Ministry of Information Permanent Secretary Thabo Kawana has denied and distanced himself from a viral audio recording in which he appears to predict a Mundubile election win, describing it as fake and AI-generated.
A Pattern of Disputed AI Content
Kawana said authorities are now on high alert to detect and address AI-generated content circulating ahead of Thursday’s vote, after an audio clip spread online in which a voice resembling his own appears to say opposition candidate Brian Mundubile will win the election. He described the recording as malicious.
The denial comes amid a broader wave of similar disputes in the campaign’s final days. Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance Presidential Affairs Chairman Binwell Mpundu separately denied involvement in a video showing him declaring his team ready to “die or kill” to secure victory, also claiming it was AI-generated and that his account had been hacked; the footage was subsequently deleted. Mundubile publicly defended Mpundu’s explanation, though the claim has drawn skepticism from commentators and some technical analysts who argue the footage shows no clear signs of AI manipulation. Police have reportedly opened investigations into the matter, and the authenticity question remains formally unresolved.
Heightened Scrutiny in the Final Stretch
With voting now just days away, the controversy reflects growing anxiety across Zambia’s political establishment over the potential for AI-generated content to spread misinformation during the campaign’s closing period, adding a new layer of uncertainty to an already tense election cycle.
