COURT HEARS THAT ECZ DECLARED MAPATIZYA WINNER DESPITE MISSING RESULTS
By Patricia Mbewe
The Livingstone High Court has heard that the Electoral Commission of Zambia-ECZ-proceeded to declare a winner in the closely contested Mapatizya parliamentary election despite results from 10 polling stations missing, following violence that disrupted verification and totaling of results.
This is in a matter in which losing independent candidate Clive Miyanda, who polled 14,330 votes, has petitioned the high court challenging the outcome of the august 13, Mapatizya parliamentary election, in which UPND candidate Emeldah Munashabantu was declared winner with 14,812 votes.
Mr. Miyanda is disputing the official tally and told the court that figures verified by his campaign team from Gen 20 forms for all 74 polling stations show that he obtained 18,359 votes.
He further told the court that according to his analysis of the results announced by the ECZ, some figures in which he had obtained more votes than Ms. Munashabantu were allegedly attributed to her, while figures attributed to Ms. Munashabantu were allegedly recorded in his favour.
He also argued that some of the results which the ECZ said were missing were among the results from the 64 polling stations that were eventually announced.
During proceedings, Mapatizya Returning Officer Newton Mudenda testified that violence erupted at Kabanga Secondary School totaling centre shortly after polling ended, forcing the verification and totaling exercise to be moved to Zimba Secondary School
He told the court that during the movement of election materials to Zimba Secondary School, some ballot boxes fell from the convoy and could not immediately be accounted for, adding that although some of the ballot boxes were later recovered, results from 10 polling stations could not be accounted for.
He further told the court that after several hours of searching for the missing results at Zimba Secondary School, which became the new consolidation centre, the documents could not be found and that he subsequently sought guidance from the ECZ, particularly district electoral officer Lubinda Mwala, who advised him to consult stakeholders on the way forward.
Mr. Mudenda explained that stakeholders subsequently agreed that results from 64 polling stations should be announced, excluding those from the 10 polling stations which could not be accounted for, a submission which the petitioner’s lawyers contested and argued that there were no consultations made.
During cross-examination by the petitioner’s lawyer, Chazai Zulu, Mr. Mudenda was unable to produce evidence showing that he had personally reported the violence to police, although he acknowledged receiving information that a report had been made.
The court is expected to communicate the date for judgment to the lawyers representing the parties between October 5 and 19, 2026.
PHOENIX NEWS