The Electoral Commission of Zambia has notified stakeholders that its Chairperson, Mrs Mwangala Zaloumis, SC, will address the nation this evening, 14 August 2026, a day after the country went to the polls in the 2026 general election.
According to a stakeholder notice signed by Chief Electoral Officer Brown Kasaro and dated 14 August 2026, the address is scheduled for 17:00 hours at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre, in the Kenneth Kaunda Wing Main Auditorium in Lusaka. The one-page notice, issued from the Commission’s Elections House offices on Haile Selassie Avenue, gives the time and venue but does not state the subject of the address.
A Nation Waiting on the Count
Zambians voted on 13 August 2026 to elect a president, National Assembly members, mayors and council chairpersons, and ward councillors, from a field of 14 presidential candidates. Counting and verification have continued through the day, with constituency-level results being announced progressively rather than as a single national tally.
The Commission has been managing the process from the National Election Results Centre it commissioned at Mulungushi on 12 August, the same venue named in today’s notice. At that launch, Mrs Zaloumis said the announcement of results carried a profound responsibility and that the Commission would ensure the figures released reflected the votes actually cast. She has repeatedly asked political parties, candidates and the public to rely only on official Commission channels and to treat unverified figures circulating on social media with caution.
The Commission has previously indicated it expects to declare the presidential result by Monday, 17 August, once returns from every constituency have been received and verified, a timeline similar to the one followed after the 2021 election. Today’s address falls within that verification window, and stakeholders will be watching for any update on how the process is progressing.
Why It Matters
How the Commission communicates during a count of this scale matters well beyond the political contest. Financial markets, currency traders and investors watching Zambia’s economic trajectory treat the smoothness of a results process as a signal of institutional stability, and a credible, well-paced count tends to support confidence in the kwacha and in policy continuity regardless of who wins. A disputed or opaque process carries the opposite risk.
For businesses, the coming days are likely to bring a mix of anticipation and caution, with some decision-making paused until a result is confirmed. The Commission’s own emphasis on accuracy over speed suggests Zambians should expect the process to run through the week rather than conclude tonight.
The Zambian Economist will continue to track official Commission communications as the results process unfolds.
Related Coverage
- ECZ Launches National Election Results Centre at Mulungushi Ahead of Thursday’s Vote
- Civil Society Deploys Over 600 Election Monitors Nationwide Ahead of Thursday’s Polls
- IBA warns broadcasters against speculative election results
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