Observers happy with Zambia's presidential election

Local and international observers monitoring Zambia's presidential election on Tuesday said the election has been "peaceful and orderly" in most polling centers, despite minor hiccups in some districts, such as the late arrival of materials due to bad weather.

Macdonald Chipenzi, executive director of the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP), said the organization was happy with the way the election has been conducted despite hiccups in some polling stations, hoping that the situation will continue even after the results start coming out.

"We hope that the same tranquility will continue after the close of voting, during the counting and when the results are announced," he said.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) observer mission also commended the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) over the manner it has conducted the election.

COMESA observer mission head Ambassador Simbi Veke Mubako told reporters that the peace which has characterized the voting process should continue even after the announcement of the results.

The African Union (AU) observer mission has also commended the organization of the election and the peaceful manner in which the voting took place, according to state broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation.

Meanwhile, the electoral governing body has expressed happiness with the manner the election has gone despite some challenges in delivering of materials in some areas.

Prisilla Isaacs, the organization's director told reporters during a press briefing that the commission made some progress in delivering election materials and staff to 72 polling centers that did not receive the materials before commencement of voting.

She said the commission used the Zambia Air Force to deliver the materials and staff using their helicopters and commended the voters for turning up to vote despite the heavy rains.

The election chief further dispelled speculations by opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema that the organization delayed in sending materials to western and northwestern Zambia because it was planning to rig the election in favor of governing party candidate Edgar Lungu.

She said the delay in sending the materials to some parts of the country was not a ploy to defraud the electoral process but was due to heavy rains which made the roads impassable.

Hichilema, leader of the opposition United Party for National Development, told reporters that election materials were not delivered on time in areas where his party was strong because the electoral body wanted to disfranchise his supporters. Endite