Kasonde said that if confirmed, the conduct would amount to a serious abuse of incumbency and government position, and the CSOs condemned it “in the strongest terms.” The Social Cash Transfer programme is a statutory social protection entitlement administered by the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services, funded through public money for the elderly, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable individuals and households. “Conditioning or appearing to condition the continuation of a social protection entitlement on how a beneficiary casts their vote is coercive. With the election now just over a week away, the CSOs called for urgent investigations to protect both the integrity of the electoral process and the credibility of the social protection system. The allegation lands at a sensitive moment for the ruling party, which has repeatedly pointed to expanded Social Cash Transfer coverage as one of its signature achievements.