32 CONSTITUENCIES UNDER TIZ SPOTLIGHT
TIZ calls for transparent review of flagged results after recording procedural irregularities during the 2026 general elections.
By Francis Maingaila
TRANSPARENCY International Zambia (TIZ) has put 32 constituencies under the spotlight, calling for a transparent review of election results after its monitors recorded discrepancies and procedural irregularities during the August 13, 2026 general elections.
TIZ executive director Maurice Nyambe said the organisation’s concerns were based on evidence gathered through long-term and short-term monitoring conducted before, during and after the elections.
Mr Nyambe said TIZ deployed 203 monitors, with 167 providing geographical coverage across all 10 provinces and 112 districts, to monitor the electoral process from candidate nominations and campaigns to polling, counting, tabulation and the announcement of results.
He said although Zambia had a legal framework for conducting elections, weaknesses were seen in the enforcement of electoral laws and the application of electoral procedures.
“Significant weaknesses arose from inconsistent enforcement of electoral laws, limited regulation of campaign financing and uneven application of electoral procedures,” Mr Nyambe said.
He said TIZ also found gaps in communication by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), particularly when important decisions were made during the electoral process.
Mr Nyambe said concerns were raised over ballot paper quantities, excess ballots resulting from booklet production requirements, the continued appearance of withdrawn candidates on ballot papers and the timing of ballot paper arrivals.
He said political parties also raised concerns about the financial burden of travelling outside Zambia to observe the printing of ballot papers.
Mr Nyambe said similar concerns were recorded during the counting and announcement of results, when TIZ monitors reported delays in receiving instructions, inconsistent interpretation of procedures, interruptions in the announcement of results, restrictions on stakeholder access at some totaling centres and delays in publishing officially announced results online
He said these problems created uncertainty at a critical stage when citizens and political stakeholders were waiting for results.
Mr Nyambe said the ECZ should, in future, provide clear and timely explanations whenever it makes decisions with nationwide implications.
He said such explanations should state the legal authority behind the decision, its scope, the activities affected, procedures for implementation, chain-of-custody requirements where necessary and conditions for returning to normal processes.
CONCERNS OVER CANDIDATE WITHDRAWALS
Mr Nyambe said TIZ received reports during the nomination and campaign period that some aspiring candidates had allegedly been offered financial inducements to withdraw from the race and support competing candidates.
He said one report involved an alleged offer of K800,000, which the aspiring candidate reportedly declined.
Mr Nyambe said the allegations needed to be thoroughly investigated by the relevant authorities.
He, however, warned that the issue was serious because once nominations closed, a political party could not simply replace a candidate who withdrew.
He said this could create room for bribery, intimidation, coercion or other forms of pressure aimed at forcing candidates out of elections.
Mr Nyambe said such actions could leave voters with fewer choices and weaken political competition.
TIZ also noted that seven parliamentary seats were won unopposed, all in constituencies regarded as strongholds of the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND).
Mr Nyambe said the development deserved further examination to establish why there was no electoral competition in those areas and what this meant for voter choice and democratic participation.
CAMPAIGN WAS NOT A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
Mr Nyambe said the campaign period was largely peaceful, but there were also cases of political violence, intimidation, restrictions on political activities, destruction of campaign materials and allegations of vote buying.
TIZ monitored 218 electoral events between May and June 2026, with 73 percent assessed as peaceful.
However, the organisation also recorded incidents of intimidation, violence, restrictions on political activities and political tensions that had the potential to escalate.
Mr Nyambe said the campaign environment was not an equal playing field, with differences in resources and the advantages of incumbency favouring the ruling party.
He said campaign finance transparency also remained a major concern.
Only 79 of the 468 parliamentary candidates targeted by TIZ voluntarily disclosed campaign finance information through the organisation’s monitoring platform.
Mr Nyambe said political debate also frequently focused on personalities, historical grievances and attacks on opponents instead of policy issues affecting citizens.
He said some campaign messages risked deepening ethnic, regional and tribal divisions.
MEDIA COVERAGE RAISES QUESTIONS
Mr Nyambe said the media played an important role in educating voters, covering campaigns, scrutinising electoral institutions and reporting election results.
Radio remained particularly important in reaching communities with limited internet access, while television, print and online media also contributed to public debate.
However, TIZ observed concerns about unequal access and biased coverage by some state and private media houses.
Mr Nyambe said state-owned media had a responsibility to provide fair and impartial coverage to all electoral contestants.
Private media houses, he said, were also expected to maintain professional standards and avoid partisan coverage.
He said the distinction between government communication and ruling party campaigning was not always clear, raising concerns about fairness during the elections.
WOMEN STILL STRUGGLING TO BREAK THROUGH
Mr Nyambe welcomed the introduction of 20 proportional representation seats reserved for women, saying the move was a positive step towards improving women’s participation in politics.
However, he said women remained significantly underrepresented in elected positions and senior political party leadership.
High campaign costs, limited access to financing, political violence, harassment, limited media exposure and male-dominated party structures continued to make it difficult for women to compete.
TIZ has called on political parties to adopt transparent and inclusive nomination processes and set measurable targets for increasing the participation of women, youths and persons with disabilities.
TIZ RECORDS 998 CIVIC SPACE REPORTS
Mr Nyambe said TIZ’s Incident Monitoring System received 998 reports from 121 active monitors across 82 districts.
While the majority of the reports described the electoral environment as peaceful, 104 incidents involved tension, violence, intimidation, restrictions and other election-related concerns.
He said some incidents affected freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, political participation and independent election observation.
Mr Nyambe called on law enforcement agencies, including the Zambia Police Service, to enforce the law fairly and professionally.
He said the police must protect lawful political activity and ensure that state institutions did not give any political actor an unfair advantage.
POLLING DAY HAD ITS OWN CHALLENGES
TIZ monitoring covered 284 submissions from 184 polling stations across 132 constituencies, 90 districts and all 10 provinces.
Mr Nyambe said 70 percent of the polling stations monitored opened on time.
Police officers were present at 75 percent of the stations, while ruling party agents were present at 75 percent, opposition party agents at 74 percent and other election monitors at 75 percent.
Overall, 74 percent of responses on key polling procedures were consistent with expected electoral requirements.
However, TIZ noted problems with the late opening of some polling stations and the presence of armed police officers.
Mr Nyambe stressed that these figures reflected only TIZ’s monitoring coverage and should not be treated as a statistically representative assessment of all polling stations nationwide.
ELECTION INTEGRITY SCORE STANDS AT 61.73%
TIZ has given the 2026 election an Integrity Index score of 61.73 percent based on assessments from 221 of Zambia’s 226 constituencies.
Mr Nyambe said the difference between results announced by the ECZ and those recorded by TIZ monitors was relatively small, at about 1.1 percent.
However, he said the organisation identified concerns in 32 constituencies where procedural irregularities were recorded.
These included the delivery of unsealed ballot boxes to some totaling centres, delays or failures in issuing Gen 20 forms, inconsistencies in vote calculations, failure to announce presidential results at some constituency totaling centres and transmission of results to the ECZ national totaling centre before local declarations.
Mr Nyambe cautioned against interpreting the 61.73 percent score as meaning that only 61.73 percent of votes were valid.
He said the Integrity Index was an analytical and risk-based tool designed to identify discrepancies and areas requiring further scrutiny, rather than make a legal determination on whether the election was valid or invalid.
TIZ NOT FULLY SATISFIED WITH ECZ RESPONSE
Mr Nyambe said TIZ wrote to the ECZ on August 14 seeking clarification on the transmission and verification of Gen 20 forms before their signing and announcement at constituency totaling centres.
He said the ECZ responded on August 16, explaining its procedures for managing results and the distinction between constituency-level counting and the national aggregation and declaration of results.
While TIZ welcomed the response, Mr Nyambe said some concerns raised by its monitors remained unanswered.
These included prolonged interruptions in the results process, inconsistent instructions, restrictions on observer access, the involvement of security personnel at some centres, uncertainty surrounding election materials and delays in publishing announced results.
He said TIZ remained committed to engaging the ECZ and other stakeholders so that lessons from the 2026 elections could be used to improve future elections.
TIZ MAKES 10 RECOMMENDATIONS
TIZ wants the ECZ to conduct a transparent review of results in the 32 constituencies flagged by its monitors.
The organisation has also called on the Commission to publish polling station results from all constituencies in an accessible, machine-readable format to allow political parties, observers, researchers and members of the public to independently examine the results.
TIZ further wants the ECZ to publish clear procedures governing constituency and national results verification and management.
Returning officers should also regularly share records of proceedings and ensure Gen 20 forms are signed and made available to stakeholders before results are announced.
The organisation wants the ECZ to establish a clear public protocol for suspending and resuming counting, verification, totaling and results announcements.
TIZ has also called for stronger laws governing political and campaign financing, including disclosure of campaign funding, expenditure and donations.
The Anti-Corruption Commission has been urged to step up efforts to investigate bribery, intimidation and attempts to manipulate nominated candidates into withdrawing from elections.
Political parties, meanwhile, have been urged to make their candidate selection processes more transparent and complete adoptions at least two months before nominations.
TIZ also wants law enforcement agencies to investigate political violence and intimidation quickly, impartially and transparently.
Political parties, it said, should take action against members involved in violence, hate speech, intimidation and destruction of campaign materials.
The organisation has further called for the protection of civic space before, during and after elections.
Mr Nyambe said laws governing public gatherings, cybersecurity and cybercrime should not be used to suppress lawful assembly, criticism, journalism or political participation.
He said the work of improving Zambia’s electoral system should not wait until another election is approaching.
“Electoral reform should begin now and should be pursued transparently throughout the electoral cycle,” Mr Nyambe said.
-Zambia24
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