‘ECZ declared Mapatizya winner with 10 results missing’
By a Correspondent
THE Livingstone High Court has heard that the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) went ahead to declare a winner in the hotly contested Mapatizya parliamentary election despite results from 10 polling stations missing.
This is in a case in which losing independent candidate Clive Miyanda, who polled 14,330 votes, has petitioned the High Court, challenging the outcome of the August 13 Mapatizya parliamentary election.
UPND candidate Emeldah Munashabantu was declared winner with 14,812 votes.
Miyanda told the court on Friday that figures verified by his campaign team from GEN 20 forms for all 74 polling stations show that he obtained 18,359 votes, and not 14,330 as announced by the ECZ.
He said his analysis of the results announced by the ECZ showed that some figures in which he had obtained more votes than Munashabantu were allegedly attributed to her, while figures attributed to Munashabantu were allegedly recorded in his favour.
He also argued that some of the results the ECZ said were missing were among the results from the 64 polling stations that were eventually announced.
During proceedings, Mapatizya Returning Officer Newton Mudenda testified that violence erupted at Kabanga Secondary School totaling centre shortly after polling ended.
Mudenda said the violence forced the verification and totaling exercise to be moved to Zimba Secondary School away from Mapatizya.
He said during the movement of election materials to Zimba Secondary School, some ballot boxes fell from the convoy and could not immediately be accounted for.
Mudenda said although some of the ballot boxes were later recovered, results from 10 polling stations could not be accounted for.
“… after several hours of searching for the missing results at Zimba Secondary School, which became the new consolidation centre, the documents could not be found and that I subsequently sought guidance from the ECZ, particularly District Electoral Officer Lubinda Mwala, who advised me to consult stakeholders on the way forward,” he said.
Mudenda said stakeholders agreed that results from 64 polling stations be announced, excluding those from the 10 polling stations which could not be accounted for.
The submission by Mudenda was contested by the petitioner’s lawyers who argued that there were no consultations made.
During cross-examination, Mudenda was unable to produce evidence showing that he had personally reported the violence to police.
The court said it would communicate the date for judgment between October 5 and 19, 2026 after the case was closed.
