Lubinda blasts ECZ unilaterally cancelling Kafue by-election

…accuses Brown Kasaro, Mwangala Zaloumis and other commissioners of having turned the ECZ into a cadre-branch of the UPND, incapable of presiding over free, fair and transparent elections in 2026

By BARNABAS ZULU

THE Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) in its current form is nothing but a cadre-branch of the UPND and Zambians should not expect that the commission under Mwangala Zaloumis, the chairperson and Brown Kasaro, the Chief Electoral Officer will be able to manage a free, fair and transparent 2026 general election, Given Lubinda has charged.

Mr Lubinda, the Patriotic Front (PF) acting president has chastised Mr Kasaro for unilaterally cancelling the Chisankane Ward by-election in Kafue without consulting key stakeholders or giving reasons for the cancellation.

Speaking in an interview yesterday, Mr Lubinda accused Mr Kasaro of treating the ECZ like a private institution and bypassing legal and procedural norms in the management of electoral processes.

Mr Lubinda, who is also the Tonse Alliance acting chairperson has warned that the partisan manner in which the ECZ was being managed had eroded public confidence in the commission ahead of the 2026 general election.

“If this can be happening during a by-election, what confidence will Zambians have in ECZ to handle free and fair elections next year? Stakeholders and Zambians generally have lost confidence in the ECZ being manned by people who are known members and cadres of the UPND. The people of Chisankane Ward want a councillor. They have had no representation since the UPND councillor was fired,” he said.

Mr Lubinda has called for the resignation of ECZ chairperson Mwangala Zaloumis and other officials he alleged were politically compromised and having converted the commission to a cadre-branch of the UPND.

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“Mwangala Zaloumis and all UPND cadres posturing as officials at ECZ must resign. They should resign because people have lost confidence. They must resign if they want peace. They are not transparent. They have turned the ECZ into a cadre-branch of the UPND and are incapable of managing a free, fair and transparent general election in 2026,” he said.

He stated that it was outrageous for the ECZ through Mr Kasaro to be making unilateral decisions on the management and electoral process without consulting or informing major stakeholders such as participating political parties.

“It is outrageous for Mr Kasaro to be making decisions and announcing them willy-nilly as though he is handling a private institution. We are demanding that the ECZ commissioners instruct Brown Kasaro to realise that the ECZ is a public institution whose decisions must be made after thorough consultation,” Mr Lubinda said.

He took issue with the lack of clarity surrounding the decision to cancel the Chisankane Ward by-election and the rescheduling of nominations.