The results from this closely fought race are expected tomorrow

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Both the incumbent Edgar Lungu and his challenger Hakainde Hichilema have expressed confidence about the outcome of the elections which saw a good turnout in a calm, peaceful environment.

28 000 votes separated them when they competed for the top job last year after the death of President Michael Sata.

Lungu’s Patriotic Front was hit by splits and defections to Hichilema’s United Party for National Development ahead of the vote.

About 6.7 million people were registered to vote. Violence marred the campaign so there’s concern about the loser accepting the result.

The winner will need 50 percent plus one to avoid a run off

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Observers are braced for trouble when the results are announced on Saturday.

ends intro

For the first time, a Zambian presidential candidate must win 50 percent of votes plus one to avoid a run off.

Following the death of Michael Sata last October, Edgar Lungu won the right succeed him with a margin of fewer than 28 000 votes.

He has his work cut out against opponent Hakainda Hichilema.

Two Zambian presidents have died in office this past decade, so both candidates have named running mates to succeed them.

Observers report brisk voting with a high turnout from the fourteen-and-a-half million Zambians.

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Lusaka authorities have promised they will keep his compatriots fully informed on his condition. He has been admitted to a hospital in Johannesburg.

President Edgar Lungu collapsed in Lusaka last Saturday after cutting short a speech he was making.

Doctors said he was suffering from malaria.

He was discharged from hospital on Monday and his medical staff said he was suffering from Achalasia which is a narrowing of the oesophagus.

Visiting a slum in Lusaka yesterday, Lungu said he was feeling better but needed to go to South Africa for an examination and, if necessary, an operation.

The 58-year-old joked to reporters that he hopes to come back alive because everyone likes to live.

Zambians are not amused.

They have had two presidents die in foreign hospitals these past six years.

Lungu is serving out the last two years of the term of Michael Sata who died in London last year.

Levy Mwanawasa died in a Paris hospital in 2009.

During his election campaign last year, Lungu offered to undergo a medical examination.

Zambian authorities, who have grown accustomed to treating the president’s health as an official secret, promised it will be different this time.

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President Edgar Lungu’s being treated for malaria and exhaustion.

Zambians have seen two presidents die in office: Michael Sata last year and Levy Mwanawasa seven years ago.

So they’re particularly sensitive about their president’s health.

Campaigning for the job last year Edgar Lungu offered a medical certificate testifying to his good health.

He was delivering a speech to commemorate International Women’s Day at Heroes Stadium in the capital, Lusaka, on Saturday when he excused himself from the podium and then collapsed.

A snap test confirmed malaria.

The president was rushed to the Maina Soko Military hospital in Lusaka, where he is being treated for malaria and exhaustion.

Lungu says in a statement he’s feeling much better, adding there’s nothing to worry about.

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The 58-year old Zambian leader collapsed while making a speech in Lusaka on Saturday.

His doctors said then he had malaria.

President Edgar Lungu’s office said after his collapse that he was feeling well, apart from the malaria, and would be going home today.

Now they report he’s suffering from a narrowing of the oesophagus which needs a high-tech medical procedure which is currently unavailable in Zambia.

So he’s been referred for specialised treatment abroad.

Lungu was treated for this condition 30 years ago.

Zambians are understandably unsettled.

Two previous presidents Michael Sata and Levy Mwanawasa died while receiving medical treatment abroad.

Both assured their compatriots they were well.

During the election campaign, Lungu, who took office in January, denied reports he was sick and offered to undergo a medical check-up.

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This despite some violent clashes between supporters of opposing candidates in the run up to the process necessitated by the death last October of President Michael Sata.

Late voting, caused by poor weather conditions has held up the announcement of voting figures at some of the 6 000 polling stations across Zambia.

Nevertheless the SADC observer team lead by South Africa’s foreign affairs minister Maite Nkoana Mashebane has declared the elections to be

peaceful, transparent, credible, free, and fair, thus reflecting the will of the people of Zambia.

She says Zambia is known to be a peaceful country and appeals to all political parties to behave in a manner that promotes peace, security and stability of the country and her citizens.

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Hakainda Hichilema is the main contender with Edgar Lungu for the position vacated by the death of President Michael Sata last October.

Representing the opposition United Party for National Development Hakainde Hichilema says polling stations in remote parts of Zambia had not received voting material half way through the 12-hour polling day.

He maintains these rural areas are his stronghold in a closely contested race.

There are four candidates fighting for the last year-and-a-half of the late Michael Sata’s five-year term.

The winner will be either Lungu from the ruling Patriotic Front or Hichilema.

There have been no opinion polls to assist observers.

Voting has been brisk despite Zambia’s five million eligible voters being election weary.

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There’s been considerable jostling among contenders within the ruling party but members insist the Patriotic Front now presents a united front.

Michael Sata is the second Zambian president to die in office. Levy Mwanawasa passed in 2008.

Justice and defence minister Edgar Lungu is the frontrunner to become Zambia’s sixth president. He’s facing three opponents.

Lungu’s produced a certificate of good health. It’s not a prerequisite but it make good political sense.

Guy Scott, a white Zambian of Scottish descent, has been interim president since Sata’s death.

He’s ineligible to stand in tomorrow’s election because his parents were not born in Zambia.

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Scott’s constitutionally  excluded from the presidential race because his parents aren’t Zambian.

However a rival group within the PA has voted for defence minister Edgar Lungu to take over.

Samba, who four other contenders to get the PF ticket says his priority will be to re-unite the party and empower the youth through infrastructure development programmes

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Scott’s handed the job to Davis Mwila who says the timing is bad while the nation’s still mourning Sata

Interim Zambian president Guy Scott sacking of Edgar Lungu as secretary general of the ruling Patriotic Front has sparked riots and a rejection of his authority.

Rampaging crowds stoned motor cars and burned tyres.

Lungu’s been at the centre of a power struggle that preceded President Michael Sata’s death.

He calls his sacking illegal and accuses Scott of insulting Zambian culture while the nation’s mourning Sata.

Crowds supporting Lungu, who was acting president when Sata went to Britain for medical treatment last month, are massing for further riots in Lusaka tonight.

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