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The Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance has formally requested the AU–COMESA Election Observation Mission to disclose potential associations and for its Head of Mission to recuse himself from leading the assessment of tomorrows General Elections.
In a letter dated August 12, 2026 addressed to Hailemariam Dessalegn Boshe, the Alliance raised concerns over what it termed an appearance of a conflict of interest in the leadership of the Mission deployed to observe the polls.
The letter was signed by former Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba on behalf of the Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance and its presidential candidate, Brian Mundubile.
Copies were also sent to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, the Secretary General of COMESA, and other diplomatic and observation missions in Lusaka.
The Alliance said it fully respects the African Union, COMESA, and the 93 observers from 29 African nations deployed across all ten provinces, and reaffirmed its commitment to cooperate with the Mission.
“We write on behalf of the Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance and its presidential candidate, Hon. Brian Mundubile, first to welcome the deployment of the AU–COMESA Election Observation Mission and to affirm our full respect for the African Union, COMESA, and the ninety-three observers drawn from twenty-nine African nations now deployed across all ten provinces of our Republic,” the letter stated.
The Alliance argued that because the Mission’s findings will carry significant weight in Zambia and internationally, it was compelled to place the matter on record before polling commences.
“It is precisely because the Mission’s findings will carry such weight in Zambia and before the world that we are compelled to place on record, before polling commences, a matter that bears directly on the perceived impartiality of the Mission’s leadership,” it said.
The letter cited three points from the public record, noting that Dessalegn Boshe had served since August 2018 as a member of the Advisory Board of the Brenthurst Foundation, as announced by the Foundation and reflected in his public biographies.
“We do not impugn the personal integrity of His Excellency Hailemariam Dessalegn Boshe, whose service to Ethiopia and to this continent commands respect,” the Alliance wrote.
The statement further referenced a July 2026 investigative report by Global Witness documenting what it described as a close and sustained relationship between the Brenthurst Foundation and President Hakainde Hichilema from approximately 2008 to the present, including policy support.
It also stated that the Foundation’s founding director, Dr Greg Mills, was presently serving in President Hichilema’s 2026 re-election campaign in a personal capacity.
The Alliance grounded its request in international instruments, including the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, the OAU/AU Declaration on Democratic Elections, and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.
“A Head of Mission who has served for years on the advisory board of an institution so closely identified with one contesting candidate – an institution whose founding director presently directs that candidate’s campaign – presents, at minimum, such an apprehension,” the letter read.
The Alliance warned that if left unaddressed, the matter would place a question mark over the Mission’s findings to be announced on August 15, to the detriment of the Mission, the AU, COMESA, and the Zambian people.
It asked for public disclosure of the Head of Mission’s Advisory Board association and any related links material to perceptions of impartiality.
“That His Excellency the Head of Mission publicly disclose his Advisory Board association with the Brenthurst Foundation, and any related associations material to the perception of impartiality,” the Alliance requested.
It further asked that Hailemariam recuse himself from chairing, directing, and making public pronouncements of the Mission’s assessment, with those functions passing to Deputy Head of Mission, Ambassador Marie-Pierre Lloyd of the COMESA Committee of Elders.
“That, in keeping with best practice, His Excellency recuse himself from the chairing, direction, and public pronouncement of the Mission’s assessment, and that these functions pass to the Deputy Head of Mission, Ambassador Marie-Pierre Lloyd of the COMESA Committee of Elders, in whom we repose full confidence,” the letter said.
The Alliance also requested confirmation of the conflict-of-interest screening applied to leadership and observers, and asked for an acknowledgment and response before close of business on August 12, given that polling commences within 24 hours.
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