Zambians await presidential results

| Friday September 23, 2011 00:00

The front-runners in the race are incumbent President Rupiah Banda, head of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), and Michael Sata, leader of the opposition Patriotic Front (PF) and a major critic of China's investment in the nation.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ)  said on its website early yesterday that it was still updating results.

Ten candidates took part in the presidential race on Tuesday, the commission said.

As the vote counting continued, residents awaited eagerly amid fears of clashes between supporters of both sides.

'Right now as we speak, there's a market ablaze in Kitwe,' said Mutheliso Phiri, who lives in the city north of the capital, Lusaka. 'Nobody knows who started the fire, but it's tense. People are worried that there might be violence.'

Some people have stayed indoors and others shut down businesses over fear of looting, residents said.

'There's a lot of anxiety ... the election commission is verifying the poll results, and they have been on TV appealing for calm,' said Chishala Chitoshi, who also lives in Kitwe, the second-largest city. 'Some people in the townships of Kitwe are taking to the streets to demand the release of the results.'

Banda narrowly beat Sata in a special election in 2008 after the death of former president Levi Mwanawassa.

Zambia has remained relatively peaceful amid unrest in neighbouring Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Churches in the southern African nation have appealed for peace and urged citizens not to engage in post-election violence. (CNN)