BRIEFING | Kasonde drops citizen election petition as Zambia enters decisive post-poll week
Zambia begins a new week with one proposed challenge to the August 13 general election now abandoned, while the country waits to see whether Brian Mundubile will proceed with his separate presidential petition.
Prominent lawyer and civil society advocate Linda Kasonde, who had been exploring a citizen-led challenge to the election, has told stakeholders that efforts to build the case have ended because sufficient evidence could not be assembled within the required period.
“It appears that we do not have enough evidence to proceed with the petition challenging the just ended general elections as all efforts to get the Petition off the ground have not succeeded,” Kasonde said in a communication circulated among stakeholders.
Her decision is significant because concerns over the election have not disappeared. The EU Election Observation Mission reported weaknesses in parts of the results tabulation process, while the Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG) has identified statistical discrepancies in 30 constituencies and called for greater transparency from ECZ.
CCMG, however, said the discrepancies it identified did not change the overall winner of the presidential election.
Kasonde is now shifting her attention from overturning the election to the rules governing future elections. “Going forward, we hope to shift our focus towards electoral reform challenging decisions, measures and laws taken in the run-up to the August 2026 Election,” she said.
Attention therefore returns to Mundubile. He has rejected the presidential result and previously said his team had gathered evidence for a Constitutional Court challenge. But his position has increasingly diverged from figures within the political structure which backed his candidature. NRPUP president Ezra Tembo has accepted President-elect Hakainde Hichilema’s victory, while Tonse founder and secretary-general Chris Zumani Zimba has said he will not support a petition.
The clock is also running. Hichilema was declared President-elect on August 18 after securing 2,965,326 votes, against Mundubile’s 1,856,217, a margin of 1,109,109 votes. On the constitutional timetable being applied, the seven-day window for challenging the presidential election expires on Tuesday, August 25.
Away from the election petition, the post-poll security investigation remains another major story. Police have summoned Mundubile and his running mate Makebi Zulu for questioning over alleged links to activities authorities say concern national security. Both men have been staying at premises of an international organisation in Lusaka. They have not been convicted of any offence, and Mundubile has strongly rejected government claims linking his camp to an alleged militia.
So the new week opens with Zambia moving closer to a political and constitutional conclusion, but with important questions still alive. Kasonde’s proposed petition is off.
Mundubile’s remains an intention until it is filed. The security investigation continues. And Tuesday now becomes the critical date separating another court battle from the final road towards Hichilema’s inauguration.
– The People’s Brief | Goran Handya