Zambia’s Opposition Leader Hakainde Hichilema is President-Elect

The 64-year-old Mr. Lungu called the vote no “free and fair” and his Patriotic Front party was consulting on the next course of action.

Monday he did not concede defeat despite his assurance to African Union observer delegation leader Bai Koroma who met him at State House in the capital Lusaka.

Other opposition candidates had also written a letter to him, urging him to concede defeat.

It was Mr. Hichilema’s fifth attempt at the presidency under the United Party for National Development since it was formed in 1998.

Zambia's electoral commission chairperson Esau Chulu declared Mr. Hichilema the winner after garnering 2,810,757 votes translating to 59.38 percent against Mr. Lungu’s 1,814,201 38.33%.

Chulu announced the results with 155 out of 156 constituencies reporting, saying the results from the remaining one constituency would not materially influence the outcome.

After the official announcement was made slightly before 2.35 am Zambian time, Mr. Hichilema’s supporters went into a frenzy, popping champagne in celebration.

The party’s chairman for elections Garry Nkombo praised Mr. Hichilema’s tenacity and resilience, adding that the president-elect will not witch hunt his opponents.

“Mr. Hichilema is a Christian and he also knows that vengeance is for God,” he said.

The election was marred by sporadic chaos with two people dying in the violence.

Mr. Hichilema, 59, is the first southerner to win the presidency, which has been dominated by the north.

He becomes Zambia’s seventh president since it gained independence from Britain in 1964.

Zambia’s economy has floundered under the watch of the Patriotic Front party founded by former president Michael Sata who died in 2014. Youth unemployment and unsustainable fiscal policies led to public dissatisfaction.