THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF ZAMBIA OR THE EXCLUSION
COMMISSION OF ZAMBIA- A PERSPECTIVE
By Jonas Zimba
INTRODUCTION
Zambia being a constitutional democracy is founded on the principle of a participatorydemocracy. This means, selection of leaders is done by way of elections and people are free to
participate in the said process by way of contesting seats.
The body mandate to carry out such functions is known as the Electoral Commission of Zambia
alias ECZ. Christopher Phiri, (6th July, 2022) opines that the Electoral Commission of Zambia
is mandated to carry out elections in Zambia
The role of the Electoral Commission of Zambia is often either misunderstood or overstated.
One would ask, is it the role of the Electoral Commission of Zambia to conduct elections or to
exclude others from participating in elections? Are they the exclusion commission of Zambia
or the Electoral Commission of Zambia? Which is which?
This paper discusses the foundation and role of the Electoral Commission of Zambia and the
vantage position it has in Zambia’s democracy.
The paper further tries to examine whether the electoral commission of Zambia is now a tool
for exclusion of opposition participation or a tool for promotion of democracy in Zambia.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF ZAMBIA
The Electoral Commission of Zambia is a creature of the Constitution. Article 2292 of the
constitution creates the Electoral Commission of Zambia and provides as follows:
“There is established the Electoral Commission of Zambia which shall have offices in
provinces and progressively in districts”
The reason behind the establishment of the Electoral Commission is not one that remains
speculative. Zambia by its very nature is a constitutional democracy and elections are
inevitable.
The view taken here is that the Commission is an independent body established to conduct and
manage elections in Zambia. It was established in 1996 for the purpose of conducting and managing elections
FUNCTIONS OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF ZAMBIA
The functions of the Electoral Commission of Zambia are both set out in the Constitution and
an Act of Parliament.
Article 229 of the Constitution sets out the functions of the Commission and it states thus:
‘The Electoral Commission shall:
(a) Implement the Electoral Process Act
(b) Conduct elections and referenda
(c) Register voters
(d) Settle minor electoral disputes as prescribed
(e) Regulate the conduct of voters and candidates
(f) Accredit observers and election agents, as prescribed
(g) Delimit electoral boundaries and
(h) Preform such other functions as prescribed” 4
The functions of the Electoral Commissions are further expanded in the Electoral Commission
Act5 which piece of legislation was assented to on the 6th June, 2016 and came into force the
very next day being the 7th day of June, 2016.
The long title of the Act provides that:
“An Act to provide for the membership, functions, operations and financial
management of the Electoral Commission of Zambia, repeal and replace the
Electoral Commission Act, 1996, and provide for matters connected with, or
incidental to, the foregoing”
The core function of the commission is set out in section 4 of the Act which provides that:
“subject to the Constitution, the Commission shall direct, supervise and control
elections in a fair and impartial manner”
The function of the commission is therefore to conduct elections in a fair and impartial manner
period.
The commission has nothing to do with regulating political parties or political players in so far
as their registration or internal affairs are concerned.
Put simply, the vantage point that the commission has in the democracy of Zambia is that it is
there to conduct elections and it is an independent body. It assumes the role of a referee in
Zambia’s electoral system. The commission is the official announcer of both the winner and
the losers in any election conducted in Zambia
THE PERCEIVED ROLE OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF ZAMBIA
Over the past few years, specifically from the years 2021 to date, the Electoral Commission of
Zambia has issued statements and one of such statements relates to who should sign the
adoption certificate of a candidate sponsored by a political party issued on the 31st of January,
2026 and withdrawn or disowned the same day.
These acts started off by some confusion that was seen in the Kwacha and Kabushi by elections
involving Mr. J. Malanji and Mr. B. Lusambo
.
On about 31st January, 2026, it was alleged that the Commission had issued a letter wherein it
indicated that only documents signed by the Secretary General and the President of a political
party registered at registrar of societies shall be accepted by the Commission.
On the very day this was issued, the commission quickly disowned it and stated that it was
fake.
In this time of cybercrimes and punitive cyber laws, no one has been prosecuted or even called
in for investigations in relation to such a serious matter. We can only imagine that the
Commission was testing the waters and upon seeing a backlash, they pulled back the notice
with some interesting excuse, it is fake! How can an entire Commission give such an excuse?
In our present times, the Commission seems to think or is perceived to have an overreaching
arm such that they can do anything they want in so far as they feel it is right.
The commission today is perceived to be a regulator of political parties, they are perceived to
be a body that can decide who one can associate with or not and so on and so forth.
Going by the pieces of legislation that cover what the commission has set out as its functions,
it has no power to regulate how political parties conduct their affairs.
The commission is now perceived to be a tool for the ruling party which has been deployed to
exclude all competition and disadvantage any opposition party from any form of participation
in the electoral process.
This can be seen from the various illegal notices which so far have not received any challenge
and the proposed amendments to the Electoral Process Act 20267 which include a proposed
amendment in the definition section as regards what will amount to an adoption certificate. The
proposal being that it should read, a document signed by the Secretary General of a Political
Party who is registered with the Registrar of Societies, sponsoring a candidate for an election
to the office of President, Member of Parliament, Mayor, Council Chairperson or Councilor.
The Commission has further gone ahead to propose the repeal of section 17 of the Act and
propose that they are the ones to determine the period within which the voter register is to be
inspected and as such issued even before the amendment is effected a letter dated 5th February,
2026 to all Town Clerks effecting the provision as if it were law and yet it is not.
This in short is an illegality being perpetrated by a body mandated to preserve the democracy of this country.
Mr. Jonas Zumba, let’s look at your statement; “The commission has nothing to do with regulating political parties or political players in so far as their registration or internal affairs are concerned. Put simply, the vantage point that the commission has in the democracy of Zambia is that it is there to conduct elections and it is an independent body.” The statement sounds okay but it lacks substance. While the ECZ has nothing to do with registration of parties, it’s the one which conducts nominations and if you went for nominations with your un registered party, the Commission will reject both your party and your candidate on grounds of being unregistered. Those are electoral regulations embedded in the Constitution. Hence there is nothing wrong for the Commission to remind parties to register their parties with the Registrar of Societies. If you refuse or fail to do so, it’s the same you who will be stuck at the nominations and you will be yourself to blame because you were amply informed. Arrogance and law are incompatible, compliance is the way to go. As long as you meet the conditions, your party will be registered. Simple.