Sawt Falasteen - Zambia votes with president's economic record on the line

Polling stations in the southern African nation opened at 6:00 am (0400 GMT) and were due to close 12 hours later, with 8.7 million voters registered to cast their ballots.

"Zambians are frustrated and this election is a 50-50, that is why we are all here early to make the change," said voter Mwiche Nalupumbwe, 26, among hundreds who braved the morning chill to queue at polling stations well before they opened.

"It hasn't been the easiest five years," the development sector worker told AFP at Kabulonga, about eight kilometres (five miles) east of Lusaka.

Hichilema, 64, won a first five-year term in 2021 on his sixth run for the post, and is betting on job creation and an ambitious infrastructure drive to secure re-election.

While inflation fell to 6.8 percent in April and the kwacha currency has strengthened, many still face high food and energy costs.

The country is long regarded as one of Africa's more stable democracies but has come under scrutiny over concerns that Hichilema's government has narrowed the space for dissent, even as it promises stronger economic recovery.

The president's main challenger in a field of 13 other hopefuls is Brian Mundubile, a 55-year-old former minister in the Patriotic Front (PF) government that ruled from 2011 to 2021.

Backed by an alliance of opposition parties, Mundubile is running under the newly formed NRPUP party which draws much of its political base from the PF.

He entered the race in May, injecting uncertainty into a contest that had long appeared to be Hichilema's to lose.

- 'Hand-to-mouth' -

Describing Zambia as deeply divided, the 55-year-old Mundubile told AFP on Wednesday that the government had tightened restrictions on his party's campaign and the run-up to the vote could not be considered free and fair.

"It's like a burden has been lifted off my shoulder after voting," said Akapelwa Akapelwa, a 62-year-old businessman who was among the first to cast his ballot.

"Right now the economy has been stabilised ... The platform has been set and it's a strong foundation," he told AFP.

Africa's second-largest copper producer, Zambia defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2020.

Since then, the government has secured a debt restructuring, completed an IMF-supported programme and set an ambitious 2031 target to triple production of copper, crucial to the green-energy transition.

But more than 70 percent of Zambia's 22 million people live on less than three dollars a day, according to World Bank data.

"It's only those who are connected to politicians that are saying the economy is doing well," 32-year-old bus driver Ceshas Tembo told AFP.

"For many of us, it is still hand-to-mouth and even then it's never enough."

Police tightened security for the vote as the government announced Wednesday the arrests of several people, including three former senior government officials, over an alleged plot to interfere with the electoral system.

- 'Predictable leader' -

Voting in Zambia has traditionally followed regional lines, with Hichilema's party strongest in the south and west, and the PF retaining pockets of support in the north and Copperbelt.

Voters were likely to stick with the stability of the incumbent, said Patience Mususa, senior researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute.

"Despite criticism of his slow progress in addressing government inefficiencies and corruption, and concerns about his prioritisation of corporate interests, he is seen as a more predictable leader," she said.

Results of the presidential vote are expected by August 17. The winner needs more than 50 percent to avoid a runoff.

Voters are also electing 226 parliament seats, up from the previous 156.

F.AbuZaid--SF-PST