Zambia's electoral commission has confirmed that last week's presidential poll was won by the opposition candidate Hakainde Hichilema.  “Zambia's opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has emerged as the winner in the August 12 presidential election, beating incumbent President Edgar Lungu”, the country's Electoral Commission announced on Monday.

It was Mr Hichilema's sixth attempt at winning the presidency. His fans have been celebrating on the streets of the capital, Lusaka. Hichilema managed to pass the 50 percent-plus-one requirement for a presidential winner with 2,810,757 of the votes while Lungu got 1,814,201, according to reports.

It was the Electoral Commission of Zambia Chairperson Justice Esau Chulu who declared the result in the early hours of Monday after a full and thorough scrutiny of the votes from 155 out of 156 constituencies. Hichilema, a 59-year-old businessman, who had lost in five past elections, becomes Zambia's new President and is tasked with resuscitating the country's economy, a major focus of his election campaign. The poll, contested by 16 presidential candidates, attracted a mammoth voter turnout of about 70 per cent of the registered 7,023,499 voters. In a tweet, the President-elect stressed the importance of prioritizing the interest of the country. He thanked young people for turning up in huge numbers to vote, saying this demonstrated that they were tired of the economic malaise brought by the former administration.

Video: Chaos, panic among Afghanis, people gather at Kabul airport to flee country

Taliban declares war in Afghanistan after its fighters swept the capital Kabul

Afghan Crisis: Airlines reroute flights to avert Afghanistan airspace