{"id":37308,"date":"2026-06-17T07:20:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T05:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=37308"},"modified":"2026-06-17T07:20:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T05:20:54","slug":"calls-for-calm-grow-in-zambia-as-august-election-campaign-intensifies","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/calls-for-calm-grow-in-zambia-as-august-election-campaign-intensifies\/","title":{"rendered":"Calls for calm grow in Zambia as August election campaign intensifies \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Citizens in Zambia have been urged to maintain peace and stability ahead of the country\u2019s crucial general elections scheduled for August 13.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The call for calm comes amid growing concerns over rising political tensions, with a specific appeal directed at young people to resist being manipulated by politicians into instigating election-related violence.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Electoral watchdogs and civic leaders have stressed that youth participation must focus on constructive democratic engagement rather than political thuggery. Past campaign seasons in the region have occasionally been marred by skirmishes between rival party wings, prompting early interventions from traditional leaders and peace monitors to safeguard a tranquil voting atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>With the campaign trail intensifying, local observer groups have called on all political parties to sign an official peace pledge. Candidates are being pressed to rein in their supporters and maintain a clean, issue-based campaign that prioritises economic recovery and social cohesion over divisive rhetoric.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14657,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-37308","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Citizens in Zambia have been urged to maintain peace and stability ahead of the country\u2019s crucial general elections","published_date":"2026-06-17 07:05:05","news_description":"Citizens in Zambia have been urged to maintain peace and stability ahead of the country\u2019s crucial general elections","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37309,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37308\/revisions\/37309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=37308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}