Former Lands Minister Sylvia Masebo says statements circulating online in her name are fabricated, and that her court challenge to the Chongwe East result is a dispute about one constituency, not a break with the Government.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Sylvia Masebo says she has not spoken to any journalist, media house or blogger since the 13 August general election, and that social media posts portraying her as opposed to the Government are false.
- She told ZNBC News that her petition against the Chongwe East result should not be read as opposition to the Government or to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ).
- Masebo, the UPND candidate, polled 6,798 votes against 16,058 for independent Anita Kamanga, who was declared the winner on 15 August.
- The ECZ has asked the High Court in Lusaka to dismiss the petition with costs, arguing the poll was run in substantial compliance with the law.
Former Lands and Natural Resources Minister Sylvia Masebo has denied speaking to any journalist, media house or blogger since 13 August, the day Zambians voted in the general election, and has dismissed social media reports suggesting she is opposed to the Government.
Speaking to ZNBC News, Ms Masebo said her decision to petition the Chongwe East parliamentary election should not be interpreted as opposition to the Government or to the ECZ. The challenge, she said, rests on her concerns about the Chongwe East result.
She added that she remains supportive of the UPND administration, citing her role in campaigning for President Hakainde Hichilema and in the party’s victory at the polls.
What Masebo is responding to
The denial follows a wave of posts attributing critical remarks to her. In a statement reported by Lusaka Times on 22 September, Ms Masebo, a member of the UPND Senior Management Committee, said social media was “heavily laden with falsehoods, disinformation and manipulated content” aimed at UPND members, and at former cabinet ministers in particular. She said any content attributing statements to her since the election was fabricated, and suggested some of it was meant to drive a wedge between the President and ministers who served in his first term.
ZNBC also carried her denial of posts claiming she had described the ECZ as the country’s most corrupt institution.
The Chongwe East petition
The ECZ declared Anita Kamanga winner of Chongwe East on 15 August with 16,058 votes. Ms Masebo, the UPND’s candidate, polled 6,798. Ms Kamanga stood as an independent after contesting the UPND primaries without being adopted, a split Ms Masebo publicly raised with President Hichilema in July when she asked him to clarify who the party’s official candidates in Chongwe were.
In the petition, case number 2026/HP/EP/014, Ms Masebo alleges breaches of the Electoral Process Act and the Electoral Code of Conduct. According to Zambia Monitor, her grounds include publications stating that she had lost the UPND adoption process and branding her “a thief”. She is asking the court to declare the election void and order a fresh poll. Ms Kamanga denies the allegations.
The ECZ, named as second respondent, argues that voting, counting, tallying and declaration were conducted in substantial compliance with the Constitution, the Electoral Process Act and the Code of Conduct. It says the burden is on the petitioner to prove that any irregularity affected the result, and that general allegations are not enough to overturn the choice of voters.
Is filing an election petition a political act?
Legally, no. Article 73 of the Constitution gives any person the right to challenge the election of a Member of Parliament in the High Court, and requires the petition to be heard within 90 days of filing. Ms Masebo has framed her case in those terms.
Politically, the picture is less tidy. Lusaka Times counted 30 parliamentary petitions filed by 1 September, several by candidates from the ruling party, including former Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe in Chililabombwe. Some UPND figures have openly criticised colleagues for taking losses to court, while Sunday Chanda withdrew his Kanchibiya petition, citing the doubled Constituency Development Fund that followed delimitation.
Why it matters beyond Chongwe
Election petitions carry a public cost. If the court nullifies the result, the ECZ would have to fund and run a by-election in Chongwe East, and the constituency’s representation, including the MP’s seat on its Constituency Development Fund committee, would stay unsettled until a new member is sworn in. For a peri-urban farming constituency on Lusaka’s eastern edge, that matters for how quickly CDF projects move.
The wider question for the Government is whether a string of disputes by its own candidates, amplified by fabricated posts online, distracts from the second-term economic agenda. Ms Masebo’s statement is an attempt to close that gap in her own case.
What happens next
The High Court will hear evidence from both sides and rule on whether the alleged breaches were serious enough to affect the outcome. Either party can appeal to the Constitutional Court. Until then, Ms Kamanga remains the Member of Parliament for Chongwe East.
Related reading: UPND’s Akashambatwa: Colleagues’ Election Petitions Are “Abusing the Courts”, Sunday Chanda Withdraws Kanchibiya Election Petition, Cites Doubled CDF From Delimitation and Zambia Courts Closed as Mundubile Election Petition Deadline Arrives.
WARNING! All rights reserved. This material and all other digital content on this website may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior express permission of The Zambian Economist. Where permission is granted, the content must be clearly credited to “The Zambian Economist,” with “www.zambianeconomist.com” prominently displayed.
WhatsApp: +260775574228 | Email: info@zambianeconomist.com
© 2026 The Zambian Economist.
