Tonse Alliance Presidential Affairs Chairperson, former Nkana […]

Tonse Alliance Presidential Affairs Chairperson, former Nkana Member of Parliament and Movement for Good Governance leader, has indicated that the main opposition, using the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Progress (NRPUP) as its electoral vehicle, has developed mechanisms capable of detecting and significantly reducing any attempts to manipulate the outcome of the 2026 General Election.

Speaking in an interview with Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Mpundu said electoral malpractice should never be normalized because it is fundamentally a criminal act that seeks to undermine the will of the people.

“First of all, we should not even be discussing the issue of rigging because rigging is not part of an election,” he said.

Mpundu stated that elections are designed to reflect the choices of citizens and not to provide a platform for individuals seeking to remain in power through unlawful means.

“Rigging is only done by people who have failed to govern and who are desperate to hold on to power by all illegal means,” he said.

Mpundu told ZBT that despite the ideal expectation of free and fair elections, history has shown that attempts to interfere with electoral processes often emerge when governments become uncertain about public support.

Meanwhile, he said the opposition remains alert and is receiving information from concerned citizens who are increasingly willing to expose any suspected schemes aimed at compromising electoral integrity.

“Do we have the capacity? Yes, we do, because right now people are so frustrated that they are volunteering information,” said Mpundu.

He explained that electoral manipulation cannot be executed by a single individual and instead requires networks of people whose activities can be tracked and exposed.

“The point is that you cannot rig alone because to rig, you need to have a team, this one is going to do this and this one is going to do that,” said Mpundu.

He added that opposition leaders are already monitoring certain electoral processes and scrutinizing recruitment patterns linked to individuals expected to manage elections.

“As an example, we are aware of the recruitment of the people who are going to manage elections and where they are being drawn from,” said Mpundu.

He added that the ability to identify such developments demonstrates that opposition political parties possess the capacity to detect irregularities before they can significantly affect the credibility of the electoral process.

“The fact that we can actually detect that there is this scheme being employed tells you that we can actually detect rigging,” said Mpundu.

However, he acknowledged that completely eliminating all forms of electoral malpractice may be difficult but insisted that opposition parties are prepared to minimize any such attempts to the greatest extent possible.

“But can we do it to the full extent? Maybe not to the full extent, but we are equal to the task to just ensure that we reduce it to the maximum,” said Mpundu.

Article by Phillip