🇿🇲 MONITOR | Tensions Rise as Campaigns Enter Final Hours
Zambia enters the final hours of campaigning with political tensions rising, competing claims over the credibility of Thursday’s vote and fresh reports of violence in Mazabuka.
President Hakainde Hichilema, appearing on a ZNBC special interview, urged voters to elect UPND candidates across the ballot, from President to councillor. He argued that different levels of government are interconnected and said a full UPND mandate would make it easier to implement the party’s next five-year programme.
Hichilema pointed to production, inflation, electricity generation and employment among areas where his administration says progress has been recorded.
The President also returned to the security questions surrounding people allegedly sent abroad for military-related training. “I’m the chief shushushu,” Hichilema said, using the colloquial term for intelligence chief.
“You can’t send people to a foreign country to learn military skills and come back to disrupt elections in this country, and expect not to be arrested.” His remarks come amid complaints from the Tonse Alliance over arrests and alleged abductions of people associated with its campaign.
NRPUP presidential candidate Brian Mundubile, meanwhile, used an interview on Hot FM Wednesday morning to question the credibility of the electoral process.
“The Electoral Commission of Zambia is incapable of conducting a free and fair election,” Mundubile said. His campaign has in recent days complained about arrests, the seizure of funds it says were intended for polling agents, and other actions it argues have weakened its ability to campaign and monitor the vote.
In Mazabuka, the closing stages of the campaign have been disturbed by clashes involving supporters of the UPND and supporters associated with independent parliamentary candidate Garry Nkombo. Videos circulating online show disturbances, while Nkombo accused UPND supporters of attacking his supporters and residence.
“I call upon the Electoral Commission of Zambia to stop the violence by UPND and let the people’s will prevail,” he said. His account remains an allegation, and responsibility for the clashes has not been independently established.
The campaign has also returned to the unresolved burial of former President Edgar Lungu. Tonse-aligned voices, including Kasonde Mwenda, have urged voters to treat Thursday’s election as an opportunity to facilitate Lungu’s return and burial in Zambia.
Mwenda wrote that voters would have the “power to bring back home our departed father of the nation.” The appeal has produced sharp disagreement online, with some commenters blaming the government and others rejecting attempts to connect the burial dispute to the ballot.
Campaigning officially closes at 18:00 hours Wednesday. After weeks of rallies, accusations, legal disputes and competing promises, political persuasion is approaching its legal end. The next phase belongs to the voter, the electoral institutions and the ballot box.
The People’s Brief | Ollus R. Ndomu