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Lusaka — The inauguration of Zambian President Edgar Lungu has been halted pending a constitutional court ruling on the election results, a report says.

The Zambia reports website said that the Secretary to Cabinet, Dr Roland Msiska, had suspended the inauguration which was slated for today.

The workers who were preparing the venue for the inauguration claimed that they were told by Msiska to stop the preparations pending the constitutional court ruling.

“The Secretary to Cabinet, Dr Roland Msiska, advised that we suspend preparations due to constitutional implications,” the unidentified workers were quoted as saying.

Following the announcement of the results, opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema claimed that certain factors within the recent polls were rigged.

Hichilema described the results as a coup against the southern African country’s democratic processes.

He accused the country’s electoral body, the Zambia Electoral Commission (ECZ), of manipulating the results in favour of Lungu’s Patriotic Front (PF), following which he approached the court.

Both the Electoral Commission and the ruling Patriotic Front have since rejected Hichilema’s claims, stating that the opposition leader was making inflammatory statements in a bid to rid himself of frustrations. – AFP