Outgoing president Rupiah Banda has conceded defeat in Tuesday's election, saying "the people of Zambia have spoken and we must all listen".

Responding at a news conference to the election of challenger Michael Sata as president, Banda said his Movement for Multiparty Democracy "will accept the results. We are a democratic party and we know no other way".

According to the text of his statement published by the Lusaka Times, he called for "maturity, for composure and for compassion".

He told Sata's Patriotic Front: "You have the right to celebrate but do so with a magnanimous heart. Enjoy the hour but remember that a term of government is four years. Remember that the next election will judge you also. Treat those who you have vanquished with the respect and humility that you would expect in your own hour of defeat. "

He denied that the MMD had engaged in vote-rigging or abusing state funds, and called for the rebuilding of the party by younger leaders: "My generation… the generation of the independence struggle, must now give way to new ideas, ideas for the 21st century."

By Friday, the State House website was carrying a report from the official Zambian news agency announcing the result, as well as an invitation from the Clerk of the National Assembly inviting new members of Parliament to attend Sata's inauguration on Friday.