By Lovemore Lubinda
Polling stations opened across Zambia on Thursday morning as voters began casting ballots in national elections for president, parliament and local councils.
A regional observer mission from the Southern African Development Community was among the first to watch the process, beginning in the capital, Lusaka.
Led by Samuel B. Tembenu, a senior lawyer and former Justice Minister of Malawi, the SADC Election Observation Mission visited Kabulonga Boys Secondary School to witness opening procedures.
Officials checked voting materials, displayed empty ballot boxes to party agents, sealed them, and declared voting underway at 6:00 a.m.
It was a calm start in a country where the stakes are high and the eyes of the region are watching.
The SADC mission has sent more than 100 observers to Zambia’s 10 provinces. Their job is to monitor the full election cycle: the opening of polls, voting, the closing and counting of ballots, and the transmission and tabulation of results.
The team says its assessment will be measured against SADC’s 2021 Principles and Guidelines for Democratic Elections. Those standards call for transparent laws, inclusive participation, professional security forces, and credible election management.
“We are here at the invitation of Zambia and the Electoral Commission to support a transparent process,” Tembenu told reporters outside Kabulonga Boys. “What we observed this morning was orderly. We will continue to follow every stage.”
At the school, queues formed before sunrise. Voters brought umbrellas and chairs. Party agents sat at tables with voter registers. Police were present but kept a low profile.
Similar scenes were reported from other parts of Lusaka and from provincial centers including Ndola, Kitwe and Chipata.
The mission will remain in Zambia through the announcement of results and will issue a preliminary statement in the coming days.
Regional appeal: “Elections are not a battle”
The SADC deployment comes after a week of public appeals for calm from across the region, most notably from Malawian President Arthur Peter Mutharika.
In a statement released this week, Mutharika, who is SADC Troika Chairperson, urged Zambians to treat the vote as a democratic exercise, not a confrontation.
“Elections are a celebration of democracy, not a battle,” he said. “I appeal to all political leaders, their supporters, and every citizen to embrace peace before, during and after voting. Let the will of the people be respected and let institutions do their work.”
Mutharika warned that political violence erodes development. “When there is peace, businesses can operate, children can attend school, and investors can have confidence. When there is conflict, everyone loses,” he said.
He made a direct appeal to young people not to be drawn into disturbances, and he urged parties to use legal channels to resolve disputes. He also called on security agencies to act professionally and impartially.
The message was broadcast on Zambian radio and television, shared widely on WhatsApp and Facebook, and quoted by church leaders in Sunday services. Posters with the line “Respect. Patience. Peace.” appeared near markets and bus stations in Lusaka.
Regional analysts say the appeal reflects SADC’s broader interest. Zambia is land-linked and sits on trade corridors serving the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Tanzania and Angola. Disruption in Zambia affects supply chains across southern Africa. For SADC, a peaceful vote is also about economic stability.
Churches, civil society groups and the Electoral Commission of Zambia echoed the same theme in voter education campaigns this month: turn out, vote, and accept the outcome.
More than 8 million Zambians are registered to vote in this election. They will choose a president for a five-year term, members of parliament, and local councilors.
Key issues dominating public discussion have been the cost of living, jobs for young people, energy supply, and public services. International lenders and investors are also watching how the next government manages public debt and economic reforms.
Because of that, the credibility of the process matters beyond Zambia’s borders. Development partners, regional bodies, and credit rating agencies will all read the signals from how the vote is conducted.
That is why missions like SADC’s are on the ground. In addition to SADC, the African Union, COMESA, and several international NGOs have deployed observers.
At Kabulonga Boys, the process followed a clear checklist. Before 6 a.m., the presiding officer invited party agents to inspect the ballot box. They confirmed it was empty. It was then locked and sealed with numbered tags. Voter materials — ballots, ink, and the register — were accounted for.
The first voters were elderly residents and young first-time voters. A 19-year-old waiting in line said he had seen Mutharika’s message online. “We don’t want fights. We just want to vote and go on with life,” he said.
A teacher in her 40s said she arrived early to avoid crowds. “Peace is also a choice we make today,” she said. “We heard the leaders asking us to be calm.”
Tembenu’s team spent about 30 minutes at the station before moving to two other sites in Lusaka. Later Thursday they were scheduled to fly to the Copperbelt to observe in mining towns.
Voting will continue through the evening. After polls close, counting will begin at each station in the presence of agents and observers. Results will then be sent to constituency totaling centers.
SADC observers will file reports from rural and urban areas, tracking issues such as access for people with disabilities, the conduct of security personnel, and the handling of complaints.
The mission’s preliminary findings will focus on whether the process so far aligns with regional democratic standards. A final report will follow weeks later.
For now, the dominant message from both observers and regional leaders is simple: let Zambians vote freely, and let the process be peaceful.
Mutharika put it this way in his statement: “A peaceful election is the best gift we can give to ourselves and to the next generation.”
