MMD Presidential candidate, Rupiah Banda, has cast his vote at Nyaputwa Middle Basic school near his farm in Chipata in the Eastern Province.

Mr. Banda who is also acting president cast his vote at around 09:00hours on Thursday.

The acting president was accompanied by his wife Tandiwe.

And Patriotic Front leader, Michael Sata, has cast his vote.

Mr. Sata voted at Jacaranda basic school in Lusaka central constituency around 08:00 hours.

He was accompanied by Party General Secretary General, Edward Mumbi.

United Party for National Development president, Hakainde Hichilema, is expected to vote in the afternoon.

The voter turn out has slowed down in most polling stations in Lusaka Central Constituency.

A check by ZNBC news shows that long queues that characterised polling stations in the constituency in the morning have disappeared.

And a team of SADC observer mission was seen going round polling stations in Lusaka, checking on the voting exercise.

Polling stations will close at 18 hours and initial results are expected on Friday.

Zambians are voting in an election that will usher in the country’s fourth President.

The election comes after the death of President, Levy Mwanawasa, on August 19.

Polling stations opened at 06.00 hours across the country on Thursday to enable the 3.9 registered voters to cast their ballots.

An early assessment shows that the voting is peaceful, with most polling stations recording a relatively fair turnout.

The polling stations will close at 18.00 hours and the first results are expected on Friday.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia- ECZ- has opened a center in Lusaka which will release presidential election results as they trickle in from various parts of the country.

ECZ Chairperson Justice, Florence Mumba, said the center is expected to announce the first presidential results by Friday morning

And a number of people in Livingstone have been turned away from polling stations because they do not have green National Registration Cards,NRCs while others have invalid voters’ cards.

Livingstone District Electoral Officer, George Kalenga says some people wanted to vote using photocopies of their NRCs or other documents like driving licences and passports.

At the Old Boma Polling Station the Presiding Officer, Owen Kashoti said one person was turned way because he wanted to use the voter’s card for the 2001 elections.

Meanwhile a number of people who have cast their votes in Livingstone are happy the elections are taking place in a peaceful atmosphere.

Others are however, concerned with the low turn-out of voters.

But Livingstone District Election Officer said the turn-out was high in the morning though it reduced later, probably due to the intense heat in Livingstone.

[ZNBC]

Second Republican President, Frederick Chiluba, shunned journalists who wanted to talk to him when he went to cast his vote on Thursday morning.

The former President refused to answer questions from journalists as he arrived at a polling station at Saint Mary’s Girls Secondary School in Lusaka constituency.

Dr. Chiluba who was accompanied by his wife, Regina and his press aide, Emmanuel Mwamba, just said he was going back home to read the bible after voting.

The former President arrived at Saint Mary’s Girls Secondary School around 11:00hours and went straight to cast his vote.

On Tuesday, Patriotic Front cadres harrassed Dr Chiluba and attempted to block him from attending an interview at radio Yangeni in Mansa, in Luapula province.

The cadres who lined up on Chembe road, which leads to the radio station chanted P.F slogans forcing the former head of state to go back to his hotel room.

The cadres included taxi drivers who parked their vehicles in the middle of the road honking, causing a traffic jam.

Police were immediately deployed on the scene and cleared the way for Dr. Chiluba.

And First republican president, Kenneth Kaunda, has called for peace, as Zambians cast their ballots in Thursday’s Presidential election.

Dr. Kaunda says people should vote freely and ensure peace is maintained before and after the election.

He was speaking after casting his vote at Woodlands A Primary School, in Lusaka Central Constituency.

[ZNBC]

THE Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has said it will start announcing the presidential election results from across the country by tomorrow morning.

ECZ chairperson, Florence Mumba said in Lusaka yesterday that announcements would be done at Mulungushi International Conference Centre (MICC) as the results pour in from the 150 constituencies.

“From totalling centres, the results will be taken to district centres where they will be transmitted electronically and by fax to MICC where the first announcement is expected by tomorrow morning,” Justice Mumba said.

She said national totals stating the winner would only be announced once the results from all the constituencies have been received.

 Justice Mumba said the ECZ wanted to ensure that there was no confusion in the way the results are announced.

The MICC has been designed as the central place where election results from all the districts will be announced and given to the public through the media who will also be at the centre.

“The commission is ready for today’s election. The poll will start at 06.00 hours and close at 18:00 hours. Counting will immediately start at the various polling centres,” Mrs Justice Mumba said.

She said the system of delivering the results was safe because the marked ballots could only be accessed by returning officers at the district level.

Justice Mumba said the aim was to eliminate the chances of tampering with the results while in transit.

“Although this year’s presidential election has been a mammoth task and challenge, the commission will conduct it in transparency and fairness.

“ECZ has come a long way in its preparations and has put in place several measures to enhance transparency and stakeholder confidence in the electoral process,” Justice Mumba said.

She said the establishment of the election results centre was one such measure aimed at enhancing transparency.

And electoral officials from all the provinces said everything was in place for today’s election and assured the voting public that the polls would be conducted in a transparent and fair manner.

Those contesting the presidency are acting President, Rupiah Banda, who is standing on the MMD ticket, and the Patriotic Front leader, Michael Sata.

Others are United Party for National Development president, Hakainde Hichilema, and Heritage Party’s Godfrey Miyanda

[Times of Zambia]

The two major presidential candidates,Rupiah Banda of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy and the Patriotic Front’s Michael Sata have now held their last rallies in Lusaka and campaigning has officially ended..

Mr Banda said he will ensure unity continues to prevail in the country adding that the country should be entrusted with a leader who is not discriminatory.

He said there is need for Zambians to unite with the purpose of fighting challenges such as poverty, illiteracy among others.

Mr Banda said he has vast experience of being a leader and custodian of the country during the illness and subsequent death of the late President Mwanawasa hence the need for Zambians to ensure that he completes the mandate the Zambian people gave to the MMD in 2006.

He said government under his leadership will continue attracting investors in its efforts to uplifting people’s living conditions.
Mr Banda said government intends to turn Zambia into a peaceful rainbow nation and a hub of activities in all sectors of the economy by further attracting investments.

Michael Sata reiterated his pledge to lower taxes and put more money in people’s pockets and tackle Lusaka’s creaking infrastructure.

“There is money for all of you,” Sata said, adding “you have money which they are wasting on other things. That money will come to you,”

PF leader also urged voters to sleep outside polling stations tonight to avoid vote-rigging. “We have to go and check, when you are here they are preparing to rig. You need to go and check each and every station,” he told his supporters.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) Presidential elections results center has been officially launched at the Mulungushi International Conference Center in Lusaka.

The ECZ results center will be used by the commission to announce Presidential results recieved from various districts across the country.

The launch was attended by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) country representative, Mcloud Nyirongo, local and foreign election monitors and members of participating political parties.

ECZ Chairperson Justice, Florence Mumba said the center is expected to announce the first presidential results by Friday morning.

And Justice Mumba said the commission is ready to conduct a free and fair Presidential election.

She said the commission has put in place measures to ensure that the presidential election is credibile.

Political parties are expected to wind up their campaigns at 18 hours on Wednesday, the official closing time for all activities aimed to woo voters.

Presidential candidates are expected to hold public rallies in Lusaka on Wednesday afternoon in a last minute effort to win votes.

The presidential candidates have in the last few weeks travelled across the country to sell their manifestos to the electorate.

Four candidates are contesting Thursday’s presidential election.

These are MMD’s Rupiah Banda, Hakainde Hichilema of the UPND, Patriotic Front leader, Michael Sata and Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda of the Heritage Party.

[ZNBC]

A former diplomat vowing stability and a fiery populist promising to aid the poor gear up Wednesday for their final rallies in a neck-and-neck contest for Zambia’s presidency.

The two leading candidates, acting President Rupiah Banda and opposition leader Michael Sata, have wallpapered Lusaka with their posters on dirtbins, bridges and lamp posts ahead of Thursday’s vote.

Radio airwaves jingle with Banda’s slogans, urging people to vote “for continued development” and “economic prosperity for all Zambians,” while Sata’s banners promise lower taxes and more jobs.

Economic themes ring strongly in a country that has enjoyed years of sustained growth thanks to soaring global prices for copper, Zambia’s main export.

Banda — the 71-year-old who took over after late president Levy Mwanawasa’s stroke four months ago — has built his campaign on promises to continue existing policies, which he says will boost the economy in one of the world’s poorest countries.

The retired diplomat had been seen as a political outsider when he became vice president two years ago, but he outmanoeuvred a dozen rivals within the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) to become the party’s candidate.

Banda is fending off a tough challenge from the opposition Patriotic Front leader Sata, a 71-year-old known as “King Cobra” for his stinging political skills.

Sata lost to Mwanawasa in the last election, but built a strong base of support in Lusaka and copper-belt towns that are home to most of Zambia’s jobs.

He has vowed to transform Zambia within 90 days of taking office by forcing foreign companies to hand 25 percent stakes to local investors, while embarking on social spending to provide better jobs and housing.

They are both expected to appear before large crowds Wednesday in Lusaka, to make their final appeals to voters.

Two other candidates are potential spoilers for either side in a close election, which will name a president to ride out the end of Mwanawasa’s term in 2011.

Hakainde Hichilema, 46, of the United Party for National Development, is seen as a dark horse contender, while former vice president Godfrey Miyanda of the Heritage Party is seen as an also-ran.

Sata and Hichilema have already voiced fears of vote fraud, accusing electoral authorities of planning to rig the ballots.

The election commission has denied the charges, but the controversy recalled tensions after the 2006 vote, when Sata supporters rioted for days in Lusaka to protest his loss.

Despite recent economic successes, the new president will inherit formidable problems.

More than 60 percent of the population live on less than two dollars a day, while more than one million people — of a population of 11.7 million — have HIV.

The commodities boom that powered recent growth now threatens to turn to bust, as global economic worries have sent copper prices tumbling by 50 percent from their peak in July.

Worries about the future and discontent about the way the ruling MMD has shared Zambia’s mineral wealth have earned Sata many supporters in Lusaka.

“In short, what people need is change,” Salinda Kayombo, a 49-year-old driver in Lusaka, told AFP. “The MMD’s term is through.”

“He said he’ll change the country in 90 days and if we reach 2011 with no change, we’ll chuck him out. Zambians are awake. We want someone whose promises come true.”

But Banda supporters argue equally adamantly that Zambia should stay the course.

“We want continuity,” said Prince Simwaka, a 28-year-old butchery worker who believes Banda will win. “I’m hoping that he’ll proceed with what Mwanawasa was doing.”

AFP

The MMD has carried out its own Presidential election assesment in which it predicts its Candidate, Rupiah Banda, will obtain between 42 and 46 percent of the total number of votes cast.

The ruling party says partriotic Front candidate, Michael Sata, will poll between 31 and 35 percent while, Hakainde Hichilema, will get between 16 and 20 percent of the votes.

This is according to a statement released in Ndola on Tuesday by Former Information Minister, Vernon Mwaanga, on behalf of the MMD cmapaign teams in all the provinces.

The statement said the MMD is also expected to do well in Lusaka, copperbelt and Luapula provinces.

It said the ruling party could actually do far much better in some provinces.

The MMD expects Mr. Banda to be the overall winner in Western, Eastern, Central, Northern and Northwestern Provinces,while Mr. Sata will emerge overall winner in Lusaka, Luapula, and copperbelt provinces.

The MMD however says it will follow in second place in Lusaka, Luapula and the Copperbelt.

Mr Sata will be in second place in Eastern, central and Northern Province.

Mr Hichilema will emerge overall winner in Southern and second place in North Western and western provinces but will be in third place in the other provinces.

Another opoinion poll carried out by the Steadman Group put PF leader, Michael Sata in the lead followed by MMD’s Rupiah Banda.

Mr. Hichilema was placed third.

Mr. Mwaanga said the MMD makes its own assessments of expected performance each time there is a national election.

He said over the years these assessments have turned up to be more reliable than opinion polls which have attempted, like the Steadman Group done in 2006.

[ZNBC]

The UPND says it is ready to accept the October 30 presidential election results as long as the poll is conducted under a free environment.

Party deputy spokesperson, Cornelius Mweetwa, says there can only be one winner who should be supported by the losing candidates, for the country to move forward.

He told ZNBC news that the UPND is confident of winning the presidential election because it has conducted an effective campaign throughout the country.

And MMD National Secretary, Katele Kalumba, has called on members of the ruling party not to succumb to provocation from opposition political parties.

Dr. Kalumba says cadres should remain calm even to the most treacherous members of the opposition parties.

He told ZNBC news in Lusaka that people who are provoking the party only want to distract the MMD from victory.

And the Patriotic Front (PF) is happy with the distribution of election materials ahead of Thursday’s Presidential election.

PF General Secretary, Edward Mumbi, told ZNBC news that the party will on Wednesday carry out an audit of the exercise.

This will be done to establish how many ballot papers have been taken to constituencies and where the remaining ones are being kept.

And Mr. Mumbi also commended Inspector General of Police, Ephraim Mateyo, for the way he has responded to complaints brought to his attention.

He said the PF had its rallies in the Eastern province disturbed by suspected cadres from another party but Mr. Mateyo resolved the situation.
[ZNBC]