainde Hichilema, seeking a second term, faces main challenger Brian Mundubile among 13 other candidates, with over eight million registered voters casting ballots. The commission has until Sunday to announce results and said it would review the suspension within 24 hours.
Polling day itself was largely peaceful with only isolated delays, but the count has been marred by violence severe enough to warrant a nationwide halt. Hichilema is campaigning on an economic rebound including debt restructuring and lowered inflation, while Mundubile, a former minister under the late Edgar Lungu's Patriotic Front, is capitalizing on public frustration that living conditions haven't improved. The election unfolds amid an unresolved, bitter dispute over Lungu's unburied body, and accusations from Amnesty International that the government has restricted rights ahead of the vote.
The full dispatch is available from the source below.