FILE -- In this Jan. 2015 file photo Hakainde Hichilema, of the opposition United Party for National Development addresses an election rally in Lusaka. This southern African country votes Thursday amid concerns about political violence after years of peaceful power transitions that the U.S. last year praised as a "model for Africa" (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, File)

Zambia’s electoral commission has declared the opposition candidate, Hakainde Hichilema, as the President-Elect in Thursday’s election.

Hichilema won by  2,810,777 votes against the incumbent Mr Edgar Lungu’s 1,814,201. According to Zambia’s electoral commission, there were seven million registered voters.

“I, therefore, declare that the said Hichilema to be president of Zambia,” commission chairman Esau Chulu announced at the results centre in Lusaka.

Hichilema was making his fifth attempt at the presidency.

The 12 August 2021 elections in Zambia is the 7th since the reintroduction of multiparty politics in 1991.

According to the AU Election Observation Mission (AUEOM) the 2021 general elections in Zambia took place against a “backdrop of heightened political tension in the country that can be traced back to the 2016 disputed elections, where post-election violence resulted in the arrest and detention of several opposition members”.

“Evidence of the heightened political situation in the country can be seen from the spate of violence, hate speech and misinformation reportedly carried out by political parties supporters, particularly those from the Patriotic Front (PF) and the United Party for National Development (UPND), during the election campaigns. Concerns over the increased spate of violence prompted the deployment of the military for the first time during an electoral process,”.

“The AUEOM notes that this deployment elicited mixed reactions from stakeholders, with some viewing it as needed to ensure law and order, while others, mainly opposition parties, were skeptical about the intention for the deployment of the military during the elections. However, since their deployment, the Mission has not received any report of human rights abuse by the military”, AU said in a report.

The AU further maintained that Election Day operations were conducted in a peaceful, transparent and professional manner.

“Despite reports of the unlevelled playing field and politically motivated violence during the pre-electoral period, and Covid-19 related challenges, in general, AUEOM observers reported that Election Day operations were conducted in a peaceful, transparent and professional manner“.