Kibombwe Petitions Lusaka Mayoral Election, Questions Vote Tally

Lusaka mayoral candidate Gabriel Isaac Kibombwe says he has petitioned the outcome of the August 13 mayoral election after identifying what he claims are discrepancies between constituency records and the final results announced by the Electoral Commission of Zambia.

In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Mr Kibombwe said records from constituency announcement forms, records of proceedings and Gen20A forms issued by ECZ officials indicate that his own calculation of the total votes is higher than the figure announced for the declared winner.

He said the petition is intended to give ECZ an opportunity to explain the manner in which the votes were counted and correct any human error that may have occurred during data entry or the announcement of results.

Documents accompanying his statement show that an election petition has been filed before the Local Government Elections Tribunal for the Lusaka District, with Mr Kibombwe listed as the petitioner and Mwewa Chitambala and ECZ as respondents.

Mr Kibombwe has not, in the Facebook statement shown, provided the size of the alleged discrepancy or alleged deliberate manipulation of the vote.

He said his action was an exercise of his constitutional right to seek an explanation from ECZ over how votes cast by Lusaka residents were counted.