The Electoral Commission of Zambia has rejected claims that it unlawfully handed proportional representation seats belonging to the opposition NRPUP to the ruling UPND. The Commission says the opposition party lost the seats by failing to submit a full list of nominees within the period set by law.
The row began with allegations by former diplomat Mr Emmanuel Mwamba, who accused the Commission on his Facebook page of unlawfully allocating the seats — a reallocation he framed as the product of political collusion or deliberate manipulation of the PR process.
The redistribution of seats arising from a failure to submit a party list is a requirement of the law and not an act of political favouritism or manipulation.
— Mr Brown Kasaro, Chief Electoral Officer, in the Commission's statement
Mr Kasaro pointed to Section 36C(1) of the Electoral Process (Amendment) Act No. 12 of 2026, which requires a qualifying party to submit its party list within seven days of the distribution of PR seats, and to Section 36C(9), which directs the Commission to redistribute a vacant seat to another qualifying party using the formula in Section 36B where that window is missed. The Commission said it met both qualifying parties to explain the requirements, and that the NRPUP knew how many seats it was entitled to but submitted fewer nominees than required.
The dispute concerns seats in the new National Assembly, whose First Session President Hichilema opened on Friday 9 October with a tribute to the 20 women, 15 youths and five persons with disabilities allocated under the Mixed-Member Proportional Representation system. Opposition unease runs wider than the mechanics: National Democratic Congress president Ms Saboi Imboela said the current Parliament was basically a one-party state because members of other parties had been compromised — an increased Parliament, she said, with a reduced voice.
It is against that backdrop that British High Commissioner Ms Rebecca Terzeon, speaking shortly after Friday's opening, said the opposition in Parliament must be allowed to operate effectively so that it can hold the Executive to account. She also urged that recommendations from election observation missions be taken seriously — several international missions, including a European Union mission that deployed 100 observers, monitored the August elections and committed to issuing recommendations once post-election processes conclude.
The President, for his part, told the House his administration would protect democratic institutions, uphold the rule of law and tolerate no lawlessness regardless of political affiliation. The opposition's footprint in the Chamber is also being tested in the courts: election petitions in Kwacha, Zambezi East and Zambezi Central are due for judgment in November, one of them challenging the election of an NRPUP MP.
Sources: Lusaka Times, “ECZ Defends Handing NRPUP's Vacant Proportional Representation Seats To UPND” (12 Oct 2026); Zambian Observer, “ECZ dismisses allegations of manipulation of proportional representation seats” (12 Oct 2026); Lusaka Times, “Let The Opposition Hold The Executive To Account, British High Commissioner Says” (12 Oct 2026); News Diggers, “ECZ dismisses manipulation of PR seats: “NRPUP failed to submit a party list”” (12 Oct 2026).