EU Election Observation Mission presents its final report on the August 2016 elections including recommendations for future elections in Zambia
The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) for Zambia’s 2016 general elections published today its Final Report, comprising an assessment of the electoral process and offering 33 recommendations for reforms to improve future electoral processes in Zambia.
The August 2016 general elections were highly competitive, and prepared in a largely professional manner. The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) generally demonstrated competence in conducting key electoral operations, but the organisation of four elections and a constitutional referendum concurrently was reflected in some weaknesses in the implementation of logistics, counting, tabulation and voter education. Problems with the results management system contributed to the slow tabulation and announcement of results, and opportunities were missed to enhance the transparency of, and trust in, several stages of the process.
Both major political parties made statements that inflamed tensions during the campaign, and there were several serious incidents of violence. The suspension of the electoral campaign by the ECZ in the districts of Lusaka and Namwala was a disproportionate response, establishing an unfortunate precedent.
The electoral campaign was marred by systematic bias in state media, which failed to provide fair and equitable coverage of the campaigns of all parties, and by restrictions on private media, notably newspaper The Post.
The Constitutional Court failed to provide clear, timely and authoritative directions to parties regarding the timeline for the opposition’s challenge of the presidential election results, which undermined public confidence in the election complaints process.
The Chief Observer of the EU Election Observation Mission to Zambia, Ms. Cécile Kyenge, Member of the European Parliament, returned to Lusaka this week to present the Final Report to the ECZ, the Government of the Republic of Zambia, political parties, domestic observers and civil society.
“Zambia’s recent elections demonstrate that there is always room for improvement. While the elections were competitive, the process highlighted several areas where steps can be taken to enhance the inclusivity and credibility in future,” Ms. Kyenge said.
The recommendations included in the EU EOM’s Final Report include: a detailed review of the electoral legal framework and redrafting of unclear, ambiguous and conflicting provisions; the removal of overly restrictive limitations of freedom of assembly in the Public Order Act; publication of individual polling station results for all elections in a timely manner, and an end of the de facto subdivision of polling stations into polling streams; an assessment of the results management system for accuracy, timeliness and transparency; clarification of the rules and procedures for complaints, for local, parliamentary and presidential elections; transformation of ZNBC into a public service broadcaster with full editorial independence from government, and enhanced oversight of the ECZ of the public media.
“Our final report brings together the findings of all our observations in the three-month period the mission was in Zambia, as well as comprehensive recommendations for future elections. They are addressed to the relevant institutions – the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), the Government of Zambia, the police, political parties, civil society, and other key stakeholders. Let me stress that many of these recommendations will require cooperation between state institutions, and should be inclusive of all elements of society, including civil society. The European Union remains committed to work with Zambian partners in its journey of democratic development,” Ms. Kyenge added.
The report makes key recommendations for consideration by authorities, the election management bodies and other key election stakeholders. They include the following:
Legal Framework:
Conduct a detailed review of the electoral legal framework and redraft unclear, ambiguous and conflicting provisions in order to ensure consistency and increase legal certainty.
Remove overly restrictive limitations of freedom of assembly in the Public Order Act. Clearly define the grounds for the police to impose conditions and to restrict assemblies, and narrow the geographic scope of any such restrictions. Shorten the notice period required for public campaign events, and respect the principle of notification as opposed to permission in accordance with the May 2016 judgment of the Supreme Court.
Election Administration:
The ECZ should rely less on local government officials and local administrative structures and exert greater direct management over all aspects of the electoral process. The development of a permanent independent structure of the ECZ at regional level should be implemented, as well as a temporary independent structure at constituency levels during the immediate period of elections.
The de facto subdivision of a polling station into polling streams should no longer be used. All locations where voters cast ballots should be called polling stations, be duly gazetted and identified by a unique code, with results individually posted and published.
A review of constituency boundaries should be undertaken to ensure that constituencies better reflect population distribution.
Voter Registration:
Consideration should be given to extracting the voter register from a future national population register, included the planned biometric population registry.
The ECZ should ensure that political parties and civil society organisations have access to the final voter register well in advance of the elections, as has historically been the case.
Election Results:
The ECZ should publish individual polling station results for all elections in a timely manner. Scanned polling station results forms could also be published, to further build confidence.
The results management system (RMS) should be assessed for accuracy, timeliness and transparency. Consideration should be given to introducing double-blind data entry, to better ensure data integrity.
Media:
ZNBC should be transformed into a public service broadcaster enjoying full editorial independence from government. Protection of tenure of the board of directors and senior management should be guaranteed, who should be appointed in a transparent manner, with the involvement of media professionals and civil society organizations.
News and content management staff should also be appointed in a manner protected from political interference, and be subject to public interest rules. The ECZ should exercise enhanced oversight over the public media, and more actively address complaints related to campaign coverage.
Complaints and Appeals:
The right to effective remedy should be enhanced by clarification of the rules and procedures for complaints, for local, parliamentary and presidential elections. The rules on which courts have jurisdiction should be unambiguous. The competencies and procedures for conflict management committees (CMCs) should be defined in detail and ensure that they do not overlap with those of police and the courts.
The EU EOM was present in Zambia between 29 June and 12 September 2016, following invitations from the Government of the Republic of Zambia and the Electoral Commission of Zambia.
In total, the mission deployed 124 observers across the country from all 28 EU Member States, as well as Norway and Canada, making it the largest international observation mission for the elections. The mission assessed the extent to which the electoral process complied with Zambia’s national, regional and international commitments for elections.
The Final Report with the Recommendations is available at: www.eueomzambia.eu
The elections were very free and fair. UPND and their Kaponya (HH) lost shamefully. Try your luck in 2021 minions
Time wasters, Not interested. Everything is set for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hear UPND’s petition. These (ICC lawyers) are people who can’t be sold or bought like our F00LISH judges e.g Chulu Esau……
This is all you got, everyday posting a ka monotonous comment, you ka comment jas become obsolete, same flow from morning till you sh *t in bed.
Imwe bantu so we shall go to the ICC to do what?
So these elections were not stolen from anyone. Bring chibwantu we drink again!
Empty Skull (Halloween). If the UPND lost terribly, how come your drunkard refused to leave State House as the Constitution demands during a dispute of the elections. Why did he stick to State House like a bug sticks to an animal. Wasn’t it because he wanted to command the final decision of your useless and hopeless so-called Constitutional Court. Why did he fear handing over to Mr Matibini. Skull, I am still waiting a response from you on the Privatisation of Zambian Parastatals including the mines. I gave you the names of people who were involved sadly, it’s only Enoch Kavindele who is still alive, he was commerce minister that time. But there is no harm in ressurecting the dead in courts of law. A case, especially criminal case does not rot. They should be tried posthumously not…
EU obsever mission has concluded that Lungu and his PF stooges indeed rigged the elections. All those flaws highlighted by EU observer mission are concrete evidence that PF rigged the elections and Lungu is an illegal president.
With this report Lungu and his PF will sweat to attract investment and donor funding just like Mugabe’s Zimbabwe.
Very soon Lungu will tell BOZ to print promisory notes to pay contractors and government suppliers as there is no money left.
I am going to write to President Trump to sort out this illegal Zambian dictator Lungu.
What would be the recommendations for DRC Congo elections if a peaceful country like Zambia can have 33 recommendations? Sometimes these institutions take countries that have peaceful people like *****s. In addition some of these recommendations are being implemented by the country. Publishing of results per polling station is being done already. Constituency demarcation is being done. Poverty is truely not a nice thing. You will be told to do things that you are already doing so that the owner of the money shouts out loud.
Am waiting for the EU report on Trump’s rigging of the American elections, and an explanation of how Latinos in Florida voted for Trump………. and why the womenfolk abandoned Hillary after Trump repeatedly insulted them throught the campaign period
@1.8 Wanu Ngwee
The Americans are big enough to fight their own battles. The EU does not need to intervene.
@wanugwe how do you feel when you are called diporables,racist and uneducated when you a Trump supporter? The same thing happened to people who called others kaponyas and ignorant for liking a certain party.Next time be humble when begging for votes from kaponyas and economically ignorant people
@comrade Kudos come 2021 we are winning again! Already President Donald Trump an admirer of the late Great MCS is in office and as such we expect Zambia to take a front seat in African relations with the US!!!
The Hungry Hyena and GBV will self destruct by 2021, they will fall into a cesspit of rotting carcasses that only a greedy Hungry Hyena and its horde of blood thirsty animals would be silly enough to do.
I see,
Of us Zambians we saw and know more than what EU observers know.
So this is not even news; in some cases it is a misinterpretation of the events that took place.
One example of misinterpretation is that of the Post News paper.
How can the Post restrict itself as a media body?
No one restricted the Post but they chose to restrict themselves by evading tax.
Can EU tell us that the post had no case, but were merely victimized?
That is very subjective reporting; they should have said the private media got reduced because one of them was not paying tax.
Not saying victimised, are they telling me that if I drive a stolen car and it is discovered and seized from me then I am victimized?
@1.10 Just relaxing in bed
The irony is, they were indeed “deporables, racist and uneducated…”. Her error lay elsewhere. Otherwise, Donald Trump was equally guilty of political incorrectness with respect to Muslim Extremists.
Peace for Zambia thank you. The Post was not victimised but they victimised themselves by not paying taxes.Zambians are not suprised. When they were running the airline what did they do? They collected departure taxes om behalf of GRZwhich they never remitted to GRZ. Same behaviour at Post. How do you then cry victimisation when GRZ demands money which the Post as an agent collected on their behalf.. to crown it all they have the guts to call other people corrupt…who is more corrupt i ask??
Good observations and recommendations. I like the idea of individual polling stations making public their results. This will definitely enhance transparency. There will be no more accusations of ECZ manipulating the results.
That is what it used to be.I do not why this year it did not happen
This is being done
This was done specifically to allow massive rigging of results in Lusaka. There’s no single genuinely signed and witnessed Gen 13 and ECz 19 forms for presidential elections in Lusaka. PF know that and ECZ know that. The fake ones that ECZ now have were filled in 2 days after results with no witnesses.
Time wasters, Not interested. Everything is set for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hear UPND’s petition. These (ICC lawyers) are people who can’t be sold or bought like our F00LISH judges e.g Chulu Esau
Useless EU. These traitors are just good at eating allowance money. I used to do alot of project work for EU and the money is really good as long as you stick to what will lead to warmer relations for both EU and the country in which you are working. If the same conclusions were arrived in a european country, those elections would have been nullified and recounts demanded. But because you are a third world country, and the europeans dont expect any thing good from you, they will give you silly recommendations. Recommendations are not binding. The PF will attempt the same tricks and crookedness. However, the only difference is that should we catch pf thugs tampering with votes we will burn them with tyres.
Even in 2021 when HH loses elections you will not accept the results, it is a genetically inborn disease in all upnd zealots.
Even in 2026 same excuse by perennial loser
Even 2031 the tribal fo.ol will lose as usual
Trump should help to change African leaders mentality of clinging to power even when they have lost the elections. The so called dictators of some African countries should be removed by force like the way Gaddaff and Saddam Husein were removed. The number of dictators in Africa is increasing. Why do they want to stay in power forever? They are chosen to serve the pipo and not to be worshipped.
Inferiority complexes showing their ugly head.
So long one is white skinned, they have the capacity to teach a black person what is too obvious?
Good grief!
I was amazed that even HH was crying to Trump to help Africa, and he hopes to be a President of Zambia one day? My word.
Yes because you are stupid and dull.You Zambians can not use your brains.You use your stinking skulls.Yes you make yourselves inferior because you are stupid and foolish.Why can’t you organised transparent ,free and fair elections?Over 100 000 000 Americans voted and in 24 hours the winner was known.Look at the way the election results and petitions were organised by a corrupt ECZ led by an ***** former judge.
Dununa reverse you were singing ,ow you are crying because they have been dribbled.Go ahead and eat you dirty fitenge you were fighting for.You can ever burn some at night during load shedding.Ubupuba ,nomba mule cula bakolwe
es because you are stupid and dull.You Zambians can not use your brains.You use your stinking skulls.Yes you make yourselves inferior because you are stupid and foolish.Why can’t you organised transparent ,free and fair elections?Over 100 000 000 Americans voted and in 24 hours the winner was known.Look at the way the election results and petitions were organised by a corrupt ECZ led by an i.d.i.o.t.i.c former judge,chulu.
Dununa reverse you were singing ,ow you are crying because they have been dribbled.Go ahead and eat you dirty fitenge you were fighting for.You can ever burn some at night during load shedding.Ubupuba ,nomba mule cula bakolwe
EU are nothing but toothless bulldogs, this why Britons made a stunner on you, and yesterday Americans made their intentions known and did something bigger than Brexit, if you continue been toothless Trump will definitely pull USA out of NATO.
BTW VOTE NEZ FOR BEST BLOGGER (BB) AWARD FOR LT 2016
Malabishi yeka yeka iwe NEZ…worse than sewer water!
dont jealous me
keep zii u id.ot or go drink chibwantu
The only reason the American Electoral System works is because they have made it nearly impossible for anyone to steal votes. African countries could do the same if they wanted to.
They stole the vote from Al Gore . . . .
@8.1 Kapaso Wa Mpezeni
Very true indeed. And that is why I am using the term: “nearly impossible.” It is not impossible. It’s only difficult. The technicality with the Al Gore case is that it was a Supreme Court ruling. Otherwise, the verification process in Florida was still on-going. It was stopped prematurely after the intervention by the Supreme Court.
It’s interesting to note that the a number of concerns that need attention have been raised. What is paramount, however, is that those concerns do not discredit the outcome of the elections. The EU endorses the outcome of the elections, i.e. the will of the over 50 percent plus 1. Instead of rushing to congratulate president elect Trump, acknowledge that ECL won the elections. And work with him as Hillary pledged to work with Trump. That’s leadership. Chapwa
You couldn’t have put it any better Kalemba! Isntead others prefer swinging from one ”tennis court” to another like monkeys in the jungle! Elections were free and fair, that’s what I get from EU!
Only winners of transparent elections deserve to be congratulated,those who steal votes shall be hugged by other thieves.
:With a small number of registered voters, it took 5days for Zambia to announce the election result and with guilty faces.
@10 Jason
They needed that much more time in order to perfect the rigging process.
@Jason we’re not America and instead of looking down ourselves let’s just improve with time. Even in USA there are electoral disputes. Right now there are protests in New York and other states against the Trump victory in those states.
You cant improve by stealing votes but by doing the right thing.Taking 5days to count 3million votes is not improving.In 1991 moving from a one party state it tooks only 2days to have all the results because there was no desire by those in power to cheat.20yrs later when we are sopposed to be improving its taking 5days.What a shame.
Iwe 2015 Edgar stole while Scott was the president.
There’s very little to improve upon when the electoral system is being run by thieves and crooks. It’s like improving Mafia rigging systems. People like Chulu and Isaacs are just concerned about preserving their jobs, not the people’s will. As long as these crooks are running the system, these “inadvertent” weaknesses will continue.
There are no disputes. Protests are provided for in the US constitution.
NEZ you sound sensible. African people have complex problems. africans are better off to be ruled or enslaved by european powers. we might have natural resources but we wait for europeans or asians to come and extract them. we have no ability of turning copper ore into copper then into finished products.
we can only make imbabula 50 years after. no brains in africa that is why presidents don’t want to loose elections or worse to step down.
Speak for yourself. If you are dumb it is on you, not all of us.
The truth is there few African leaders who are doing well. It looks like we are cursed just admit it. It is not about inferiority complex we are very selfish. Whatever we touch it is disaster.
Here is a fact: Haiti and US won independence at about the same time. US is now the number one power in the world while Haiti is at the bottom of the world pecking order. Guess which country is run by blacks? Cultural chaos is a real curse against Africans.
Buck Teeth, they ensured Haiti suffered, because Haiti gave the other nations in the Caribbean a reason to fight.
The report is good and to the point. But the anomalies, malpractices and imbalances in the August 11 elections were too obvious to ignore. The recommendations in the report simply tell us that the elections lacked merit
The recommendations are what make an election free & fair and they were absent in the last election
THIS REPORT WAS WRITTEN BY THAT BLACK WOMAN, VERY BLACK WOMAN AND IT TELLS YOU VOLUMES. THIS EU WAS CHASED FROM SOME OF THE COUNTING CENTRES IN LUSAKA AND THIS CALL THIS FREE AND FAIR!!!! THEY ARE *****S.
How come the EU doesn’t send it’s observers to monitor elections in the US? Is Africa that bad after seeing what’s happening in the US? EU must not think Africa of ten years ago is the same today and if not careful, more will pull out like UK did.
@16 Danger
What are you talking about? There is no rigging in US elections. In Africa, that is rampant.
What are you saying? Trump himself told us the election would be rigged. Yes it was rigged
@16.2 Mwale
How interesting that you say so! I don’t consider Donald Trump to be normal up-stairs; neither what he says seriously.
The Chief observer is a black person and you expect some good out of her? There’re are a few black people with the ability to do the right thing in a situation like that e.g Ireen Mambilima. That woman in the picture doesn’t strike me as a honest person. Bring an indigenous European to come and do European work in Africa. Most black people just want to make profit out of everything they do. Hence they are usually compromised souls.
Talk about an inferiority complex! Since when did you become a spokesperson for back people. You most certainly don’t represent me and the many honest, sincere and hardworking black people.
The kind of inferiority complex that makes an African think he can never rely on his brain. Through our stoopid education systems we ve produced people who think only the white man can think for them
I think the report is worth for toilet only as it adds no value. EU are bluffing in the above report. Only God will save us from PF lunatics. Though the enemy arrogantly mocks, God will surely come through for us.
@meitengu …Americans are protesting alleging the election has been rigged by hacking. Why do you glorify other countries and demonise yours
@19 Ndanje khakis
Those protesting are doing so after the fact. Donald J. Trump won fair and square, a democratically conducted election. Those protesting are in denial. Ignorance is also part of their story. Otherwise, by alleging that the election was “rigged by hacking,” they are fabricating a lie which they cannot substantiate. The Democrats misread the mood of the electorate. Thankfully, they have conceded defeat.
But your HH can’t fabricate a lie. Just prepare for 2021 with a new approach.
@19.2 Ndanje khakis
Ndanje, you are comparing apples with oranges. HH had solid evidence in support of his allegations. Simply let sleeping dogs lie. It’s wise not to reopen a can of worms.
What solid evidence 2015 Guy Scott was president but you still claimed Edgar had stolen your vote. Just change your strategy and I hope you don’t recruit Kambwili for the Bemba vote.
@19.4 Ndanje khakis
You sound agitated. Does this mean that you failed to catch a glimpse of all that drama during this year’s election and soon after, or may we look elsewhere for an explanation?
@19.4 Ndanje khakis
Ndanje, what fellowship has light with darkness; our president, Edgar Lungu with Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni?
it took them more than three months to write such a useless report only after they have heard the issue is going to icj malabishi however there was no free and fair full stop
Dombwa, you’re waiting your precious admirable thought line inteintellect in thinking about the ICC adjudication on the election results. Be sober and come to your right senses. Guys use your intellect to judge matters right. the EU has given their opinion let’s respect that though it won’t change facts on the winner.
Will they give a similar report to Washington on the TrumpHillary election? Should Zambia pass to Europe its recommendations on the Germany France UK elections?
So Lungu is an illegal Zambian president. European observer team report has concluded that elections in Zambia did not reflect the free and fair status of elections. The EU report points out several fundamental principles that were either non compliant or non exist to merit the Zambian elections in Zambia free, fair and credible. This is confirmed by the non swearing of Lungu’s falsehood win by the chief justice who declined to be party to the sham elections.
After 52 years of independence Zambia still gets lectures of conducting credible elections from out side, what a shame. Lets hope Zambians have now well understood where we belong as a nation. Unable to be self-managing, need money from outside to hold elections and do not even know how to hold elections. This shames me as a…
CNN vehemently campaigned for Hillary and demonised Trump. Photos of Trump portrayed him like a rabid dog ready to bite at an instance. They covered him in the negative. All was glory about Hillary even when she showed signs of pneumonia. ZNBC will also only change if we see the fairness in CNN reporting. Meantime,each country sails according to their drumming. No judging it has finally dawned on us that humanity has common greed.
@24 Bobochani
Yes, indeed. Humans just happen to be humans; no significant differences exist.
I wish there was a provision in our constitution for a president of tongas, we would be saved from this non-ending donkey rhetoric. Within two days of elections the Americans are moving forward, political enemies who insulted each other just two days ago are already promising to help each other in tackling the national challenges. In Zambia? Well, we all know u5 don’t we? When is God taking this u5 into his custody kanshi mwebantu? Police custody has certainly failed.
Unchain the ECZ from the disastrous PF government.
waste of my time.
Whatever you say if HH continues with his tribal strategy which includes recruiting overblown bembas like GBM, he will cry even more in 2021
Hilary Clinton believes that Donald Trump run a dirty campaign but concedes that in terms of the Electoral College system Donald Trump won the election outright. Although Hilary Clinton won the popular vote she accepts that based on the American electoral college system Donald Trump won the election and should be given a chance to govern the USA. Hilary Clinton is not accusing Donald Trump of rigging the elections and accepts that Americans have spoken and have made a choice. On that basis Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama have no difficulties in recognising Donald Trump’s Presidency even though they still think that Donald Trump is unsuitable to be President of USA. In contrast and in Zambia HH & GBM petetioned the results and the re-election of the President Elect,Edgar Lungu. Concourt…
@30 Cheembe
Did Mrs. Clinton tell you all this?
Case closed until 2021.
In Zambia it will be difficult to hold peaceful elections as long as institutions like ECZ remain compromised. Let ECZ establish permanent structures at district and provincial levels in order to enhance its credibility in the conduction and running of elections.
We want a detailed report on the USA presidential election. The report must be virgin and sincere. The post-election demos and riots should also be investigated to expose the causes.
@33 pink toe
You are talking. But who would you designate to provide such a report?
Rubbish, in Zambia there was no riots but in USA there is, so what does it mean? It means Zambia had free and fair elections than USA period. Just as it is now we are moving forward. And do not compare Zambia to USA, we still very very young in terms of every thing, USA is having a 50 + president compared to Zambia with a 6th president. when it comes to counting of votes USA has got all the machines and resources that they can use but what about Zambia what do we have we can not even post results electronically, so please do not compare Zambia with USA.
@34 lemba
In Zambia, you protest, they gun you down – full-stop – no questions asked. It means that the people in the US have more freedom of expression.