Greetings fellow citizens and a very warm welcome to the latest update from Transparency
International Zambia (TI-Z)’s 2021 Elections Project. As you may recall, following our previous
update on 15th June 2021, we took the decision to suspend these updates in the wake of the
national mourning that was declared in honour of the late first Republican President, Dr.
Kenneth Kaunda. Now that the mourning period is over and Dr. Kaunda was given the dignified
send-off that his status warranted, we are happy to resume our weekly updates focusing on the
observations that we continue to make from the electoral process as we head towards the
general elections which are now exactly a month away.
Today’s update, our 8th in this series, focuses on the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s action
against electoral malpractices, the printing of ballot papers in Dubai, and the continued use of
public resources for campaigns.
- ECZ’s action against electoral malpractices
TI-Z notes with concern that there have been cases of electoral malpractices being perpetrated
by different stakeholders within the course of the electoral process. We nevertheless also note
that the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has made notable attempts to correct the
situation. We would specifically like to commend the Commission for the decision it took to
suspend Mr. Chishimba Kambwili from continued campaigning, for uttering hate speech and
tribal remarks. TI-Z is however extremely disappointed with the speedy lifting of Mr. Kambwili’s
suspension. Although the Commission noted that Mr. Kambwili had apologized to it hence the
lifting of the suspension, our contention is that the hate speech and tribal remarks that Mr.
Kambwili uttered were not targeted at the ECZ but at the Zambian people. To our knowledge,
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Mr. Kambwili has never expressed remorse for those utterances nor tendered an apology to the
Zambian people, and it was therefore illogical and premature for the ECZ to lift the suspension it
slapped on him. Going forward, we urge the ECZ to exercise more sound judgement in dealing
with issues of this nature in order to ensure that the integrity of the electoral process is
maintained.
In the same vein, TI-Z strongly condemns the tribal remarks that were uttered by Ms. Buumba
Malambo, the United Party for National Development (UPND) Kafue Council Chairperson
candidate, during a campaign event. Tribalism should have no place in our political processes
and we urge all political parties and their candidates to refrain from all forms of tribal talk even
as they campaign. We further urge the ECZ to increase their vigilance in not only stamping out
this vice from our electoral process, but also punishing those perpetrating it, regardless of their
political affiliation. - Printing of ballot papers in Dubai
The general public has been made aware, through a press release from the ECZ that only two
(2) political parties have successfully sent representatives to Dubai for the inspection of the
printing of ballot papers. TI-Z is concerned about this low representation from political parties as
it is indicative of the limited responsiveness of the ECZ to the views of stakeholders over this
particular issue. You may recall that many political parties and other stakeholders opposed the
decision by the ECZ not to sponsor representatives of political parties to inspect the printing of
ballot papers, a practice that had been happening in previous electoral processes. While the
ECZ highlighted the issue of costs as a justification for breaking with a well-established trend of
supporting political party representatives to witness the printing of ballot papers, TI-Z has never
been convinced about the genuineness of that justification. Our contention is that the ECZ is
aware of the electoral cycle years before a particular election happens and their budgetary
preparations should therefore include all such logistics. This is of particular importance given
that the observing of the printing of ballots by stakeholders is a critical accountability step for the
whole electoral process. The ECZ’s decision on this particular score has therefore resulted in
failure by key stakeholders to monitor a key stage of the electoral process ahead of the 12th
August elections, potentially raising questions about and undermining the integrity of the entire
process. Going forward, we urge the ECZ to revisit this decision for future elections and to
ensure that that they make budgetary provisions especially for processes that are meant to
enhance stakeholder participation in key stages of the electoral process.
3 - Use of public resources for campaigns
Through our network of election monitors that are deployed across the country, we have noted
with growing concern the increasing use of public resources such as district government
vehicles, fire trucks and others, for campaign purposes. For instance, one of the infamous $1
million-dollar fire trucks was recently spotted at Mulungushi University in Central Province,
helping with the mounting of a Patriotic Front billboard. TI-Z would like to remind political parties
of Article 60, 3(d) of the Zambian Constitution which stipulates that a political party shall not use
public resources to promote its interest or that of its members. TI-Z also urges the ECZ to take
interest since Article 3(b) of the Electoral Process Act No 35 of 2016 stipulates that it is the duty
of the Commission to ensure that political parties do not use state resources to campaign for the
benefit of any political party or candidate. We are concerned that the continued misuse of public
resources to support the campaigns of the ruling party is skewing the political playing field in a
manner that will not promote the conduct of free and fair elections. We challenge the ECZ to
also come strong on this issue in order to send a message that use of public resources to
support the political activities of a particular party will not be tolerated in any way, shape or form.
Lastly, with less than a month before the 2021 elections, we continue to call on stakeholders in
the electoral process to conduct themselves with civility and in a spirit of unity. Remember we
only have one Zambia and we all have a responsibility to be good stewards of this beautiful
country.
Thank you for taking the time to follow our update today and we look forward to seeing you
again next Tuesday.
