ECZ Chief Electoral Officer Priscilla Isaac said the Commission is not deliberately delaying the announcement of results.

Ms. Isaac said the public should realise that there is a huge volume of work that has to go through in the counting process especially that there were five ballots on voting day.

She emphasised that the Commission has to receive and verify the results from all the polling stations in each constituency before announcing them at the national totalling centre.

Ms. Isaac revealed that the nation will only start releasing officially verified totals at constituency level at the next briefing expected to be at around 12 Hours.

She however emphasised that the Commission Chairman Justice Essau Chulu who is also the returning officer of the presidential election is expected to release the first batch of official presidential results at around 14 Hours.

Ms Isaac said anything else circulating on social media is not authentic results and should be disregarded.

“You have to bear with us, we want to give you factual updates and this will only happen after we receive results from all polling stations in each constituency before announcing them,” Ms. Isaac said.

She added, “We again appeal for calm. I know we are all anxious to get the results.”

And Ms. Isaac has disclosed that voting at all polling stations across the country including those that delayed opening has now closed.

“All polling stations managed to close with the latest being Namabunga in Nalolo at 02:00 Hours and Kazungula at Kaningwa Community school. Counting of votes is still ongoing with polling stations that have finished currently transmitting to their totalling centres,” she said.

Rising stars Chanda Mbao and Kaladoshas unveil their highly anticipated summer hit single, “My Town”, that celebrates their heritage and showcases their hometown to the world.  This is the duos second collaboration this year after the release of the WizKid cover, “Shabba” .

“My Town” was produced by London-based Zambian producer Greezy Beatz. The video was directed by DJ Lo of IKONIK Media ,one of Zambia’s leading production houses. The picturesque visuals present the various sights found in the artists’ hometown, Lusaka.

August 12^th, the day after their country Zambia held an election was chosen as the release date. Asked about this choice, Chanda Mbao noted that because elections can be times of anxiety and uncertainty, he wanted to release something light-hearted to celebrate his home and revel in its beauty, particularly because the spotlight is on Zambia right now.

Both Chanda Mbao and Kaladoshas are by no means slowing down the pace as they intend on putting their county ,Zambia, on the map.

Look out for more big releases from Chanda this year and beyond.

BY KAPA187

Growing up I never really enjoyed hot and spicy food.  Whilst my friends and family all enjoyed their chillies, I was always too scared to try them out.  Let’s just say the idea of a burnt tongue and taste buds was not appealing.  However living in the UK gave me the chance to meet a variety of people from different cultures; so naturally I started to explore different foods and flavours.  I quickly realised that by incorporating small amounts of chilli to my meals, I would gradually become more and more tolerant of the heat and the sting.  Although I am yet to eat an entire Scotch Bonnet; I am able to enjoy meals such as this – Jollof rice with Chicken.  So here is one of my favourite recipes, if you are like me start with a small amount of chilli, and as you become “braver” increase the amount gradually.  Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 8 chicken thighs, cut into large pieces (with the skin on for extra flavour)
• 3 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
• 1 large onion, halved and sliced
• 3 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 400g basmati rice
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and thickly sliced
• 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and thickly sliced
• 100g okra, halved (optional)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder

For the ginger and chilli base

• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 x 400g cans plum tomatoes
• Thumb-size piece fresh root ginger
• 1 scotch bonnet chilli, deseeded
• Coriander leaves, roughly cut (for decoration, optional)

Method

Season the chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

On a high heat; heat 2 tbsps of the oil in a large frying pan, add the chicken and fry for about 5 mins until it turns golden all over. Remove it from the pan and set aside.

Add the rest of the oil to the pan and fry the onions until translucent, about 5 mins. While the onions cook, make the ginger and chilli base. Put the garlic, tomatoes, ginger and chilli into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Add tomato purée to the onions, fry for another 2 mins then add the ginger and chilli mixture.  Crumble in the stock cube and stir well; pour in 600ml boiling water, add the chicken, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins.

Put the rice into a large bowl, and wash the grains. Repeat the process twice until the water runs clear. Add the rice to the pan; turn the heat down to a simmer then cover with foil and a lid (so no steam can escape).  Cook for 20 mins.

Take the lid off (the rice won’t be cooked yet) then scatter the peppers and okra over the rice. Cover again and cook until the vegetables have softened and the rice is tender, about 10 minutes. Mix the chicken back in, and allow all the flavours to set for 10 minutes.

Serving

Serve whilst piping hot, with your choice of beverage.  Be careful, this will be hot and spicy. Enjoy!

Kanta Temba is a cake maker and decorator. She is also the owner and founder of Kanta Kakes – cake shop.

You can find her work on www.kantakakes.com.  Follow her on twitter @KantaKakes and Instagram @KantaTemba.

ECZ Chief Electoral Officer Priscilla Isaac said the public should disregard any results circulating on social media adding that the Commission is the only institution mandated to release official election results.

Ms. Isaac was speaking this evening during the last ECZ stakeholders briefing at the Results Centre at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka.

She was responding to concerns by the Patriotic Front through its member of its Media Committee Brian Hapunda who asked for the Commission’s position on reports that the Post Newspapers is planning to declare Hakainde Hichilema as a winner in tomorrow’s edition of the newspaper.

And some unverified exit results have flooded the social media showing a tight race between Edgar Lungu and Hakainde Hichilema.

But Ms. Isaac said it will be irresponsible for any media house to rush to publish unofficial election results without verifying them with the Commission.

She said some polling stations that opened as late as 16:05 will be given additional time to complete the voting process meaning the process in some cases will go on until tomorrow morning.

“So how then can someone declare a winner in voting in some parts of the country is still going on. Even as we speak, some polling stations are still open,” Ms. Isaac said.

And Ms. Isaac has commended the electorate for turning out in large numbers in Thursday’s election and conducting themselves in a peaceful manner even with the long queues.

The Commission will hold its next stakeholders briefing tomorrow at 10 Hours.

In Livingstone voting closed around 18: 00 hours in several polling stations of the Constituency with a sustained high voter turnout.

A check at Dambwa Central Welfare Hall, Old Boma, Rainbow, Mars Clinic and Dambwa Basic School revealed that the voting process has closed around 18: 00 hours.

However, there were few cases where voting opened slightly after 06:00 hours in the morning and the polls closed after 18:00 hours to accommodate the lost time.

By 19:00 hours, the counting of ballot papers had started in most stations.

Southern Province Commissioner of Police Godwin Phiri said the voting exercise had been very peaceful in the Province from the time that polls opened around 06:00 hours.

However, there some polling stations that delayed to open at 6am and will not have closed at 18hours.

Meanwhile voting is under way at Muchinga in Mansa Central due to high voter turnout because as long as a voter turned up for voting before 18 hours they cannot be turned away until the cast the vote.

Muchinga Presiding Officer John Kalombo said the station has 4, 995 voters and by press time over 3,000 had voted.

The Presiding Officer at Kaole Rest House Lumanda Evans in Bahati constituency said 1 500 had cast their votes at close time.

At the Civic centre polling station Mansa Central only 400 electorates cast their ballots out of the 800 registered number of voters.

Meanwhile the Electoral Commission of Zambia says it will follow up with the suppliers of the self-inking stamps used in the official marking of ballot papers in today’s polls.

ECZ Director Priscilla Isaac says the stamps used in the voting process were giving faint marks after marking a certain number of ballots.

Speaking during a briefing at the Results Center this evening, Mrs Isaac said the polling staff were advised to mark the ballot papers with the word “Official” in the presence of monitors and polling agents.

Mrs Isaac said the alternative provision communicated to poll staff is the use of ink pads.

Meanwhile, the commission has disclosed that voting in selected wards of Nalolo started at 16:05.

Mrs Isaac said the polling staff had challenges delivering the election materials due to the bad terrain in the area.

She explained that the first vehicle as well as the retrieval one broke down.

She however disclosed that the ECZ has arranged with Zambia Airforce to have the staff retrieved once voting closes in the early hours of the morning.

Meanwhile Residents and electoral stakeholders in Mansa Luapula province say the high voter turn out recorded in today’s polls is a clear indication that Zambia is a champion of democracy and beacon of Peace in Africa.