LUSAKA, 17 August 2021, (TON): Zambian president-elect Hakainde Hichilema slammed the southern African country's outgoing "brutal regime" while promising a "better democracy" in his debut address to the nation, hours after winning the top job in a landslide.

Speaking shortly after his predecessor Edgar Lungu conceded defeat, the business tycoon and veteran opposition leader said his camp had been victims of a "brutal regime that is exiting".

He pledged "I will be a president of all Zambians, of those that voted for me and of those that did not."

After a campaign dominated by the country's economic woes and marred by sporadic violence, Hichilema garnered 2,810,757 votes against 1,814,201 for the incumbent Edgar Lungu, according to nearly final results.

Lungu conceded defeat, saying he congratulated "my brother Hichilema for becoming the seventh republican president."

In a nationally televised address, Lungu thanked Zambians for "a great opportunity to be your president. I will forever cherish and appreciate the authority you invested in me."

The electoral commission proclaimed Hichilema president-elect in the early hours of Monday, bringing the curtain down on Lungu's nearly six-year reign.