Zambia sets Hichilema swearing-in amid vote dispute

Zambia's cabinet said President Hakainde Hichilema will be sworn in for a second term on September 1, despite uncertainty over whether a challenge to his election victory was validly filed.

Hichilema won re-election with around 60 percent of the vote in the August 13 election. Opposition leader Brian Mundubile, who came second, alleged fraud and said he would challenge the result in court.

Zambia closed its courts on Monday, citing “security reasons,” on the final day of a seven-day window for filing a petition against the presidential result. Legal and rights groups criticised the closure and the deployment of security forces at court premises in Lusaka.

The cabinet said Tuesday that the judiciary had received no petition and that Hichilema would be sworn in as planned.

The judiciary, however, said the chief justice had received a petition from a member of the public on his private email address challenging the result. It called the submission “highly irregular” but said the chief justice had referred it to the Constitutional Court for consideration.

It was not immediately clear whether the court would accept the petition or whether it could affect Hichilema's planned inauguration.

The election was marred by allegations of intimidation, pro-government bias and restrictions on the opposition. Tensions rose after polls closed.

Mundubile went into hiding after security forces arrested 11 members of his camp the day after the vote over alleged treason-related offences. Former cabinet minister Mutotwe Kafwaya was shot and killed during the security force raid.

International observers said a nationwide six-hour halt in vote counting damaged confidence in the process. The Christian Churches Monitoring Group, which conducted its own tally, said Hichilema won an outright majority but that his official total may have been inflated, an allegation the government has denied.