At Work Around the World

Zambia

In 1991, a Carter Center delegation monitored Zambia's first democratic elections.


Building Hope
"Use the ballot, not violence," read a mural in Zambia in 2001 before the presidential and parliamentary elections of that year, driving home the need for a stronger democracy. The Carter Center has worked in Zambia to promote peace through food security programming and by helping to ensure that elections truly represent the will of the people.


Fighting Disease
Increasing Food Production

Led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug, Sasakawa-Global 2000, a joint venture between the Carter Center's Global 2000 Program and the Sasakawa Africa Association, shared knowledge of improved seed and planting techniques to help farmers improve agricultural production in Zambia. The SG 2000 prescription was simple: Farmers were provided with credit for fertilizers and seeds to grow production test plots. Following successful harvest, they taught their neighbors about the new technologies, creating a ripple effect to build food self-sufficiency in the nation. Since 1986, farmers in Africa have developed more than 600,000 production test plots to test new strains of maize, sorghum, soybeans, wheat, cowpeas, and millet.

Zambia was among the first countries to participate in SG 2000 from 1986 to 1992. Many lessons were learned that improved crop yields in other countries. SG 2000 also helped find local markets for these surpluses because transporting them can be costly and inefficient. SG 2000 projects also share information on post-harvest technologies, including methods for processing and storing.
Learn more about the Carter Center's Agriculture Program.


Waging Peace
Monitoring Elections

A December 2001 observation mission for the presidential and parliamentary elections in Zambia reported that vote-counting procedures sometimes were chaotic and that the tabulation of results in constituency centers and at the Electoral Commission was not fully transparent. The delegation, which was co-led by former Nigeria head of state Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Benin President Nicéphore Soglo, and former Tanzania Prime Minister Joseph Warioba, lauded the large voter turnout and voters' patience with long lines and procedural delays at polling sites. On Jan. 2, 2002, the governing party candidate, Levy Mwanawasa, was sworn in as president, having won just 29 percent of the vote and narrowly defeating a divided opposition, which lodged claims of vote-rigging.

"The Center has serious concerns about electoral irregularities and the lack of transparency in Zambia's vote tabulation. While we have not seen clear evidence of vote-rigging, it is critical for the Electoral Commission of Zambia to release all polling station results and to explain reported discrepancies," said Democracy Program Associate Director David Carroll. "The strengthening of democratic institutions and electoral processes in southern Africa is critical for stability and progress across the continent. The flawed Zambian elections demonstrated important progress as well as serious challenges that remain."

The Carter Center sent a delegation of representatives from 13 countries in Africa, Europe, and North America to monitor the Oct. 31, 1991, elections in Zambia. In the first democratic election in the country's history, Zambian voters dealt a defeat to one of Africa's longest-serving leaders. Former trade union leader Frederick Chiluba soundly defeated Kenneth Kaunda, who had ruled Zambia since independence from Britain in 1964.

After that election, The Carter Center advised the new government on economic reform and development initiatives. A consultation, "The New Africa: Democracy, Growth, and Business Opportunities in Zambia," was held at the Center in June 1992 to discuss prospects for private investment in Zambia with some 100 high-level decision-makers from business, government, and private organizations. The Center also helped Zambia create the Foundation for Democratic Process, a coalition of Zambian nongovernmental organizations, which oversees the new democratic system, monitors elections, and promotes human rights and civil liberties.

Election Reports

Carter Center Will Not Observe Zambia Elections
The Carter Center announced today that it received an invitation from the Zambian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to observe the 2006 elections but has decided not to pursue involvement in the upcoming elections.

Observing the 2001 Zambia Elections, Final Report (PDF)
Final report of the Carter Center delegation to the 2001 Zambia elections.

Postelection Statement on Zambia Elections, March 7, 2002 (PDF)
This is the Carter Center's fourth and final public statement on the Zambian 2001 tripartite elections, released March 7, 2002.

Postelection Statement on Zambia Elections, Jan. 31, 2002 
This statement, released Jan. 31, 2002, is the Carter Center's third public statement on the Zambian electoral process. The first was a pre-election statement released on Dec. 13, 2001. The second was an interim postelection statement on Dec.30, 2001.

Postelection Statement on Zambia Elections, Dec. 30, 2001 
The Carter Center's interim statement on the 2001 Zambia elections released  Dec. 30, 2001. The Carter Center is pleased to observe Zambia's first tripartite elections since 1964. This is the Center's second election observation mission in Zambia, having observed the historic 1991 multiparty election.

Pre-election Statement on Zambia Elections, Dec. 13, 2001 (PDF) 
The Dec. 13, 2001, assessment of the Zambian pre-election period. On Dec. 27, 2001, Zambian voters will go to the polls in the country's first-ever tripartite elections. Voters will be issued three ballots to elect the president, 150 members of Parliament, and hundreds of local council representatives. President Chiluba announced the election date on Nov. 22, and candidate nomination for all elections was completed by Dec. 2, launching the formal campaign period.

Final Report: Observing the 1991 Zambia Elections (PDF), Feb. 1, 1992
On Oct. 31, 1991, Zambians elected a new president and 150-member National Assembly in the nation's first multiparty elections since 1968. As the culmination of a four-month, comprehensive election-monitoring effort of the Zambia Voting Observation Team (Z-Vote), the Carter Center of Emory University and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) organized a 40-member international observer delegation for the elections.