The Mandevu by-election will not be held. In a public notice issued on Friday 30 October, the Electoral Commission of Zambia's chief electoral officer, Brown Kasaro, said the commission had received letters of withdrawal dated 28 October from Daniel Chisenga of the Forum for Democracy and Development, Ntazana Musukuma Mutungwa of the Leadership Movement and the independent Daniel Daka, and that under Regulations 20(3) and 52(2) of the Electoral Process (General) Regulations of 2016 the remaining candidate, the UPND's Adrian Banda, would be declared elected with effect from 5 November, the day the poll had been set for. Zambia Monitor and the Times of Zambia both reported the notice; the Times said the letters reached the commission on 29 October and took immediate effect.
will be declared duly elected Member of Parliament of Mandevu Constituency without the need for an election
— Brown Kasaro, Chief Electoral Officer, in the ECZ's public notice of Friday 30 October, as quoted by Zambia Monitor
The notice gave no reasons for the withdrawals and did not say whether the commission had received any complaint about intimidation, Zambia Monitor noted, although the withdrawals followed reported allegations of threats against opposition candidates during the campaign. The Times of Zambia put the result in the context of the House: by its count the UPND now holds 161 seats against 84 for the combined opposition and 20 independents. It also recorded that Mandevu was not the only walkover of the round. In Lumezi North the UPND's Anderson Banda was unopposed after the Leadership Movement's Nebby Manda withdrew, and in the Mbala mayoral race the UPND's Felix Mulwanda was left alone when the Progressive Alliance Party's Pythias Sichitalwe pulled out.
Tonse: cancel it and let us try again
The Tonse Alliance, to which the FDD belongs, does not accept the outcome. Its secretary-general, Muhabi Lungu, told News Diggers that the by-election should be cancelled and the alliance allowed to find a new candidate, calling the sudden withdrawals undemocratic and saying the commission should do the right thing. Lungu also said Chisenga had received a telephone call from the Lusaka Province Minister, Obvious Mwaliteta, who allegedly told him he did not want Chisenga to get into trouble. That is Lungu's account; no response from Mwaliteta appeared in the report, and the regulations the commission cited make no provision for a party to substitute a candidate after a withdrawal. Whether the commission has answered Tonse's request is not reported.
'We can even declare 2031 won'
The government's reading of the episode came from the Vice-President. During Friday's Vice-President's Question Time, News Diggers and the Zambian Observer reported, Mutale Nalumango said the opposition had to be strong and disciplined and should not expect the ruling party to create political space for it. If opposition parties kept entering contests only to withdraw, she said, the UPND could comfortably declare itself the winner of the 2031 general election; a wrestler who runs before the bout starts, she suggested, is not ready to fight. The Observer's report says she questioned why anyone would file nominations and then pull out.
An unexpected voice agreed with her. Harry Kalaba, the Citizens First leader, said in a statement reported by Daily Revelation and carried by the Zambian Observer that the opposition in its present form should forget about forming government in 2031, that there were "too many chancers within the opposition", and that conduct before and after the 13 August election showed personal gain and political ambition taking priority over ordinary Zambians. The Observer also published a column arguing that Kalaba should be questioning what it called the normalisation of intimidation rather than echoing the Vice-President. On Thursday 5 November, meanwhile, the commission's notice says Banda becomes the member for Mandevu.
How Mandevu was decided
- 28 October — withdrawal letters dated by Chisenga (FDD), Mutungwa (Leadership Movement) and Daka (independent)
- 29 October — letters received by the ECZ, with immediate effect, per the Times of Zambia
- 30 October — ECZ public notice: Banda the only validly nominated candidate, to be declared elected
- 5 November — the date the poll had been set for; the declaration takes effect
- Also unopposed: Lumezi North (UPND's Anderson Banda) and the Mbala mayoralty (UPND's Felix Mulwanda), per the Times of Zambia
Confirmed vs. alleged
Confirmed: The ECZ notice, the regulations cited, the three withdrawals and the 5 November effective date are reported by Zambia Monitor and the Times of Zambia. Tonse's call for cancellation is reported by News Diggers. The Vice-President's remarks are reported by News Diggers and the Zambian Observer; Kalaba's statement by Daily Revelation via the Zambian Observer.
Alleged or unverified: Why the three candidates withdrew is not stated in the ECZ notice. Muhabi Lungu's account of a telephone call from Obvious Mwaliteta is an allegation; no response from the minister appeared in the reporting read for this story. Whether the ECZ will respond to Tonse's request is unknown.
Sources: Zambia Monitor, “Mandevu by-election called off. Here's why” (30 Oct 2026); Times of Zambia, “UPND gains Mandevu as contenders withdraw in a dramatic turn of events” (31 Oct 2026); News Diggers, “Cancel Mandevu by-election, allow us to find new candidate, Tonse urges ECZ” (31 Oct 2026); News Diggers, “We can even declare 2031 won if opposition is not disciplined – Veep” (31 Oct 2026); Zambian Observer, “At this rate we can easily declare 2031 already won – Nalumango mocks opposition withdrawals” (31 Oct 2026); Zambian Observer, “I agree with Nalumango that opposition in its current form can't win 2031 polls – Kalaba” (31 Oct 2026).