THE END OF RESULTS IN SIGHT AS HH HOLDS COMMANDING LEAD
THE END OF RESULTS IN SIGHT AS HH HOLDS COMMANDING LEAD
With 193 of 226 constituencies now declared, President Hakainde Hichilema is in a strong and increasingly decisive position as the 2026 count enters its final stretch. The latest consolidated figures put him on 2,430,702 votes to Brian Mundubile’s 1,461,457, a lead that has widened steadily throughout the day.
President Hichilema’s national share, currently sitting above 61 per cent with more than four in five constituencies declared, is running ahead of his 2021 result. That support extends beyond the party’s traditional base. He has carried Central Province decisively, improving markedly on his 2021 share there, leads in Lusaka on the constituencies declared so far, with the capital’s largest seats still to report, and has broadly held his 2021 support across the northern circuit.
His strongest returns have come from the party’s heartlands. The UPND has recorded emphatic wins across Southern, Western and North-Western Provinces, with margins in the rural constituencies that have long anchored its support. Majorities of this scale in these provinces are a long-standing feature of Zambian elections, recorded in 2021 and 2016 alike — as is the mirror-image consolidation now visible on the other side of the map.
While a full analysis will need to be conducted once counting is complete, the early indication is of a limited NRPUP ground game, with Mundubile’s vote concentrated largely along the traditional northern circuit rather than spread nationally, set against the President’s broad and emphatic dominance elsewhere. Where the opposition has been more competitive is in the two big urban battlegrounds, Lusaka and the Copperbelt, which remain closer and are still being counted.
Turnout, meanwhile, looks set to land in the mid-fifties. That is well down on the exceptional figure recorded in 2021, but in truth marks a return to a fairly standard level of participation for a Zambian general election.
Just 34 constituencies now remain to be declared, drawn largely from the Copperbelt (10), Lusaka (7) and Western Province (6), along with North-Western (4), Luapula (3), and one each from Central, Eastern, Muchinga and Northern.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) is expected to resume its announcements shortly. As the finish line approaches, patience remains essential, and only the official declaration will confirm the outcome.