The arrival of results has continued in the Kasama mayoral by-election, with vote counting currently underway at Kasama Boys Secondary School and Kasama College of Education.
In Kasama Central Constituency, results from 67 polling stations show Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) candidate Peter Yuda in the lead with 5,000 votes. He is followed closely by UPND’s Bywell Simposya, who has polled 4,775 votes.
Other candidates in the constituency include Aaron Zimba of the Citizens First Party with 1,274 votes, Joseph Mubanga of the Socialist Party with 580, Mukuka Kapambwe of UPPZ with 538, while Mary Bukisa of the New Focus Party has garnered 114 votes.
Meanwhile, in Lukashya Constituency, also from 67 polling stations, UPND candidate Bywell Simposya is leading with 6,200 votes, followed by FDD’s Peter Yuda with 4,349 votes.
Aaron Zimba of Citizens First Party has polled 1,349 votes, Mukuka Kapambwe of UPPZ has 863, Joseph Mubanga of the Socialist Party has 829, while Mary Bukisa of the New Focus Party trails with 149 votes.
The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has indicated that the announcement of the final results is expected by noon.
ECZ Commissioner Major General Vincent Mukanda disclosed that some results from hard-to-reach polling stations will only be flown in today. This follows delayed deployment of polling staff, which led to late opening of voting in those areas, although the lost time was compensated.
Kasama District has a total of 138,286 registered voters, with voter turnout projected to fall below the 50 percent mark, largely attributed to adverse weather conditions experienced on polling day.
By Kalombe Kapambwe
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