LUSAKA, Jan 20 (AFP): One of the frontrunners in Zambia's presidential elections cried fraud just hours after polling stations opened Tuesday in a tightly contested race to replace Michael Sata, who died in office last year.
Opposition candidate Hakainde Hichilema, 52, of the United Party for National Development (UPND), said some remote parts of the country had not received ballot papers halfway through the polling day.
"Why are there no ballot papers in our strongholds, someone is scheming around. It's fraud," Hakainde told reporters after casting his ballot at a school in Lusaka's affluent Kabulonga suburb.
Hichilema is tipped as the main challenger to Defence Minister Edgar Lungu, 58, who represents the ruling Patriotic Front (PF).
At stake are the remaining year and a half of Sata's five-year term in the copper-rich southern African nation.
Election-weary Zambians, who voted in scheduled elections that brought Sata to power three years ago and are also due to cast ballots next year, formed long queues despite early morning cold weather.
Claims of fraud as Zambians vote for president
FE Team | Published: January 21, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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