PressStatement for Immediate Release
Lusaka, 12th December 2020
4 DAYS EXTENSION OF VOTER REGISTRATION IS A MOCKERY.
We have learnt with disbelief the announcement by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) that it has increased the period of voter registration by 4 days.
The UPND finds this as a mockery and a dark day for Zambia’s democracy and the electoral process.
For the Commission to state that it has so far captured 6.4 million voters is difficult to believe because the pace at which the first phase was conducted left much to be desired.
If it took one month to register 6.4 million voters out of 9 million, how can ECZ manage to register the remainder of 2.6 million voters in 4 days?
From broken down machines; slow or lack of internet connectivity to lack of manpower, it beats both scientific formulae and logic that the ECZ has been able to hit such figures.
Indeed, we can now safely assert that there is an invisible hand that is pulling the strings behind the curtains in favour of the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) through unorthodox methods including issuing voters’ cards to foreigners and under age children.
This is laughable as the Commission’s projections do not add up in any logical way.
This is also an indication that the ECZ has been, under the tutelage and instigation of the PF by issuing voters cards to underage children and foreign nationals.
What formula does the ECZ intend to use in order to capture the remainder of the targeted 9 million voters since most eligible voters have continued to be disenfrenchized owing to the Commission’s incompetence and partisan stance?
We wish to appeal to the ECZ to stop playing games with Zambians and ensure that it conducts the exercise in line with the Electoral Processes Act of 2016 which allows the Commission to conduct an on-going voter registration exercise.
Also, the decision by the ECZ to conduct the exercise in correctional facilities which has resulted in 11, 000 inmates being registered as voters without either consensus from stakeholders or a legal framework is a desperate ploy by ECZ to try and aid the PF to remain in power beyond 2021.
If the ECZ remains adamant and refuse to conduct an ongoing voter registration exercise, the people of Zambia will hold them accountable for any damage that would be done to this country and her people.
Issued by Hon Charles Kakoma
UPND Spokesperson.
CIC PRESS TEAM