ECZ Orders Fresh Parliamentary Election For Mandevu After Totalling Centre Attack

LUSAKA, 28 August 2026: The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has resolved to hold a fresh parliamentary election in Mandevu Constituency, Lusaka District, after a security incident left the constituency unable to declare a winner for its National Assembly seat. In a press release dated 28 August and signed by Chief Electoral Officer Brown Kasaro, the ECZ said the decision follows a report from the Lusaka District Electoral Officer, dated 18 August, describing an attack on the Mandevu totalling centre during the aggregation of results after the 13 August general election. According to the report, unknown individuals destroyed the result transmission kits and left with the constituency's documentation, leaving the returning officer unable to declare the National Assembly result. The ECZ has not yet set a date for the fresh election. It says one will be communicated in due course. Mandevu has 123,459 registered voters and was contested by 10 candidates in the 13 August poll, according to the ECZ's results portal. Police have separately confirmed the theft of an ECZ laptop from Mandevu around the same period. Deputy Inspector General of Police for Operations Fred Hamaamba said officers traced a vehicle allegedly used by the suspects after tip offs from the public. The suspect abandoned the vehicle and fled when officers intercepted it. Police recovered the laptop along with other items from the vehicle. Hamaamba said the vehicle's registration plates were fake and that investigations are continuing. The fresh election applies only to Mandevu's National Assembly seat. Under Zambia's electoral system, the President, Members of Parliament and local government representatives (mayors, council chairpersons and councillors) are elected on separate ballots on the same day, each counted and declared through its own process. By-elections are held only when the office of an MP, mayor, council chairperson or councillor becomes vacant or, as in Mandevu's case, cannot be de