Elections 2011

We are delighted that the will of the electorate was eventually permitted to prevail and Zambia has continued in her democratic tradition of a peaceful handover of power from the ruling party to the opposition. It is good that political leaders were able to put the national interest before party advantage. "Now the Lord is Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom." (2 Cor 3:17) - an appropriate verse for Zambia at this time we think. This blog is compiled from notes made over election day and the count afterwards.

Election Day dawned on Tuesday 20 September and there were three long and orderly queues at Mwandi. Pastor Percy and the Reverend Mwanda were there as Church Monitors for the Mwandi Constituency. The
Returning Officer for our Constituency is another old friend, the former and now-retired District Director of Health, another Church Member and Anamoyo. Before 0700h we were visited by a brother from the Mens Christisan Fellowship (MCF) who had been queuing since 0430h with many others to vote as soon as the polls opened at 0600h. He showed us the indelible purple ink on his thumbnail. He reckoned that if voting continued like it was doing then most of Mwandi would have voted by lunch-time. There were no results that night but Electoral Commission promised the final results in 48 hours from the close of polls.

Next morning on 21st we hear that Sata is doing well in Northern, Luapula, Copperbelt and Lusaka. This is by Parallel Tabulation of Votes (PTV - counting of votes by observers before official declaration, used as a check) not official results. One of the strengths of the Zambian system is that the votes are counted locally with locals verifying the count at each polling place and the results posted outside for all to see. These results are then texted to all the Parties’ Constituency and National HQs. The Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC - state broadcaster and mouthpiece of the governing party) is playing solemn music and vainly advising people to listen to it and not to social networks or the private media as only the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) can officially declare results. Zambian Watchdog, Lusaka Times, Tumfweko and the Zambian Economist are the best sites for us living in the bush with dongles. They cover a wide spectrum of political opinion. Bantu Watch is being jammed at the moment as is the Post. Muvi TV and QFM Radio in Lusaka and the towns are apparently doing a commendable job in keeping the nation informed on what is actually going on.

The Patriotic Front (PF) are likely to pick up Mongu Central in Western. With us, United Party for National Development (UPND) (Hakainde Hichilem) won Mulobezi and Sesheke. It is suggested Banda will hold on
in Central and North West Province but with a reduced majority. There may be a few PF gains in Eastern but (the ruling) Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) should hold on there too. It is still too close to call.

There have still been no results from the Electoral Commission so it is suspected that there may be some rigging going on. There has been some rioting in Solwezi, Kanyama and John Laing in Lusaka. The rest of the country seems quiet. There have been a number of electoral malpractices exposed so that is good. At Lusaka Civic Centre there were reports of electoral officers altering results. Zambian Watchdog is the best site. Bantu Watch is being jammed at the moment as was the Post yesterday. The ECZ finally announces that the results for president in 33 seats out of 150 which gives Sata 140 000 lead over Banda.

After this the ECZ website is hacked into, PTV Presidential results for over 100 seats were posted. This was closed down and so the ECZ website became inaccessible.

On Thursday at 1800h after 116/150 constituencies have been verified the Electoral Commission announced Michael Sata had 44.4%, Rupiah Banda MMD 36.1% Hakainde Hichilema UNPD 15.5% Of the 34 left 19 were being 'verified' at HQ and the other 16 results were being awaited. As usual Godfrey Miyanda, Edith Nawakwi & Kenneth Kaunda's son are also-rans.

Last night the MMD went to court and got an injunction to prevent the private media from publishing results until they are announced by the ECZ.

There has been unrest today (Thursday) in the Copperbelt (mainly Kitwe & Ndola) Kasama and Nakonde and some compounds in Lusaka but things have quietened down again this evening. The main fear from the opposition is that there will be rigging to ensure the MMD stays in office. The MMD are refusing to concede till the fat lady sings. There are also complaints that the ECZ is being too slow and allowing the ruling party to massage and manipulate the results. On the whole the elections have been free but not really fair as the ruling party has mobilised many of the resources of the State in their party campaign.

In Western Province many of the former MMD seats are now in the hands of the UNPD. An exception is Mwandi where the former Social Welfare Minister Michael Kaingu was surprisingly returned with a 2000 majority.

The next ECZ Intimation is to be at 2200h. In the meantime more solemn music and finally a cheesy film from our national broadcaster. However, there was great activity behind the scenes. The Chairwoman of the Electoral Commission was put under great pressure by the ruling party not to announce the result. She threatened to resign. The other Presidential candidates stormed the Mulungushi National Counting Centre and insisted that the final result be declared as their results showed that Michael Sata had won.Also from the social networks we learned that at 2030h President Banda had left the Presidential Palace for State Lodge and that State Security had passed to Michael Sata.

This appeared to be the case as there were reports of a PF Victory Cavalcade headed by Silvia Musebo and company winding their way through the streets of Lusaka. Again from these sources we heard at 2130h President Banda had formally conceded defeat. We read a post that at 2255h the Chief Justice as Returning Officer for the Presidential Elections was called to Mulungushi Centre. Two hours late the Electoral Commission announced the final results for the Presidency. 143/150 seats Michael Sata received 1 150 045 votes (43%) Rupiah Banda 961 796 (36%) Hakainde Hichilem 489 944 18.5% There are 7 seats remaining but their numbers will not affect the final outcome. Sata wins the presidency but a hung parliament seems likely from the National Assembly results.

The success of this election depended on hundreds of professional and reliable hard-working people who were committed to the democratic process, who diligently checked through, sorted and counted all the ballot papers and with others ensured that an honest job was done despite attempts by a few to spoil this. We are grateful too for patriotic Zambians of integrity who kept the people informed of what was going on behind closed doors. And our thanks as well to the millions of Zambians and friends of Zambia worldwide who prayed for this nation and for the Lord’s peace and presence to felt and to be close to all especially at this time.