The August 2021 UPND Rigging Machinery in Southern Province & Zambezi Regions was brutally horrific and so historic: 12 Reasons Why that will Never Happen Again as Bally is Going Home
…..We are talking about known ECZ polling officers having the liberty to walk out of the polling station with ballots boxes, mark them for HH in hidden places outside, bring ‘their results back inside, compute and announce them as HH’s landslide victory results against ECL. In this manner, they voted for the sick, dead and those who were drinking kachasu and mabisi at home-they voted Bally for the whole village. In our electoral life since independence, this only happened on 12th August 2021 in Southern province. But both in Southern province & entire Zambezi regions, it will never happen again in 2026 or beyond because their zeal to risk & fight for HH has been undermined, weakened, betrayed and destroyed by HH himself…..
By Dr. Chris Zumani Zimba
Introduction
It is now over three years since Hakainde Hichilema (HH) of the UPND won power after scoring 2,852,348 votes (58%) against sitting President then, Edgar Chagwa Lungu (ECL) of the PF who scored 1,870,780 votes (38%). However, today, we want to scrutinize what exactly happened and how HH found himself with a lion’s share of votes and consequently the winner for State House. This article critically examines all electoral facts by comparing the voting patterns in all the ten provinces so that you appreciate the historical and horrific UPND rigging machinery that swept the Zambezi region on 12th August 2021.
1. The total rejected ballots for 2021 ‘performed’ better in third ranking with 126,569 votes (3%) in a presidential poll which attracted 4,959,332 voters countrywide against 7,023,499 total registered voters in Zambia representing a 71% voter turnout. Clearly, it was purely a two men’s political horse between HH and ECL. The fourth scorer was a presidential candidate who in this case is number three dwarfed by the top two and ‘rejected ballots’ in Harry Kalaba of DP who scored 25,231 votes (0.5%).
2. Generally, we don’t have problems to accept that HH won the 2021 presidential elections. But the manner in which he won especially in the Zambezi region is of paramount importance in this discourse. In these elections, ECL won in the four (4) traditional PF provinces while HH won his three (3) Zambezi provinces plus the three (3) line of rail industrial provinces (battleground economic regions). Let’s examine everything in critical details and in brutal truth!
3. ECL won (1) in Eastern by 54% versus HH at 38%, (2) in Northen province, ECL won by 56% votes while HH scored 37% votes, (3) in Luapula, ECL won by 61% against HH who got 31% (4) in Muchinga, ECL got 62% while HH got 31%.These figures clearly show a normal voter behavior and unquestionable voting pattern in the four PF provinces between ECL and HH as the winning and losing percentages are within acceptable and anticipated margins.
4. 2021 elections were free and fair in the four PF strongholds as HH even won in some constituencies such as Sinda, Chadiza, Malambo, Chiengi, Senga Hill, Mbala, Mpulungu and Kaputa. In total, HH won in eight (8) constituencies in these PF strongholds! When you combine the total votes of Eastern, Muchinga, Northern and Luapula, ECL scooped 946,081 votes while HH got 571,227 (more half a million votes). This is normal electoral pattern and indeed sober voter behavior.
5. In the battleground provinces of Central, HH got 62% versus ECL at 38%. In Copperbelt, HH won by 57% versus ECL at 40% and in Lusaka, HH won by 54% while ECL got 43%. In these economic provinces, we see HH winning across board but again ECL was losing with normal and unquestionable margins: here, elections were still free and fair. In these three rail line blocks, HH got a total of 1,139,370 votes while ECL 816,685 votes. Yes, HH won most constituencies here but ECL equally won in many too and only lost with a margin of 322,705.
6. The last three provinces are the RED UPND strongholds popularly known as the Zambezi region of HH. In North Western, HH got 88% versus ECL at 9% , in Western, HH won by 82% while ECL got 13%, and in Southern, HH brutally won by 92% against ECL with only 6%. This whole voter behavior and voting pattern is a big RED flag and an electoral malpractice disgrace just on face value! This is where HH and UPND rigged big in a historic and horrific manner!
7. Strange enough, the three UPND RED provinces had the highest voter turnout with 88% for Southern, 78% for North Western and 75% for Western province. Why? In Southern, North Western and Western provinces, UPND thugs employed a “scatter the opponent and vote or mark ballots for yourselves strategy”. PF polling agents, election observers and monitors were harassed, beaten, physically chased and in case of the Solwezi episode of Jackson Kungo, PF North Western Chairman was brutally mobbed and cruelly murdered in cold blood at the polling station in full view of everyone by known UPND members.
8. Neither HH or his SG has apologized for this barbaric murder nor talked about Jackson Kungo in any of their public comments! Consequently, HH got the total of abnormal 1,141,751 votes while ECL shamefully only got 108,014 in Southern, Western and North Western provinces. HH got his FREE OVER ONE MILLION VOTES and scooped the landslide victory into State House from these RED provinces.
9. The fact is, in Southern province, the UPND rigging machine was horrific and historic in all aspects. By having the liberty to carry ballot boxes outside the polling stations as seen in video evidences online, known polling officers even voted for the dead, sick in hospital and those who didn’t come to vote on 12th August 2021 in favour of HH and artificially made sure voter turnout was at its highest ever above every region.
10. And the Southerners artificially made HH win abnormally with 92% total votes in one province while a Republican President got less than 6%. This was the worst tribal voting experience for Zambia. With HH getting 88% and 82% respectively, North Western and Western provinces also vomited the worst regional politics and voting pattern in 2021. In these three provinces, a sitting president failed to get 13% of total votes. It was and is horrific and historically bad. Today, HH is not even ashamed that he got above 38% in Eastern, Northen, Muchinga and Luapula provinces of PF and ECL.
11. With all the gross and aggravated rigging by the UPND in the three provinces in August 2021, which gave them more than 1.1 million votes excess for HH, the good news is that in entire Zambezi regions, that will never happen again either 2026 or beyond because their zeal to risk & fight for HH has been undermined, weakened & betrayed over this New Dawn Rule by no one but HH himself. Bally has has totally failed them and has not met their tribalistic and regionalistic political expectations at all, not even by 40%.
12. Even in the four PF strongholds regions of Eastern, Muchinga, Northern and Luapula where HH got more than half a million votes in 2026 due to a mountain of promises he showered them, that will not happen again in 2026 or beyond. Across the economic three provinces of Lusaka, Central and Copperbelt where Bally overall votes in 2021, the vote of no confidence in HH is above 70%.
Conclusion
No matter what they UPND can do, there is no compelling reason, room or hope for HH to both rig and win in 2026 or beyond as most Zambians see him as a terrible liar, political conman, addicted tribalist, thieving kleptocrat, political dealer and worst president ever in Zambian history. This is why HH will truly fall, politically embarrassed and shamelessly be defeated in two years time regardless of what he tries to do by the signature of his main rival, ECL.
In the last by election in Chirundu, HH’s tribesmen protested against their 2021 rigging machinery strategy, caught district officials who wanted to steal ballot boxes to artificially count and win for UPND as per practice and made sure an independent councilor won. This is what will happen everywhere in 2026 for HH and UPND!
Dr Chris ZUMANI Zimba is a Political Scientist, Researcher, Author & Consultant specialized in Comparative Global Governance and Democratic Theories. He holds a PhD, MA, BA and Cert in Political Science. Zimba was President Lungu’s Political Advisor from December 2019 to August 2021. By philosophical approach, Dr. Zimba is a Pan Africanist as well as Afro-Christian by religion.
Email:chriszumaniZimba.cz@gmail.com
He’s going home, he’s going home, he’s going home, Bally’s going home!
Vote wisely in 2026.
This is very poor fiction. Where were the PF polling agents when that was happening? Truth is people wanted ECL and PF out. The other painful truth to all those who hate HH is that there is no opposition to write home about and HH is definitely winning again in 2026.
Not sure what the si called doc will write after 2026 when the the pipo he’s fighting for will get less than 38%. Mark my words. What manner of a young man is this, very tribal in his analysis and thinks anyone can buy this. That’s hiw you destroyed ecl and consequently the entire pf. We love democracy, ecl and the pf, but look at how such destroyers are embraced. Please watch this persona. It’s very toxic, very dangerous to this universe.
We shouldn’t worry no more. They should give him all the numbers in their Zambezi region the rest of Zambia has things covered.
Kkkkkk HH is already at home, so you don’t know upto now. Even when he leaves office at State house in 2031, he will still remain living at his home. You’re just confused with such kind of cheap and baseless politics.
Well written my brother! World over crooked people never succeed. This is why Hichilema has failed because he cheated his way into state house! He’s not popular, he has never been popular, and after his accidental presidency with traumatizing performance, he will never be popular any time in future, and he’s leading his Upnd into extinction! Because people are saying , ” kanshi efyo baba aba Tonga na ba Lozi ifi . . . “! That tells a lot my brother Zumani! It will take a life time for the Tongas to reverse the damage Hichilema has inflicted on them! Most Zambians are not interested in a Tonga president any more! Especially after he rigged his way to state house! Infact ECZ should have saved this country from this directionless leadership we are going through if they had disqualified Upnd in 2021! The Chief Electoral Officer, Shindano, even threatened to disqualify them, but of course they feared the chaos that would have followed that in Southern and the two Zambezi provinces! Anyway Hichilema has gotten what he wanted and proved to himself that he’s not a leader! But a big failure! Hichilema rigged even in 2015, 2016, but it was not big enough to make him win. I once employed a worker who came from Mazabuka and she told me she voted 2 times in 2016, using two voters cards! So rigging was not only in 2021, it started earlier and PF were very aware of this, but they relaxed too much, taking for granted that Hichilema could not win! The good news is however that Hichilema and Upnd will never succeed again to rig at province level, the only way they can try to rig now is at ECZ level, but it will not be easy! Because by then true results will already be with the opposition! This is because people even in Southern province are very disappointed with the very poor performance of Hichilema! So he will have to rig very big to win even Southern province! People there are hungry and suffered so they are no longer interested in his leadership.
@manganga…
I pity you so much. PF lost because they were a tyrant to the common person. It is the likes of you that have continued perpetrating this tribal talk, that caused PF to lose and your continuation of this vice will surely lead PF into extinction.
We cannot forget how civil servants were reduced to slaves being commanded by cadres, policemen being beaten in their offices, cadres taking over markets, cadres getting all contracts, only one tribe benefitting all developmental projects. Go to western province and see how underdeveloped it is. Learn to have empathy comrade.
2021 elections were purely won by the people of Zambia, not the rigging insinuated by you and Zumani.
PLEASE DON’T DRIVE THIS TRIBAL AGENDA AGAIN.
Stop promoting tribalism satanyoko chikala iwe PF criminals are gone and dusted forget about the PF criminals mwana wamuvigololo stop promoting tribalism satanyoko
Don’t insult even when you disagree. Address his weaknesses in the write up instead of insulting him.
This guy zumani seems to be a clown. Rigging when all the state machinery, all civil servants, police , ECZ, judiciary, etc etc were under their control? Maybe he wants to take over as court jester from tayali since tayali who used to be court jester has absconded.
When a person runs out of ideas he starts hallucinating and that is exactly what is happening to Dr. Zumani Zimba. If the hallucinations were uttered by an ordinary person people could have concluded that Dr. Zumani Zimba is about to run mad or that he could be under the influence of drugs causing him to hallucinate.
Actually it was PF that tried to rigg the 2021 elections but failed. ECL premarked ballots were found dumped at some places. This rat brained PhD holder must be high on ganja since among the UKA members are weed parties.The so called cleverer people from…! Voetsek!
92% HH and 6% ECL in Southern Province…the results were weird… bizarre …. Total banana results.
You will be more shocked in 2026. Lungu was even lucky to walk away with that 6% probably because of places such as Livingstone. Before 1972 KK used to win only in Livingstone and HMN would sweep the
rest of the districts. Brace yourselves for zeros in 2026.
I pity Zumani. He is misusing his gift. He needs a touch of God in his life
Just wasting time, that narration doesn’t make sense at all, how can an opposition party be rigging elections imwe ba ruling party who are in control muli ndwii? Rigging elections was PF’s strategy but in 2021 it failed to work out just as it will fail in 2026. Voters jealously guarded their votes and for the time in many years, voters won and not those who count. Ba Zumani nomba kusabaila fye, HH visited and campaigned in all the ten Provinces but Lungu didn’t campaign in Southern, Western and Northwestern Provinces.
Sorry indigo, you happen to be a very frustrated beneficiary of the fallen or sunk vessel.
If you were comfortable with what was happening in that era, you could only have been one of them.
Objective and genuine Zambians would never abandon Bally. He is the legitimate Zambian with a typical Zambian Behaviour.
The nightmare Zambians were subjected to can not be one to wish to go back to.
Yaliluka nifiliafine Kanabesa.
You are too young to be tribal Zuma!
From the time I was old enough to distinguish between different meanings of words, whenever I came across a person’s initial replaced by Doctor instead of mister, I always felt safe as it referred to life saver! But today am even afraid of going to a hospital to go seek life saving intervention from a Doctor, because of doctors like ZUMANI whose doc means dull. Please educationists find new titles for medication personal to differentiate them from these fools.
Is this the value of a PHD?
This analysis is very biased for a learned colleague. That is the problem of aligning yourself to failures.
You begin to see things in almost the same light as the failures themselves. I wish he had taken a sober, academic approach to this. It would have helped this country so much.
But this one – sided approach just exposes my colleague’s weakness, LACK OF ANALYTICAL SKILLS.