Group claims ruling party, UPND, losing chance of return to power in 2026

Operational Young Vote (OYV), an organisation that champions electoral reforms, has urged ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) to manage stakeholders’ discontent or risk serving one term.

“The discontent and distrust from Civil Society Organisations and their members, the opposition political parties, the Church and citizens, would definitely adversely affect the UPND’s chances of smoothly sailing through the August 13, 2026, General Elections,” OYV executive director, Guess Nyirenda stated.

Nyirenda said in a statement on Thursday that the route the government has taken on legal and constitutional reforms was concerning, describing it as wrong and hazy, therefore fuelling discontent.

“It is quite sad that if you asked anyone from senior government officials to the commonest citizen, no one seems to have any single idea on the government’s plan and roadmap regarding legal and constitutional reforms,” he said.

Nyirenda said what was sadder was the fact that even laws the UPND promised to expeditiously reform while in the opposition and in their first eight months in government have stalled.

He named the Constitution itself, the Electoral Process Act, the Public Order Act, the NGO Act, the National Youth Development Council Act and the Access to Information Bill among other laws which needed urgent attention.

“While a lot of work, consultations and other processes including efforts and resources that were invested in arriving at the stages of these respective laws are in the past regime and now in the new dawn government, strategies to lose the citizens in such a manner is unfortunate,” Nyirenda said.

He said the dearly needed national resources including those for individuals that could be channelled to the more needy areas would continue to be wasted with the continuation of Article 52(6) in the current Constitution and other retrogressive Articles/Sections and absence of the laws such as the Access to Information law.

Nyirenda lamented that the fight against corruption would also continue to take a tall order if the low ‘hanging fruit’ such as that of Enacting the Access to Information (ATI) – a clear and surest mechanism to enhance the fight against corruption by bringing in the flavour of prevention which is even more critical and paramount.

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