Zambia: Political party funding

Updated August 2006

In general political party funding in Zambia is characterised by the following:

An absence of public funding of political parties.
A heavy dependence on a few wealthy donors by political parties.
A lack of legal regulation of fund raising, campaign spending or financial disclosure.

Public funding

Zambia has never legally provided for the resourcing of political parties by the state. In 2003 legislation to provide for the funding of political parties, the Political Parties Fund Bill, was introduced in the National Assembly (Transparency International 2004, 3). When the Bill passed its second reading in the House, with the unanimous support of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), the President, Levy Mwanawasa, rejected the measure. He argued that Zambia did not have the finances required to execute the provisions of the Bill. Consequently the Bill never passed into law (Simutanyi 2005, Kabemba & Eiseman 2005, 15).

Private funding

All political parties raise some of their funds internally through membership dues, levies on members of parliament and, especially in the case of the United National Independence Party, through assets owned by the party (Kabemba & Eiseman 2005, 15-16; Momba 2005, 28-30).

These resources are inadequate to meet the demands of electoral campaigning and the burden of fund raising for campaigning falls on the top leadership structures of the party (Kabemba & Eiseman 2005, 15-16; Momba 2005, 28-30). Top party structures are thus obliged to rely on three main sources of funding, the personal wealth of party leaders, funding of campaigns by candidates themselves and contributions by donors (Kabemba & Eiseman 2005, 15-16). These sources of funding undermine the democratic functioning of the parties in Zambia and lead to a disproportionate influence by a few wealthy people on leadership selection and party decision making.

The situation that has emerged in Zambia is little short of plutocracy. According to Fredrick Mutesa (2002): "Unless the growing influence of money in Zambia's electoral processes are checked, the expected gains of a multi-party dispensation will become the preserve of a select few".

Legal restrictions and transparency

The Electoral Act (2006) has no provisions on the raising and expenditure of party funds. The Societies Act, under which parties are registered, requires that parties make some disclosure of their financial records to the Registrar of Societies, but places no restrictions on how money is raised or spent. The Registrar of Societies is not obliged to disclose these records unless she believes it is in the interest of party members to do so (see Party financial disclosure.

Transparency and accountability for the raising and expenditure of funds are almost wholly in the hands of the party structures themselves. However, as Momba (2005, 33-34) notes, "The accountability of party funds, particularly by party candidates and campaign committees, is rather weak, even for those political parties which claimed that some financial reports are made on the use of such funds".

The combined dominance of parties by wealthy members and donors with the absence of financial regulation and transparency creates a real threat to the integrity of electoral and political processes in Zambia and opens them to corruption.

The law has been flouted by incumbent parties who have used state resources freely in the past for party political campaigning. There are, however, indications that these practices are increasingly viewed as unacceptable within the ruling MMD (Kabemba & Eiseman 2005, 16).

References

ELECTORAL ACT 2006, [www] http://aceproject.org/regions-en/eisa/ZM/Electoral%20%20Act%202006.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 8 Mar 2010).

KABEMBA, C & EISEMAN, M 2004, "Multipartyism in Zambia", IN Kabemba, C (ed), Elections and Democracy in Zambia, EISA Research Report No 6.

SOCIETIES ACT (CAP 119).

MOMBA, J 2005, Political Parties and the Quest for Democratic Consolidation in Zambia [PDF document], EISA Research Report No 17, 13.

MUTESA, F 2002, "Private Funding of Political Parties in Zambia", Paper presented at a workshop on Private Financing of Political Parties arranged by the Institute of Strategic Studies, Johannesburg, 31 October to 2 November, [www] http://www.whofundswho.org.za/pubs/conf/mutesa.htm [opens new window] (accessed 25 Feb 2010).

SIMUTANYI, N 2005, Parties in Parliament: the Relationship between Members of Parliament and their Parties in Zambia [PDF document], EISA Occasional Paper No 36.

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL 2004, "Highlights from the Transparency International Global Corruption Report 2004", [www] http://static.scribd.com/docs/1caihu4vcq2d4.swf?INITIAL_VIEW=width [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 25 Feb 2010).