ZAMBIA’S VOTE UNDER SIEGE: NRPUP AND TONSE ALLIANCE ACCUSE ECZ OF PLOTTING TO HAND 2026 ELECTION TO UPND
ZAMBIA’S VOTE UNDER SIEGE: NRPUP AND TONSE ALLIANCE ACCUSE ECZ OF PLOTTING TO HAND 2026 ELECTION TO UPND
By Alfred Chimba
_Lusaka | 8th July 2026_
The National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity and the Tonse PF Pamodzi Alliance went on the offensive in Lusaka on Tuesday, accusing the Electoral Commission of Zambia and the ruling UPND of working hand in hand to manipulate the 2026 General Election.
Speaking on behalf of both parties, Tonse Alliance Deputy Secretary General for Voter Protection Mr. Kennedy Kamba told journalists that what is unfolding is not incompetence, but a deliberate plan to steal the vote.
He said Zambians must not sit back while democracy is taken away in broad daylight.
At the center of the allegations is ECZ’s decision to run an online-only system for accrediting polling agents. Mr. Kamba argued that the system is already failing and that it is being used to lock opposition agents out.
He claimed the Commission intends to wait until just three days before polling day to begin accreditation, a timing he said mirrors what happened in Tanzania. With most rural areas having little or no network, he said forcing agents to use an online portal is rigging by design.
The Alliance also alleged that ECZ and UPND have quietly started accrediting ruling party-aligned agents while opposition teams remain stranded. “There has not been a single ECZ official deployed on the ground. There is no fallback plan.
Time is running out and ECZ is silent,” Mr. Kamba said. He demanded that the Commission scrap the online-only approach immediately and send officials to every district to begin physical accreditation for all parties, fairly and without delay.
The statement also went after what it called a secret operation in Northern Province to capture the election machinery. Mr. Kamba alleged that senior education and council officials in Kasama and Mungu are recruiting UPND-aligned teachers to work as election officials. He further claimed that UPND card-carrying members have been appointed as presiding officers in the province.
To him, this proves that civil servants are being dragged into partisan politics at the expense of neutrality. “Teachers must teach. Civil servants must serve all Zambians, not one political party. The evidence is with us, and those involved will be held to account,” he warned.
The Alliance also addressed the recent violence in Kaputa that led to the suspension of campaigns. Mr. Kamba said NRPUP had no hand in it, alleging instead that both the individual linked to the violence and the person who died were UPND members.
He called it an internal UPND dispute and rejected attempts to pin the blame on the opposition.
Grief and anger were also evident as the parties condemned the killing of 32-year-old Nelson Chilubi from John Laing Township in Lusaka. Mr. Kamba said Mr. Chilubi was allegedly murdered by suspected UPND cadres simply for playing a song by Tonse Alliance President Brian Mundubile.
“A man lost his life over a song. That is the level of political intolerance we are dealing with,” he said. He called on the Zambia Police Service to update the nation on the investigation and arrest those responsible, and challenged UPND leadership to denounce the killing publicly.
The two parties ended with a list of demands. They want ECZ Chairperson Madam Mwangala Zalomis to explain why the online system is failing, why no physical accreditation has started, and when opposition agents will be accredited.
They also want Police to act swiftly on the Chilubi murder, investigate civil servants implicated in Northern Province, and guarantee that all parties can campaign without intimidation.
“Zambians deserve to know how and when a fair accreditation process will happen,” Mr. Kamba said. “We will not accept an election where our agents are locked out, where civil servants are turned into party agents, and where people are killed for their political choices. This election must be free, it must be fair, it must be transparent. And it will not be stolen.
We are watching, and we will defend the vote. Aluta Continua!”
