The 82 members of the House of Representatives were elected by open list proportional representation with the six multi-member constituencies based on the regions.

The number of seats for each region was based on those used for the 1960 elections and multiplied by 2.5.

[2] At the time of the elections, the constitution limited the number of political parties to three: A total of 246 candidates contested the elections, including five women.

A team of 76 observers from Canada, Finland, Kenya, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and Zimbabwe monitored the polls.

They described that the elections were conducted in a peaceful condition and were generally free and fair, nonetheless, the vote had fallen short of meeting several international standards.