CSOs Slam SMS Messages Linking Social Cash Transfer To Linda Kasonde

Civil society organisations have condemned reports that text messages were sent to Social Cash Transfer beneficiaries suggesting their continued support depended on voting for President Hakainde Hichilema and the ruling United Party for National Development, describing the tactic as a serious abuse of incumbency ahead of the August 13 election.

In a joint statement, Linda Kasonde, executive director of the LCK Freedom Foundation, said the coalition of organisations was gravely concerned by reports that SMS messages had been sent to members of the public, including registered Social Cash Transfer beneficiaries, urging or suggesting that recipients vote for Hichilema and the ruling party to protect or continue receiving support.

“While we have not independently verified the source, we urge recipients to preserve copies and forward them to the Electoral Commission of Zambia, the Anti-Corruption Commission and our organisations so that the matter can be properly investigated,” the statement read. Kasonde said that if confirmed, the conduct would amount to a serious abuse of incumbency and government position, and the CSOs condemned it “in the strongest terms.”

The Social Cash Transfer programme is a statutory social protection entitlement administered by the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services, funded through public money for the elderly, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable individuals and households. Kasonde stressed that the programme was never intended to serve as a political tool. “It is not, and must never be treated as the property or campaign resource of any political party or candidate,” she said.

The CSOs argued that tying continued benefits to a specific vote choice exploited the economic vulnerability of some of the country’s poorest citizens. “Conditioning or appearing to condition the continuation of a social protection entitlement on how a beneficiary casts their vote is coercive. It exploits the economic vulnerability of some of the poorest citizens in the country,” the statement said.

Beyond the immediate political concern, the organisations raised questions about how the messages reached their targets in the first place, suggesting the contact details used may have originated from a government database compiled solely for programme administration purposes. If confirmed, they said, that would raise serious data protection concerns separate from the electoral abuse allegations.

Kasonde cited Section 83 of the Electoral Process Act, which addresses undue influence, alongside Sections 3(d) and 29, which require equal treatment of candidates. She also flagged possible breaches of the Data Protection Act and the Anti-Corruption Act arising from any misuse of beneficiary information by the UPND.

With the election now just over a week away, the CSOs called for urgent investigations to protect both the integrity of the electoral process and the credibility of the social protection system. “With elections two weeks away, the CSOs said state resources should serve all citizens impartially and called for urgent investigations to protect both the electoral process and social protection,” according to the joint statement.

The allegation lands at a sensitive moment for the ruling party, which has repeatedly pointed to expanded Social Cash Transfer coverage as one of its signature achievements. Government figures show the programme’s monthly grant was recently raised from 800 kwacha to 1,000 kwacha for regular beneficiary households, and to 1,200 kwacha for households with persons with disabilities, an increase welcomed separately by organisations working in rural poverty reduction.

Neither the UPND nor the Ministry of Community Development had issued a direct response to the specific SMS allegations at the time the CSO statement was published. The Electoral Commission of Zambia and Anti-Corruption Commission have not yet indicated whether they have received the forwarded messages referenced in the appeal, or whether any formal investigation has been opened.

The matter is likely to remain a flashpoint in the campaign’s final stretch, particularly given the scale of the Social Cash Transfer programme’s reach among Zambia’s most economically vulnerable households, and the heightened sensitivity around any perceived use of state welfare systems for partisan advantage so close to polling day.

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