Voters in Mandevu and Lumezi North will elect Members of Parliament on 5 November because the August general election produced no result in either constituency. Mbala will choose a new mayor after the mayor-elect died days after winning. The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) announced the polls on Friday, together with by-elections in 11 wards, including the crucial Mandevu by-election.

Mandevu’s contest was lost in the days after polling. On 18 August, unknown individuals stormed the Mandevu totalling centre, attacked staff, destroyed result transmission kits and fled with election documents. Ballot papers were later found dumped in drainages and burnt, which left the returning officer unable to declare the National Assembly result for one of Lusaka Province’s key constituencies, leading to the upcoming Mandevu by-election.

Acting on a report from the Lusaka District Electoral Officer dated the same day, ECZ Chief Electoral Officer Brown Kasaro announced at the end of August that the seat would be contested afresh. “In view of this, the Commission has resolved to hold a by-election for Mandevu Constituency, referred to as the Mandevu by-election, on a date to be communicated in due course,” he said.

The Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) and the Anti-Voter Apathy Project backed the decision as consistent with electoral standards where materials have been compromised. The Zambia Civil Liberties Union (ZCLU) challenged the commission’s authority, saying “there is no law that mandates the Electoral Commission of Zambia to cancel and conduct fresh parliamentary elections”. Politician Peter Sinkamba urged the ECZ to extend the fresh poll to Mandevu’s mayoral and councillor elections as well.

Lumezi North’s vacancy goes back to before polling day. Clement Mwale, the parliamentary candidate for the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP) within the Tonse Pamodzi Alliance, died in the early hours of 16 July, after nominations had closed. He had been running against Anderson Banda of the UPND and Nebby Manda of the Leadership Movement.

Under Constitutional Amendment No. 13 of 2025, the death of a candidate after nominations obliges the commission to cancel the election in that constituency, and the sponsoring party then has 30 days to field a replacement. ECZ Commissioner McDonald Chipenzi said at the time that “once a sponsored candidate has died, the Commission is empowered to cancel that election and call for fresh nominations for that party.”

Mbala lost its new mayor within days of the vote. Steward Simutenda, elected on 13 August on the NRPUP ticket, died around midnight on 18 August following an illness, his brother Gabriel Simutenda said. A former Patriotic Front (PF) district chairperson for Mbala, he had been admitted to hospital about a week before polling.

The 11 ward vacancies arose from the deaths of nominated and elected candidates, from wards left uncontested at the general election, and from nominations nullified by the Local Government Elections Tribunal. The wards are Lungwishi in Mansa, Makaba and Nkonge in Chipili, Nachikufu in Mpika, Lubaleshi in Kanchibiya, Maako in Kasempa, Siluwe and Upangoma in Kalabo, Mbeta in Sioma, Mulimambango in Sesheke and Simanvwa in Choma.

Nominations open on Thursday 8 October, and campaigns run from 10 October until 18:00 hours on 4 November. Parliamentary and mayoral candidates will pay non-refundable fees of K17,000 for men, K14,000 for women, K10,500 for youths and K10,000 for persons with disabilities.

For the ruling party, the contests are a chance to renew its claim on voters. UPND deputy spokesperson Elvis Nkandu said the party would use the by-elections to make the case for the New Dawn Government. “This is another opportunity for us to appeal to the citizens and ask them to give us the mandate to continue delivering development,” he said.

Mr Nkandu said the party remained focused on service delivery and on the interests of ordinary Zambians. “We remain the voice of the voiceless, particularly when it comes to service delivery. Our focus is on ensuring that development reaches the people,” he said, adding that the UPND expected to take a strong share of the seats.

“We are going into these by-elections prepared, and we believe the people will have confidence in the UPND and its ability to deliver development,” Mr Nkandu said. He appealed to voters in the affected areas to back the party’s candidates.

Nominations open on 8 October. Mandevu, Lumezi North, Mbala and the 11 wards vote on 5 November.

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