The Spectator
August 13, 2026 elections were over, but judging from the conversations around the country, the arguments certainly were not.
Some were celebrating. Others were still coming to terms with the results. And some appeared determined to keep fighting the election long after the ballot boxes had been closed.
Yet, it seemed, had been listening.
“No,” he started, “I have been listening to people’s views on minibus, social media and in other public spaces about the elections. Frankly, some of the things I have been hearing have shocked me.”
“What has shocked you?”
He frowned. “The gullibility. Bosses. Pure gullibility.”
“Meaning?”
“During the election period, social media was awash with fictions that had not been announced by the Electoral Commission of Zambia. People were sharing and arguing over them and sometimes getting angry over figures that had not been announced.”
“But surely people know that ECZ was responsible for announcing the results?”
“To know the results, why believe the fictions? I mean, simply because they were put on the social media and sometimes had some figures?”
“That sounds like common sense.”
“That is the point. It should not require rocket science.”
He shook his head. “Somebody posts, forwards it and, before long, a rumour has become the truth.”
“Aha!”
“Exactly, bosses.”
Zonda was getting worked up now.
“And then there were the prophets.”
“The prophets?”
“Yes, bosses. All sorts of people suddenly became election prophets. Some predicted who would win. Others claimed to know what was happening behind the scenes. And some even claimed to know what people believed them.”
“What?”
“I believe believing claims from somebody hiding from the law should be shot, yet telling them on social media that they knows what was happening behind the scenes… they feel they have inside information.”
“I stared at him. ”Spiritual eyes?“
He shook his head.
”Some people say, “The vote was stolen and knew what was happening behind the scenes.” And during the elections?
“Zonda shook his head. ”I even heard some people saying, ‘Ee maama! Oooh! Kamana kale vamene vanezukuchitika’ — he had already been what was going to happen, they said. Imagine, bosses?“
He shook his head again.
”…really, very little critical thinking is needed, mweba bantu…“
”But this is bigger than the elections. To hear some believe it, repeat it and sometimes even argue, without bothering to find out whether it is true.“
“That’s scary.”
“It is. You don’t have to be highly educated to ask one simple question: How do you know?”
“There is a saying in the Bible that people perish for lack of knowledge. Maybe we should take that a little more seriously, bosses.”
He leaned back and crossed his legs.
“We have a responsibility to know what is happening in our own country. You cannot leave your civic education to those on Facebook, hearsay or somebody who suddenly decided to write about a prophet or so on.”
“But then it’s sometimes so hard to know what is true when there is so much information at one’s disposal.”
“That is exactly my point, Mr Editor. We are a responsible citizenry to know what is happening and to ask questions.”
“It is not a matter of believing anything even if it is from people who should not be trusted…What the individual…a so-called “Spiritual eyes”?”
“I have some…
“The insults… So much wrong… It is not worth it, I think.”
“Yes, bosses, I know some of you have been insulting others on social media. That is very bad. It does not help anybody.”
“But these ‘prophets…’ They even got people to believe them! Many people are still confused today because of what they said.”
“But all this is not about the elections only. This is about our values as a nation. I mean, we have become a very gullible people. We just believe anything without questioning.”
“That is the problem. We are a nation of rumour-mongers.”
“Yes, bosses. But I think that we should… people must be told that… sometimes you must also take the trouble to find out if what you are being told is true.”
“Exactly. It is a big problem in our society. It is not just about the people who are doing it. It is about those who listen to them and even take them seriously.”
“Yes, but as I said, the ECZ has done its part by announcing the results. The rest is up to us as citizens.”
He looked at me. “You are looking at me as if I am a prophet myself.” He laughed.
North-Western provinces did not vote well. Others, including children, were hurling insults at national leaders.
I looked at him.
“Didn’t vote well?”
“Exactly! Since when did choosing differently mean somebody did not know how to vote and deserved insults?”
“Insults?”
“Yes, bosses. I have heard people insulting the President. Insults?”
“Why?”
“Because of the outcome. Simply because others thought he was not the right person… as if they know who was right. People are free to vote for whoever they want.”
“But then they are being insulted… Some people get hurt. Others feel very hurt. This is not what we expected… those who insult…”
“Yes, if they are citizens… they have the right to differ…”
“Let’s face it. There are insults on social media, and I have seen people from all sides doing it.”
…someone’s political decision that they are stupid or do not know how to vote.”
He looked out of the window.
“The election is over. Some people… are disappointed. But at the end of the day, in a democracy, people must work together, colleagues, friends and fellow citizens.”
“But we remain divided.”
“Insults. ‘One Zambia, One Nation.’”
“No! ‘Zonda nodded, eyes wide. ‘We can’t lose an election without losing your neighbour, bosses.’”
Indeed.
“That, perhaps, is the point.”
Elections come and go. Political parties win and lose. Candidates get elected or lick their wounds.
But we remain neighbours, friends, colleagues, and fellow citizens. So, the next time a message, video or confident voice lands on our phones, perhaps we should pause before accepting it as gospel truth.
Ask the simple question: how do you know?
And when someone differs from us, perhaps we should remember that disagreement does not mean hatred. Zambia, less intelligent or less deserving of respect.
Zonda stood up.
“A little critical thinking is all that is needed,” he mumbled as he headed for the door.
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