International observers monitoring Zambia’s August 13 presidential election raised concerns about reports of intimidation and violence that caused a several‑hour suspension of vote counting.

President Hakainde Hichilema, 64, is seeking a second term with the ruling United Party for National Development, while former minister Brian Mundubile runs as the opposition candidate for the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity.

Vote counting was halted on Friday after police and soldiers responded to incidents in which ballot papers were allegedly stolen and polling staff were threatened. The Electoral Commission said the security threat had been contained and counting resumed later that evening. Observers from the European Union and the Southern African Development Community said they could not monitor the counting during the suspension. The SADC mission’s lead, former Malawian justice minister Samuel Tembenu, said the pause created uncertainty and anxiety and that reports of assault, abduction and property damage were received from five provinces, though verification was not possible. EU chief observer Michael McNamara said the authorities needed to explain the decision to suspend the count and noted a backdrop of constrained democratic space. European Parliament observer Reinhold Lopatka described the pause as disproportionate, given that only a small fraction of the more than 13,000 polling stations were affected. He said his mission had been told that opposition figures faced intimidation, that some candidates withdrew under pressure and that opposition rallies were broken up by violence. Zambian police reported the arrest of nine individuals in connection with the killing of a 57‑year‑old polling agent in a township outside Lusaka. Meanwhile, Mundubile claimed victory based on a parallel count and alleged that military personnel had taken control of tallying centres in Mufulira, that result forms were missing, and that officials in North‑Western Province had been instructed to halt result releases. Hichilema has not declared victory, saying only that his campaign was seeing “encouraging” results as official counting continued. The commission released partial results late Saturday showing Hichilema with 438,708 votes (52.6 percent), Mundubile with 351,281 votes (42.1 percent) and a third candidate with 3,965 votes; it cautioned that the figures were not final.

The commission said it would issue another notice on Sunday morning regarding the timing of the next results announcement. About 8.7 million people were registered to vote in the 22 million‑person nation that has a long history of peaceful transfers of power.