President Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana congratulated the people of Zambia, on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), an intergovernmental organization, for voting peacefully.
Masisi, who is the incumbent chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense and Security, sent the congratulatory message in a statement issued Monday from the regional bloc’s headquarters in Gaborone, the Botswanan capital.
“On behalf of the SADC region, I wish to congratulate the people of Zambia for consolidating democracy in their country and the region through peaceful elections,” said Masisi, notwithstanding reported isolated and sporadic acts of violence that are regrettable. “I, therefore, on behalf of SADC, wish to congratulate the President-Elect Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND) for winning the Aug. 12, 2021 presidential election as pronounced by the Electoral Commission of Zambia.”
According to the electoral commission’s final tally, Hichilema won by 2,810,777 votes to President Edgar Lungu’s 1,814,201 in last Thursday’s election where 7 million people had registered to vote. Enditem
