LUSAKA, Zambia — The Electoral Commissions Forum of the Southern African Development Community (ECF-SADC) has urged all stakeholders in Zambia’s general election to exercise restraint and resolve grievances through legally established mechanisms as the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) continues announcing results, writes Gladys Nthenda.
The call is contained in an initial statement issued by the ECF-SADC Election Observation Mission, led by Malawi Electoral Commission Chairperson Justice Annabel Mtalimanja, on the emerging electoral environment following the Aug. 13 election.
The mission, in coordination with other international observation missions in Zambia, said election-day procedures generally proceeded well, with no reports of widespread intimidation or significant disruptions to polling.
It, however, observed operational and logistical challenges, including delays in the delivery of election materials and shortages of some materials.
The mission said these and other observations would be addressed in greater detail in its preliminary statement, which will also provide a comprehensive assessment of the pre-election environment.
“The Mission calls on all electoral stakeholders to exercise restraint and address all grievances through the legally established mechanisms as the ECZ continues to announce the election results,” the statement said.
The ECF-SADC said the ECZ is at a critical stage in the electoral process, prompting the mission to adjust its original deployment plans to continue supporting the electoral body during the results-management phase.
The mission noted that the ECZ on Aug. 14 issued a press release suspending the counting and tallying of election results across the country for 24 hours because of the security situation.
According to the statement, the suspension followed continued threats of violence targeting polling staff and incidents involving the theft of marked ballot papers.
The ECZ subsequently lifted the suspension later the same day following a press briefing.
The ECF-SADC mission was initially scheduled to conclude its deployment on Aug. 16. However, following developments surrounding the suspension of the results process, its leadership decided to remain in Zambia until Aug. 19.
During the extended deployment, the mission will observe the results tallying process, provide peer support to the ECZ and work with other international observer missions mandated to undertake preventive diplomacy.
It will also continue assessing the immediate post-election environment and determine its readiness to issue a more detailed preliminary statement on the election.
The ECF-SADC was invited by the ECZ to observe the election and deployed a mission led by Justice Mtalimanja and deputised by Dr. Elsie Nghikembua, chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Namibia.
The forum is an independent regional association of election management bodies established in July 1998 to promote professional, credible and democratic electoral governance in Southern Africa.
For the Zambia election, the mission deployed 40 observers drawn from 11 member electoral commissions.
The forum’s continued presence comes as Zambia enters a sensitive post-election phase, with the tallying and announcement of results continuing and electoral stakeholders being urged to rely on established legal and institutional mechanisms for resolving disputes.
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