Unearthing elements associated with electoral violence in Kanyama constituency of Lusaka district, Zambia.

Abstract

This study explored elements associated with electoral violence in Kanyama Constituency of Lusaka District, Zambia. The study rids on case study design which was employed on a targeted population that comprised 28 participants. The data were generated through interviews and document review. The main findings of this research were that electoral violence was associated with low socio-economic status, hunger for power, political immaturity and cadreism, selectivity in the application of the law by the law enforcement agencies, low education background and ethnicity. Further, the study found that high population density coupled with bad road network was difficult to police during election period. Therefore, this study concludes that electoral violence impacts the electoral process negatively as electorates are subjected to exercise their political rights under hostile conditions. Thus, among others, it is recommended that the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development should speed up the process of creation and enhancing of youth skills training centers so as to help them acquire necessary surviving skills in lower income Constituencies as youths were cited to be perpetrators of violence due to them being exposed to poverty and high levels of unemployment.