Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba Writes AU Over Compromised Official In Zambia Election Observer Mission
12 August 2026
H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn Boshe
Head of Mission, AU–COMESA Election Observation Mission to Zambia
Lusaka, Republic of Zambia
H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson, African Union Commission, Addis Ababa
The Secretary General, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, Lusaka
Your Excellencies,
RE: REQUEST FOR DISCLOSURE AND RECUSAL — APPEARANCE OF A CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN THE LEADERSHIP OF THE AU–COMESA ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION TO THE 13 AUGUST 2026 GENERAL ELECTIONS
We write on behalf of the Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance and its presidential candidate, Hon. Brian Mundubile, first to welcome the deployment of the AU–COMESA Election Observation Mission and to affirm our full respect for the African Union, COMESA, and the ninety-three observers drawn from twenty-nine African nations now deployed across all ten provinces of our Republic. Zambia’s democratic tradition has long been strengthened by continental observation, and we are committed to full cooperation with the Mission.
It is precisely because the Mission’s findings will carry such weight in Zambia and before the world that we are compelled to place on record, before polling commences, a matter that bears directly on the perceived impartiality of the Mission’s leadership.
The public record establishes the following. First, His Excellency Hailemariam Dessalegn Boshe has served since August 2018 as a member of the Advisory Board of the Brenthurst Foundation, an appointment announced by the Foundation itself and reflected on its website and in His Excellency’s public biographies to date. Second, the published record – including a detailed investigative report issued by Global Witness in July 2026 – documents a close and sustained relationship between the Brenthurst Foundation and His Excellency President Hakainde Hichilema, reported to span from approximately 2008 to the present, encompassing policy support and the authorship of economic policy adopted by the present administration. Third, it is publicly reported that the Foundation’s founding director, Dr Greg Mills, is presently serving as a leading figure in President Hichilema’s 2026 re-election campaign in a personal capacity.
We wish to be unambiguous: we do not impugn the personal integrity of His Excellency Hailemariam Dessalegn Boshe, whose service to Ethiopia and to this continent commands respect. Our concern rests on the settled principle reflected in the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation (2005), the OAU/AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, the very instruments the Mission has cited as the basis of its assessment that election observation must not only be impartial but be seen to be impartial, and that observers should be free of any association that may give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias.
A Head of Mission who has served for years on the advisory board of an institution so closely identified with one contesting candidate – an institution whose founding director presently directs that candidate’s campaign – presents, at minimum, such an apprehension. Left unaddressed, it would place an unnecessary question mark over whatever findings the Mission announces on 15 August, to the detriment of the Mission, the African Union, COMESA, and the Zambian people, whichever way the electorate decides.
We therefore respectfully request:
1. That His Excellency the Head of Mission publicly disclose his Advisory Board association with the Brenthurst Foundation, and any related associations material to the perception of impartiality;
2. That, in keeping with best practice, His Excellency recuse himself from the chairing, direction, and public pronouncement of the Mission’s assessment, and that these functions pass to the Deputy Head of Mission, Ambassador Marie-Pierre Lloyd of the COMESA Committee of Elders, in whom we repose full confidence;
3. That the Mission confirm, for the public record, the conflict-of-interest screening applied to its leadership and observers, in accordance with the Declaration of Principles; and
4. That, given polling commences within twenty-four hours, this request be acknowledged and addressed before the close of business today.
We reiterate our respect for the Mission and our full cooperation with its ninety-three observers. Nothing in this letter seeks to diminish the Mission’s work; on the contrary, it seeks to place its eventual findings beyond reproach. An election verdict, like a judicial one, draws its force from the undisputed impartiality of the hand that delivers it.
Please accept, Your Excellencies, the assurances of our highest consideration.
_________________________________
Ambasador Emmanuel Mwamba
For and on behalf of the Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance / NRPUP
cc:
Ambassador Marie-Pierre Lloyd, Deputy Head of Mission, AU–COMESA EOM
The Chairperson, Electoral Commission of Zambia
Head of the European Union Election Observation Mission to Zambia
Heads of other accredited international observation missions
Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Lusaka
Annexes:
A. Brenthurst Foundation announcement of Advisory Board appointments, August 2018
B. Brenthurst Foundation website, “Our People” — Advisory Board listing (print-out, dated)
C. Global Witness, “How a Canadian Mining Giant Infiltrated Zambia’s Democracy”, July 2026 (relevant extracts)
D. AU–COMESA EOM Arrival Statement, August 2026