The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) suspended the counting and announcement of election results nationwide on Friday, 14 August 2026, a day after Zambians voted in presidential, parliamentary and local government elections. ECZ Chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis said the decision followed reports of violence targeting polling staff and the theft of marked ballot papers from ballot boxes in some districts.
What the Commission said
In a statement issued in Lusaka, Zaloumis said the suspension had been necessitated by the prevailing security situation and continued threats of violence, and that it took effect immediately across the country. She said the decision was made in accordance with Section 67(3) of the Electoral Process Act No. 35 of 2016, which gives the Commission authority to pause the results process where the integrity of counting is at risk. Chief Electoral Officer Brown Kasaro, briefing reporters at the National Election Results Centre in Lusaka, said the Commission would review the suspension within 24 hours and that counting had otherwise proceeded peacefully in most parts of the country.
The ECZ did not name those responsible for the alleged ballot theft or the attacks on polling staff, and said the suspension applied to counting and announcement generally rather than to any single province or constituency.
A count without a declared winner
With official results on hold, Zambia has no declared presidential winner. Opposition leader Brian Mundubile of the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP), flagbearer of the Tonse Alliance, said in a statement that his party’s own Parallel Voter Tabulation (PVT), compiled from information transmitted by polling and totalling centres, showed him ahead in the presidential race. He called on the ECZ to publish results at polling-station and constituency level so figures could be reconciled against the original electoral records, and urged the Commission to preserve all ballot boxes and Gen 20 result forms and maintain a clear chain of custody. Mundubile also said he had received reports of irregularities in several parts of the country, including claims that security personnel had taken control of some counting stations, though he did not provide supporting evidence for that specific claim.
President Hakainde Hichilema, seeking a second term, has not claimed victory. In a statement after Thursday’s vote he said his camp continued to receive what he called encouraging results and reports of a peaceful process, and urged Zambians to remain patient while the official count continued. Neither candidate’s figures are official; only the ECZ, through its constituency and national returning officers, is empowered to declare a result.
The path back from suspension
Friday’s suspension follows a week in which the Commission had repeatedly asked stakeholders to rely only on verified information. On Tuesday, Zaloumis opened the 2026 National Election Results Centre at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre, describing it as the recognised platform from which the nation would receive official results. The Commission had also earlier revoked an accreditation over a threat video directed at the results process, while civil society groups including the ZIKO LATHU Consortium deployed more than 600 monitors nationwide and the Independent Broadcasting Authority warned broadcasters against airing speculative results.
The ECZ has previously indicated it hoped to declare a presidential result within four days of polling, the same interval it took in 2021. That target now depends on how quickly counting can safely resume. For now, the Commission’s next update, expected within 24 hours of Friday’s announcement, will determine whether counting resumes nationally or the suspension is extended.
Why it matters for the economy
Zambia’s economic story going into this election has centred on the recovery from its 2020 sovereign default and the subsequent debt restructuring, alongside a copper sector at the heart of investor interest in the country. A contested or delayed results process adds short-term uncertainty at a moment when policy continuity, rather than any change in direction, has been what markets have been watching for. A swift, transparent resumption of counting would limit that uncertainty; a prolonged dispute over the count would extend it, regardless of which candidate ultimately wins.
Until the ECZ lifts the suspension and constituency returns are formally collated, any figures in circulation, from any camp, remain unofficial. The Commission has asked Zambians to treat only its own channels as authoritative during this period.
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