Zambia’s outgoing President Edgar Lungu has conceded defeat in the presidential election.
“I would like to congratulate my brother Hakainde Hichilema for being elected as the 7th president of mother Zambia,” he said in a broadcast on state TV.
Mr Lungu had earlier hinted that he would challenge the results of the election after accusing the opposition of fraud.
Official results on Monday showed Hichilema had secured 2,810,757 votes against Lungu’s 1,814,201.
“I therefore declare the said Hakainde Hichilema to be president-elect of the Republic of Zambia,” electoral commission chairman Justice Esau Chulu said in a televised address.
The significant win sparked celebrations on the streets after an election marred by sporadic violence.
Hichilema, a former chief executive officer at an accounting firm before he entered politics, faces a daunting task turning around the economic fortunes of one of the world’s poorest countries.
