By 
Independent Presidential Candidate for 2026 Reverend Given Katuta has urged the Electoral Commission of Zambia(ECZ) to audit why so many wards and constituencies had no contest to ensure a level playing field for all aspiring candidates.
The ECZ recently announced that 6 Mayors, 7 Members of Parliament, and 176 Councillors have gone through unopposed in the forthcoming elections.
In a statement issued in Lusaka on Wednesday, Katuta also called on political parties to open up democratic space within their own structures and field candidates in every corner of Zambia.
“While we respect the right of any candidate to be elected, the absence of choice is a direct injury to our democracy,” she said.
Katuta stated that democracy was not just about holding elections but about choice and that when a voter walks into a polling station and finds only one name on the ballot, that was not an election but an appointment.
She argued that when 189 leaders were declared without a single vote being cast, it sends a dangerous message to the people that their voices did not matter.
“To political parties: That competition has been closed. To the next generation: That leadership is negotiated in boardrooms, not decided at the ballot,” Katuta stated.
Read More: Electoral Commission of Zambia seeks constitutional guidance on running mate resignations
She highlighted the danger ahead by saying an unopposed leader started office without the test of public debate, without scrutiny, and without a mandate earned from the people and that this weakened accountability, service delivery and trust in institutions.
Katuta warned that if the country normalized this, it risked creating a culture where positions were inherited, not contested, saying that was not the Zambia the founding fathers fought for.
“Our call to Civil Society and the Church to educate citizens that democracy dies in silence. We must encourage more Zambians, especially the youth and women, to offer themselves for leadership,” she said.
Katuta also called on the People of Zambia to remain vigilant, and even where there was no contest, demand performance, transparency, and service.
She stated that Zambia’s democracy was too precious to be taken for granted and elections without choice were not elections but a coronations.
“We must protect the ballot. We must protect the voice of the people. That is how we build a Zambia where no one is taken for granted, and where leadership is earned, not given,” Katuta said.
WARNING! All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express permission from ZAMBIA MONITOR.
Comments