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Zambian President declares state of emergency

Zambian President Edgar Lungu. (Photo: Courtesy)

Zambian President Edgar Lungu declared state of emergency on Wednesday after fire gutted the country's biggest market in what he said was politically motivated arson.

Political tensions in Zambia, seen as one of Africa's more stable and functional democracies, have been rising since the arrest on treason charges of main opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, who narrowly lost to Lungu in a bruising election last year.

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