THE warning sounded by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) could not be more timely or urgent. ACC Director General Daphne Chabu’s assurance that the law will be enforced with “total, blind impartiality” is reassuring.
The credibility of our democracy depends on the integrity of our elections. Electoral corruption, however, goes beyond the traditional image of vote buying through cash, food, or gifts.
In Zambia, it has morphed into a much simple and aggressive form. Corruption is now taking a more subtle but equally dangerous form, and that form is deceptive politics. We are increasingly witnessing desperate political leaders making wild statements and grand promises that are neither realistic nor anchored in their manifestos. The UPND government can be held accountable to a clear policy document and manifesto.
The same cannot be easily said of some promises coming from the opposition, many of which appear vague and difficult to measure.
Some cannot be held accountable because their promises exist only in speeches, not in policy documents. The mere sight of cheering crowds appears enough to excite them into making reckless pronouncements and outrageous claims. This, too, is corruption; corruption of public trust.
Leadership should be about honesty, responsibility and solutions, not theatrical declarations designed to manipulate emotions. Elections are meant to be contests of ideas, policies and vision, not platforms for selling wild fantasy which can’t even be tracked!
The pronouncements being made by some of the leaders are alarming, to say the least. You can see through them. You can see through the lies. And some of these pronouncements are being made by individuals who occupied senior positions in the previous administration and had every opportunity to implement the very proposals they are now advancing. What has changed? More worrying is the willingness of some political actors to openly promise the release of individuals serving jail terms for corruption-related offences, as though it’s a rescue mission or accountability itself is negotiable. Such pronouncements send a dangerous message: that corruption can be pardoned for political convenience. It must not! A nation cannot fight corruption while simultaneously rewarding those found wanting. Justice cannot be subjected to campaign rhetoric. The rule of law must remain sacred.
No two ways about it. The ACC’s decision to deploy specialised monitoring units across the country, working alongside the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), the Police, the Financial Intelligence Centre and the Drug Enforcement Commission, is commendable. This coordinated approach is essential in identifying and dismantling networks of bribery, intimidation and manipulation before they poison the electoral process. We also think that institutions alone cannot carry this burden. Political parties must campaign on issues that genuinely matter to citizens such as jobs, education, healthcare, economic growth and national unity. Citizens too, must reject handouts and refuse to trade their future for short-term gain. ECZ has strengthened conflict management committees across all 116 districts and introduced early warning systems to report violence and corruption.
These tools are only as effective as the willingness of citizens to use them. Silence in the face of malpractice is complicity. The stakes are too high in this election. Violence, intimidation, hate speech and corruption threaten not only electoral credibility but national unity itself. Zambia’s democratic journey since 2021 has been defined by constitutional order.
That legacy must be protected. Politics should never become a weapon that divides us. It should unite us around ideas, development and shared national aspirations. When corruption is allowed to infiltrate our polls, whether through money, manipulation or false promises, politics becomes toxic, trust in institutions erodes, and the social fabric weakens.
As we head to the polls, all stakeholders must rise above personal ambition and place Zambia first. Political leaders must embrace issue-based campaigns rooted in truth and accountability. Institutions must enforce the law fairly and professionally. Citizens must reject corruption in all its forms – both the envelope of cash and the seductive lie. The will of the people must prevail. And that will must never be bought, bullied, or deceived.
Corruption should not mar polls
THE warning sounded by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) could not be more timely or urgent. ACC Director General Daphne Chabu’s assurance that the law will be enforced with “total, blind impartiality” is reassuring.
The credibility of our democracy depends on the integrity of our elections. Electoral corruption, however, goes beyond the traditional image of vote buying through cash, food, or gifts.
In Zambia, it has morphed into a much simple and aggressive form. Corruption is now taking a more subtle but equally dangerous form, and that form is deceptive politics. We are increasingly witnessing desperate political leaders making wild statements and grand promises that are neither realistic nor anchored in their manifestos. The UPND government can be held accountable to a clear policy document and manifesto.
The same cannot be easily said of some promises coming from the opposition, many of which appear vague and difficult to measure.
Some cannot be held accountable because their promises exist only in speeches, not in policy documents. The mere sight of cheering crowds appears enough to excite them into making reckless pronouncements and outrageous claims. This, too, is corruption; corruption of public trust.
Leadership should be about honesty, responsibility and solutions, not theatrical declarations designed to manipulate emotions. Elections are meant to be contests of ideas, policies and vision, not platforms for selling wild fantasy which can’t even be tracked!
The pronouncements being made by some of the leaders are alarming, to say the least. You can see through them. You can see through the lies. And some of these pronouncements are being made by individuals who occupied senior positions in the previous administration and had every opportunity to implement the very proposals they are now advancing. What has changed? More worrying is the willingness of some political actors to openly promise the release of individuals serving jail terms for corruption-related offences, as though it’s a rescue mission or accountability itself is negotiable. Such pronouncements send a dangerous message: that corruption can be pardoned for political convenience. It must not! A nation cannot fight corruption while simultaneously rewarding those found wanting. Justice cannot be subjected to campaign rhetoric. The rule of law must remain sacred.
No two ways about it. The ACC’s decision to deploy specialised monitoring units across the country, working alongside the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), the Police, the Financial Intelligence Centre and the Drug Enforcement Commission, is commendable. This coordinated approach is essential in identifying and dismantling networks of bribery, intimidation and manipulation before they poison the electoral process. We also think that institutions alone cannot carry this burden. Political parties must campaign on issues that genuinely matter to citizens such as jobs, education, healthcare, economic growth and national unity. Citizens too, must reject handouts and refuse to trade their future for short-term gain. ECZ has strengthened conflict management committees across all 116 districts and introduced early warning systems to report violence and corruption.
These tools are only as effective as the willingness of citizens to use them. Silence in the face of malpractice is complicity. The stakes are too high in this election. Violence, intimidation, hate speech and corruption threaten not only electoral credibility but national unity itself. Zambia’s democratic journey since 2021 has been defined by constitutional order.
That legacy must be protected. Politics should never become a weapon that divides us. It should unite us around ideas, development and shared national aspirations. When corruption is allowed to infiltrate our polls, whether through money, manipulation or false promises, politics becomes toxic, trust in institutions erodes, and the social fabric weakens.
As we head to the polls, all stakeholders must rise above personal ambition and place Zambia first. Political leaders must embrace issue-based campaigns rooted in truth and accountability. Institutions must enforce the law fairly and professionally. Citizens must reject corruption in all its forms – both the envelope of cash and the seductive lie. The will of the people must prevail. And that will must never be bought, bullied, or deceived.