Lusaka – Post-election tensions are continuing in Zambia, where today, 24 August, the High Courts, including those in Lusaka, Ndola and other cities, were closed, preventing opposition leader Brian Mundubile from filing a petition challenging President Hakainde Hichilema’s victory in the elections held on 13 August .According to the official results published by the Independent Electoral Commission, Hichilema won with 2,965,326 votes, representing 60.49% of the 4,902,050 valid votes cast. His main rival, Brian Mundubile, received approximately 1,856,217 votes, or 37.87% of the total .Opposition-linked social media accounts claim that the various High Court premises were closed following a government directive ordering the closure of “all High Courts until further notice,” allegedly with the specific aim of preventing Mundubile from lodging his appeal. So far, however, these claims have not been fully corroborated by official statements from the judiciary.Some local media outlets report that the entrance to the Lusaka High Court was cordoned off with yellow tape, as if it were a crime scene, and that the same occurred at the High Court in Ndola.Under Article 103 of the Zambian Constitution, a petition challenging presidential election results must generally be filed within seven days of the declaration of the results, a deadline that falls around 24–25 August. The Constitutional Court then has a limited period, generally 14 days, to issue a ruling.Mundubile has publicly rejected the results, alleging irregularities in the counting, transmission and announcement of the results, and has announced that he would lodge an appeal. His team has instructed lawyers and prepared the necessary documentation. Mundubile and his vice-presidential candidate, Makebi Zulu, Makebi Zulu, have taken refuge at the premises of a United Nations agency in Lusaka, fearing arrest over allegations that they were involved in an alleged insurgency plot .Meanwhile, the Council of Churches in Zambia and the Independent Churches of Zambia have called for an independent investigation into the death of former Transport Minister and Lunte Party parliamentarian Mutotwe Kafwaya .Kafwaya, a former minister in the Patriotic Front government who later became associated with opposition figures, was fatally wounded on 14 August during a joint security forces raid on a residence in Kabulonga, Lusaka, linked to Mundubile.For several days, Kafwaya’s fate remained uncertain until police announced his death on the evening of 19 August. Conflicting accounts of the incident have since emerged.Police say the politician was killed during a shootout between security forces and an armed group that had barricaded itself inside the residence. Mundubile and his supporters have rejected claims that an armed militia ready to launch an insurrection was present, saying instead that Kafwaya was shot inside a bedroom in the presence of witnesses and calling for an independent investigation.
