PF Cannot Win in 2026 Without Changes to Electoral Register - Lubinda Says

Vice President of the Patriotic Front Given Lubinda expressed his concerns yesterday that his party cannot win in 2026 without revisions to Zambia’s census and electoral register. In an interview with Millennium TV, Lubinda made this series of eyebrow-raising statements that could be perceived as pre-emptive excuse making.

“We know the Electoral Commission of Zambia is headed by a cadre of the UPND”, Lubinda claimed. As evidence he cited conflicting figures published by the ECZ in 2021, and the national census in 2022: “15 wards in Southern Province registered more voters in 2021 elections than the census has shown as the total population of those wards in the 2022 census”.

In response to these alleged irregularities, and motivated by fears about his party’s electoral fortunes, Lubinda expressed that “President Hakainde Hichilema must disband the ECZ and bring in other people and we must start fresh registration of voters so that we can have free and fair elections in 2026”.

Most shockingly, Lubinda went on to cast doubt on President Hichilema’s election victory in 2021, suggesting fraud was at play. What Lubinda conveniently failed to address was the fact that the UPND were at the time an opposition party, without access to the state power necessary to rig an election. The same cannot be said for the PF in 2016, when President Edgar Lungu’s victory over Hichilema was overshadowed by allegations of ballot-stuffing in Lusaka, leading to a judicial challenge to the result, as well as the arrest during the campaign of UPND Vice President Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba along with several other party members. No such fiascos occurred in 2021.

Lubinda’s insistence on the importance of robust census data is important and should be taken seriously, but the importance of such statements is diminished when they are politicised in such a way. ECZ chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis is under no illusions regarding the imperfections of Zambia’s electoral system. In a speech last month, she highlighted problems regarding vote-buying and intimidation, but rather than demonstrating political bias, insisted this is something of which “every political party that takes part in the electoral process is guilty”.