Voting begins as Zambians grapple with sluggish economy

Zambians are voting for new leaders in an election in which stakes are high with the state of the economy taking the centre stage.

The incumbent Edgar Lungu narrowly won last year's by-election against Hakainde Hichilema. Only 27,757 votes separated the two candidates in the 2015 ballot.

Polling stations in the capital Lusaka opened as early as 6am (0400 GMT) and long queues had formed before opening in places like Kaunda Square township, Mtendere and the upmarket Kabulonga and Rhodepark.

The vote is for presidential, parliamentary, mayoral, local government and a referendum on the bill of rights.

On observation, the enthusiasm was high.

“Streets have been deserted. Early this morning I have been seeing people walking to places I supposed are polling stations. We don’t have much problems but in a few place where the process has been delayed, time will be compensated,” the Electoral Commission of Zambia spokesman told state broadcaster during an early morning TV show.

Growing joblessness is another major issue expected to influence the voting pattern, especially among the youth.

"I have been out since 4am (0200 GMT) and I found a lot of people. I’m here to choose my leaders,” said 24-year-old Violet Lungu.

Campaigns unrest

The campaigns were beset by violence involving the two main parties- Lungu's Patriotic Front (PF) and Hichilema's United Party for National Development (UPND).

Mr Hichilema, 54, an economist from the University of Zambia, is promising to fix a slumping economy and reduce the cost of living.

President Lungu’s PF will be hoping to win after much singing about its large-scale road construction and rehabilitation projects.

The party also delivered a new charter early this year.

The playing field was viewed as largely not level after government shut a privately-owned daily, The Post over a tax row.

READ: Zambia's top newspaper hits the streets despite govt closure

Zambia police has also suffered allegations of bias after, on several occasions, it stopped UPND from holding public rallies.

The 59-year-old Lungu was elected on January 2015 after the death of Michael Sata in office necessitated a by-election.

He narrowly won a closely contested election, scoring 48.33 per cent of the vote, beating Mr Hichilema, who garnered 46.67 per cent.

Mr Hichilema is on his fifth attempt on the presidency.

An estimated 6.6 million people were expected to cast their ballots.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia has called for calm and restraint among political parties.

Ahead of the vote, the election commission issued an emergency statement describing the unrest as "unprecedented" and warning it had "marred Zambia's historic record of peaceful elections".

Zambia, in contrast to some of its neighbours such as Angola and Zimbabwe, has escaped war and serious upheaval since independence from Britain in 1964.

It last held a peaceful transfer of power to an opposition party in 2011 when Michael Sata took office.

Sata died of an undisclosed illness in 2014 and the 2015 election gave Lungu, the right to finish Sata's term.

Trouble ahead?

Zambia, ruled by Kenneth Kaunda from 1964 until 1991, recorded GDP growth of 3.6 per cent last year — its slowest since 1998.

The falling price of copper, the country's key export, has put the economy "under intense pressure" according to the IMF.

Thousands of jobs have been lost in mining, electricity outages have become common and inflation is over 20 per cent.

Either side is "unlikely to concede defeat without a fight, but we are hoping that this fight happens not in the streets but in the courts," said Dimpho Motsamai, an analyst at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria.

About 60 per cent of the population in Zambia lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

Voting is expected to close at 6pm (1600 GMT). Results of the elections are expected late Friday and Saturday.