The Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) has demanded greater transparency in the tallying of Zambia's August 13 general election, warning that delays and disputed handling of ballot materials could undermine public confidence in the outcome.
In a pastoral statement issued in Lusaka on Sunday, August 16, the bishops said they were speaking in defence of the Constitution, the rule of law and the right of Zambians to have their votes counted and respected.
The statement comes as the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) continues counting presidential, parliamentary and local election votes after temporarily suspending the process over reports of violence against election officials and theft of marked and unmarked ballot papers.
The commission has said the security threat was contained and counting resumed under heightened security.
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The bishops said the suspension, announced a day after voting, should concern citizens because the credibility of an election depends heavily on a transparent counting and tallying process.
"Any delay, however justified operationally, creates space for doubt, speculation, and mistrust," the bishops said.
They also raised concern over reports that some ballot papers had at various points been left in the custody of police and army personnel.
The ZCCB said election materials should remain under the control of the ECZ and its authorised officials, with political party agents, accredited observers and the media able to scrutinise their handling.
It called on the electoral commission to publicly account for the chain of custody of every affected ballot box and ballot paper and ensure that no security officer has unsupervised control over electoral materials.
The bishops also questioned the deployment of the army to election-related security duties, saying the maintenance of order during elections is primarily the responsibility of the Zambia Police Service.
They warned that the visible presence of soldiers and military vehicles at polling and tallying centres could intimidate voters, election officials and party agents.
The ZCCB further called for transparency over reports concerning the treatment of opposition political actors, including allegations of harassment by armed officers and claims that some individuals had temporarily gone unaccounted for.
The bishops acknowledged that some of the reports had not been independently verified but said anyone held by state agencies should be accounted for, given access to lawyers and family members, and either charged according to law or released.
The statement comes amid growing tension surrounding the delayed presidential results. Opposition candidate Brian Mundubile has questioned the delays and alleged interference in the electoral process, while President Hakainde Hichilema has urged Zambians to remain peaceful and await the official results.
The ECZ has warned candidates against declaring themselves winners before the commission announces the official outcome.
How influential is the ZCCB?
The ZCCB is more than a group of individual bishops issuing occasional political statements. It is the national body representing Zambia's Catholic bishops and serves as the highest consultative policymaking body of the Catholic Church in the country. Its own strategic documents say it coordinates the Church's social and pastoral work nationally.
Its potential influence is significant because Catholicism is one of Zambia's largest Christian denominations.
The 2022 national census found Catholics accounted for 17.9% of Zambia's Christian population, making Catholicism the largest single Christian denomination, narrowly ahead of the Seventh-day Adventists and Pentecostals. Christianity overall accounted for 98% of the population.
The bishops also have an established role in electoral observation and civic engagement. Through Caritas Zambia, the ZCCB is part of the Christian Churches Monitoring Group, a non-partisan coalition that monitors elections and promotes credible electoral processes.
The Church's political influence has also been demonstrated in previous elections. Ahead of the 2021 election, Zambian bishops publicly condemned political violence and called for voters to be free to choose their leaders without intimidation.
In July this year, the ZCCB again urged Zambians to reject political violence ahead of the 2026 election, while President Hichilema subsequently welcomed the bishops' statement and said it was consistent with the government's commitment to peaceful and credible elections.
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The bishops' latest intervention therefore gives added weight to concerns already being raised by opposition actors and election observers, although the ZCCB has not endorsed any candidate or declared that the election was rigged.
Instead, its statement focuses on the process, particularly the security of election materials, the independence of the electoral commission and the treatment of political actors.
The bishops urged the ECZ to act "without fear or favour" and release the results in a transparent and timely manner, warning that unexplained delays could further erode public confidence.
They also called on political parties, security agencies and citizens to avoid violence and respect the outcome of the ballot.
As Zambia awaits the final presidential tally, the intervention places one of the country's most established religious institutions firmly in the public debate over whether the electoral process can deliver an outcome accepted as credible by competing political sides.
