ZAMBIA'S ACTING president and ruling party candidate, Rupiah Banda, has taken the lead in the presidential election amid opposition allegations of vote-rigging.
With more than 99 per cent of the vote counted, Mr Banda was leading by 39.95 per cent compared with Michael Sata's 38.5 per cent, Electoral Commission of Zambia chairman Florence Mumba said yesterday in the capital, Lusaka.
Mr Sata's Patriotic Front demanded a recount. "We are not in a position to accept the results because of voting irregularities," Given Lubinda, spokesman for the Patriotic Front, told reporters.
"The Patriotic Front shall approach the courts of law demanding scrutiny of the votes and a recount of ballot papers."
Violence may erupt in Africa's biggest copper-producing nation should Sata lose after opinion polls previously indicated he would be elected, analysts said.
Riots broke out in Lusaka townships after Mr Sata lost a 2006 election to the late president Levy Mwanawasa after also having led in early poll returns. - (Bloomberg)