Kasenengwa Constituency returning officer, John Daka has confirmed before the Chipata High Court that the August polls in Kasenengwa were marred with a lot of errors and irregularities. This is in a matter where UPND losing candidate, Levison Ziwa petitioned the election of…

Kasenengwa Constituency returning officer, John Daka has confirmed before the Chipata High Court that the August polls in Kasenengwa were marred with a lot of errors and irregularities.

This is in a matter where UPND losing candidate, Levison Ziwa petitioned the election of NRPUP’s Philemon Twasa as Kasenengwa Member of Parliament.

Mr Daka, 35, said after a recount as directed by the court, it was established that some rejected ballots were found in Mr Twasa’s sealed envelope which was not supposed to be the case.

He, however, mentioned that counting is done at the polling station in the presence of some electoral stakeholders but a returning officer is never present.

Mr Daka further confirmed that even some ballot papers for the other candidates that contested the seat were also found in Mr Twasa’s envelope.

When asked by the petitioner’s lawyer, Obadiah Munsanje why those errors happened, Mr Daka said only presiding officers could give reasons as he was not physically present when counting was done.

The returning officer further denied assertions that the ballot papers could have been tampered with as they are guarded 24/7 by the Zambia Police stating that the container was only opened during the recount.

He also added that he felt threatened before he could officially announce the results for the polls as Mr Twasa in the company of his supporters stormed the totaling centre pressuring him on why he was taking longer than necessary to announce the results.

Mr Daka said he had to display a screen in the totaling centre for the stakeholders including Mr Twasa to appreciate the process that had to be done before results are announced.

On September 22, 2026, Chipata High Court Judge, Elita Phiri Mwikisa ordered for a recount for the Kasenengwa parliamentary polls and High Court Registrar Yvonne Nalomba who witnessed the exercise has since submitted a report before the court to form part of the evidence.

During the recount, Mr Ziwa got 14, 693 votes while Mr Twasa got 12, 907 showing a difference of 1, 786 votes.

Following the conclusion of trial, Justice Mwikisa has since set November 25th, 2026 as a date for judgement.