The ZIKO LATHU Consortium says its monitors and polling agents will serve as impartial, independent and well informed stakeholders at polling stations, constituencies and results centres across the country, as civil society groups step up their role ahead of Thursday’s vote.
Over 600 trained election monitors and polling agents have been deployed to constituencies across Zambia by the ZIKO LATHU Consortium, a coalition of civil society organisations, as the country heads into Thursday’s general election.
Monitors Positioned As Independent Observers
ActionAid Country Director Faides Tembatemba said the monitors have been equipped to serve as impartial, independent and well informed stakeholders at polling stations, constituencies and results centres. She was speaking in Lusaka during the launch of the ZIKO LATHU Consortium Election Situation Room and Youth Election Command Centre, which will coordinate the monitoring effort and track incidents as they are reported from the field.
The Situation Room adds a dedicated civil society layer to the machinery already assembled for election day, alongside the National Election Results Centre the Electoral Commission of Zambia launched at Mulungushi and the broadcast safeguards the Independent Broadcasting Authority has put in place for results reporting.
National Coverage, With Focus On Under Monitored Areas
Tembatemba said the consortium will expand its efforts to cover all constituencies, keeping its monitoring approach national in scope while giving particular attention to areas that have had limited election monitoring infrastructure in the past. That includes rural and peri urban constituencies where independent observation has traditionally been thinner than in Lusaka and the Copperbelt.
Violence Against Women Flagged As A Priority
Non-Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council Executive Director Annie Anamela said violence against women during elections should be addressed promptly, adding her voice to a campaign period in which the Electoral Commission has already taken action against threats of political violence and President Hakainde Hichilema has warned of full consequences for offenders.
Call For A Large, Informed Turnout
Media Institute of Southern Africa National Director Austin Kayanda called on Zambians to make informed decisions by turning up in large numbers to vote for candidates of their choice, framing high, informed turnout as part of what keeps an election credible in the eyes of both citizens and outside observers.
Why Stakeholder Collaboration Matters
Panos Institute Southern Africa Executive Director Vusumuzi Sifile said the launch of the initiative is important because it demonstrates the need for stakeholder collaboration in ensuring free and fair elections. That collaboration mirrors the broader observation effort around Thursday’s vote, which has also drawn regional observers under the ICGLR and follows the arrival of ballot papers in constituencies such as Livingstone in the final stretch before polling.
What It Means
A credible, well observed election matters beyond politics. Independent monitoring of the kind ZIKO LATHU is deploying feeds directly into how quickly and how confidently results are accepted, which in turn shapes how soon government, business and development partners can settle into a period of policy certainty. For a country heading to the polls with several close, closely watched races, an accredited, nationally spread civil society presence at polling stations is one of the practical mechanisms that underpins that confidence.
By Zambian Economist Analyst
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Update: The ECZ has since suspended counting and the announcement of results nationwide following reports of violence in some districts.
Read more: LAZ Challenges Legality of ECZ’s Nationwide Vote-Counting Suspension.
For the latest on this story, see ECZ Lifts Vote-Count Suspension as Zambia’s Election Stays Unsettled Between Rival Claims.
