Good morning fellow citizens and welcome to this 9th update from Transparency International
Zambia (TI-Z)’s 2021 Elections Project.
As you may have noted, each of our updates thus far has primarily focused on three key issues
that we will have observed in the electoral process for a particular week, which has in some
cases entailed that we were responding to specific issues several days after they had
happened. For our update today, and subsequent ones that will come, we are tweaking our
approach to focus on disseminating some key information about key aspects of the electoral
process, arising out of our research as well as the observations being made on the ground by
our elections monitors across the country.
For our update today, we will be disseminating our Report on Political Parties’ Campaign
Expenditure on Presidential Billboards for the month of June 2021.
As you may recall, during our 7th update on 15th June 2021, we released preliminary findings of
how much political parties had spent on billboard advertisement in Lusaka for the month of May
- Our analysis of this campaign expenditure continued after the release of our preliminary
findings and for the month of June, we extended it to 12 districts spread across all 10 of
Zambia’s provinces, giving the analysis a national character. - Our rationale for monitoring campaign spending on billboards
The monitoring of campaign spending is part of TI-Z’s long-term monitoring of the electoral
process in its entirety. Campaigning is a key aspect of the electoral process on which political
parties spend financial and other resources. This aspect of our monitoring is therefore meant to
give Zambians a rough estimate of how much political parties are spending on trying to
convince the electorate to vote for them, which we believe is information that the general public
2
and other stakeholders will take keen interest in. Beyond that, this information will ultimately
inform our ongoing advocacy on the pertinent issue of political party financing in Zambia. - Methodology of the analysis
In order to perform the analysis, we collected primary data on the number and sizes of
presidential candidate billboards in 12 towns across the country. Our sampled districts were
Lusaka and Kafue in Lusaka province, Ndola and Kitwe on the Copperbelt province, Kabwe
(Central province), Choma (Southern province), Mongu (Western province), Solwezi (Northwestern province), Chipata (Eastern province), Mansa (Luapula province), Kasama (Northern
province), and Chinsali in Muchinga province. A total of 6 political parties were targeted for the
data collection, these being the Patriot Front (PF), the United Party for National Development
(UPND), the Socialist Party, the Democratic Party, the National Restoration Party (NAREP) and
the People’s Alliance for Change (PAC). The 6 parties were targeted because these were the
only parties which had presidential candidate billboards in Lusaka, during our pilot survey for the
month of May. Information on the cost of billboard placement was then collected from
advertising agencies, and that was the primary information used to estimate the expenditure. - Findings for Lusaka only
According to our analysis, there has been a significant increase in the number of presidential
candidate billboards in Lusaka, during the month of June as compared to May. PF billboards
increased from at least 209 in May to at least 322 in June, Socialist Party billboards increased
from a minimum of 70 to 84, while UPND billboards increased from a minimum of 24 to at least
73 from May to June, respectively. A more detailed analysis of the increase in presidential
candidate billboards revealed that the PF, Socialist Party and UPND had predominantly
installed smaller-sized billboards during the month of June.
In terms of cost, you will recall from our preliminary findings last month that the PF spent a
minimum of K2.9 million on presidential candidate billboards in May, followed by the Socialist
Party which spent a minimum of K864, 000, the UPND which spent a minimum of K648,000,
and the Democratic Party which spent at least K108,000.
For the month of June, the expenditure on presidential billboards in Lusaka increased
significantly, with the PF spending at least K4.488 million, the UPND spending at least
K723,000, and the Socialist Party spending at least K1.195 million. The Democratic Party
increased its minimum expenditure from K108,000 in May to K135,000 in June.
3
As can be observed from these results, the PF had the largest cost increase on billboard
expenditure in Lusaka, with minimum spending increasing by K1.498 million or 50.1% in June
as compared to May 2021. The Socialist Party’s minimum spending on billboards increased by
K331,000 or 38.3% while that of the UPND increased by K75,000 or 11.6% during the month of
June as compared to May 2021. The absolute increase of the Democratic Party between May
and June was K27,000, representing a 25% increase.
Altogether, the four parties whose billboard expenditure for Lusaka we analysed for May 2021
increased their collective expenditure in June by K2.330 million, representing a 46% increase
over a one-month period. - Countrywide findings
Our monitoring of presidential candidate billboards for the month of June in 12 districts across
all 10 provinces revealed that Lusaka has the majority of billboards in Zambia. Out of a
minimum of 674 presidential candidate billboards found in the 12 towns, Lusaka accounted for
79.5% or 536 billboards in total, with Ndola second on that list with 38 billboards or 5.6% of the
674 found in the 12 districts. Other notable districts were Chipata with 25 billboards, Choma and
Kitwe with 10 each, Solwezi with 17, Mongu with 9, and Kabwe with 16. Our findings also
revealed that Chinsali did not have a single presidential candidate billboard in the month of
June.
In terms of the distribution of presidential candidate billboards by political party in the 12
districts, our analysis revealed that for the month of June, the PF accounted for the majority of
billboards at 58%, followed by the Socialist party with 18% and the UPND with 14%. The DP,
NAREP and PAC collectively accounted for 10% of all presidential candidate billboards in the 12
districts for the month of June.
In terms of expenditure for the month of June, the six political parties spent a minimum of
K10.366 million on presidential candidate billboards across the country. Out of that figure, the
PF accounts for at least K6.05 million, followed by the Socialist party at K2.26 million and the
UPND at K1.31 million. The least spending on presidential billboard advertising for the month of
June was by NAREP at K60,000.
As we have noted, it is our hope that these findings will give citizens and interested
stakeholders an idea of how much political parties are spending to try and win votes ahead of
the 12th August elections. TI-Z’s monitoring of campaign expenditure will continue, and we will in
4
due course be releasing findings of our analysis of political parties’ expenditure on media-based
campaign activities.
As we continue the countdown to the elections, which as at today stands at 23 days, TI-Z would
like to call on all stakeholders in the electoral process to adhere to the provisions of the
Electoral Process Act in order to enhance the integrity of the elections. We noted during our
survey that 7 billboards across the country were in a vandalized state. Of these, 4 belonged to
the UPND, 2 to the Socialist Party and 1 to the PF. These vandalized billboards were in Ndola
(2), Kitwe (1) Chipata (2) and Lusaka (2).
We further urge the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to use the same standard in dealing
with all political parties and candidates, especially when it comes to abrogation of the
parameters that the ECZ has set for campaigns.
We remind all stakeholders in the electoral process that we only have one Zambia, and all of us
have a responsibility to protect the peace that we have enjoyed as a country since
independence.
Thank you for tuning in to our update today and we look forward to you joining us again next
Tuesday. God bless you, and God bless Zambia.
