Transparency International Zambia (TI-Z) is of the view that enhancing the integrity of Zambia’s political processes and ultimately of our democracy requires us as a country to put in place deliberate measures in terms of legislation, policy and institutional frameworks at all levels. It is also important for us as a country to learn lessons from the past, particularly in relation to some of the challenges we have seen in our electoral processes. The Electoral Process Act No 35 of 2016 clearly defines the offering of money or gifts to voters as an electoral offence. Further, the legal framework for elections usually includes constitutional provisions and subsidiary laws that may have an impact on elections. However, electoral fraud, corruption, and unfair practices have been a feature of Zambia’s electoral process, bringing the reliability of the entire process into question and undermining the democracy that we have cherished for so long. For example, during the campaign period of the 2021 general elections, which ran from 11th May to 11th August, some senior government and then ruling party officials were engaged in the practice of dishing out money and other gifts to the electorate under the guise of empowering citizens or delivering development. This eroded the integrity, transparency and accountability of the electoral process, and created an environment for the perpetuation of electoral corruption. Given these lessons, it is imperative that the overall legal framework governing elections is unambiguous, understandable and transparent. Moreover, to prevent corruption and ensure a level playing field, election laws should seek to regulate all aspects of the electoral process in real and meaningful ways that will provide a level playing field for all players.
The weak political party funding regime has particularly affected opposition political parties who have to compete on an uneven playing field with the ruling party, which often uses the position of incumbency to attract different forms of funding from the private sector and well-wishers. TI-Z is concerned that a weak and poorly enforced campaign finance framework can cast a long shadow on the outcome of democratic processes, and essentially makes elections a competition on financial muscle rather than a contest of ideas for how to enhance the country’s development prospects. The Constitution of Zambia as amended in 2016 does make provision for regulation of political party and campaign financing, with Article 60(4) outlining the broad parameters for doing this. However, the subsidiary legislation required to give effect to this constitutional provision has never been enacted.
TI-Z therefore calls on the UPND administration to actualize this constitutional provision by enacting legislation on political party and campaign financing. We are convinced that this will not only help to create a level playing field in our electoral process, but also contribute to the erosion of electoral corruption, and ultimately reduce the risk of policy and state capture with regard to any party that forms government. As TI-Z, we will continue to contribute towards advocacy for this law to be enacted as it will enhance Zambia’s democracy. We call on all relevant stakeholders to join us in this cause
Maurice K. Nyambe (Mr.)
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
