Zambia polls free, fair says Mugabe

President Robert Mugabe has congratulated Zambia for conducting "free and fair elections."

Defence and Justice minister Edgar Lungu, 58, won by a 48,3 percent majority, the Zambia election commission said, after an election race marred by delays.

His rival, Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development, who earlier denounced Tuesday's election as a sham, came close with 46,7 percent of the vote.

The election was called after the death of President Michael Sata last October.

Mugabe told the inauguration of Lungu in Lusaka yesterday that Zambia's election has become a source of pride for the continent.

"May I also take this opportunity to thank all the presidential candidates for enriching the democratic process and for accepting the outcome," Mugabe told thousands a day after hundreds of Zambians demonstrated against his premature arrival in Lusaka.

"The maturity exhibited by all stakeholders of this electoral process is a source of pride for Sadc and the rest of Africa," said Mugabe, who is also Sadc chairman.

"This occasion marks the beginning of a new political leadership in Zambia. I salute the millions of Zambians who participated in this democratic process testifying that the democratic culture is taking root in southern Africa."

Mugabe, Africa's oldest head of State, appealed to Zambians to accept the outcome of the election which the opposition felt was compromised.

"This would be the surest way of nipping in the bud the problems that we have been grappling with on the continent for far too long," Mugabe said.

"May you work together in harmony in honour of the illustrious sons of the African soil such as the late president Michael Chilufya Sata.

"In this way, you continue to serve the interests of your country and of our region and indeed of our African continent both in word and in deed."