The Zambia general elections held on 12 August 2021 were the seventh since the reintroduction of multiparty democracy in 1991. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the United Party for National Development (UPND) emerged the victor for the Presidential seat. This was the sixth time for Hichilema to contest as a presidential candidate and the third time in a row where he was contesting against Dr. Edgar Lungu. Hichilema won by a margin of 59.4% of the votes cast while the President of the Patriotic Front (PF), President Lungu received 38.3% of the votes and was seeking a second term.
Following the invitation from the Zambian Government, and during the period leading to the elections, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) deployed a learning observation mission which was accredited by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to observe the polling day processes and those at the National Results Centre. The ZESN Team comprised of three observers drawn from the ZESN board, the secretariat, and a representative of the ZESN provincial taskforce. To enhance the ZESN Team’s understanding of the socio-economic and political contexts as well as election-related procedures and processes, the Team interacted with various stakeholders’ mostly domestic election observer groups, media, and civil society organizations in Zambia.
