CCMG RELEASES PRE ELECTION ENVIRONMENT OBSERVATION REPORT
…….reccommends that political parties reverts to rallies rather than door to door campaigns when campaigns resume.
CHRISTIAN Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG) has noted that actions by the police contributed to the limiting of campaign space for political parties and unequal playing field.
And CCMG has proposed that when campaigns resume, political parties should revert to rallies rather than door to door and road show events.
Speaking at a media briefing on the pre-election environment observation, CCMG steering committee chairperson Fr Emmanuel Chikoya said since the campaign period began, five party meetings were prevented or stopped by police for reasons that were not given.
He added that this action disproportionally affected the UPND, with four out of five instances recorded.
“CCMG noted several troubling aspects of police conduct during this election period under review. From the time the campaign period began until the announcement of the suspension of mass rallies, CCMG observers reported seven political party meetings that were prevented or stopped by police citing pandemic measures. This action disproportionally affected UPND, with six out of seven instances recorded. Furthermore, since the campaign period began, five party meetings were prevented or stopped by police for reasons that were not given. This action disproportionally affected the UPND, with four out of five instances recorded,” Fr Chikoya said.
“Of particular concern were four incidents where excessive force, that is, either tear gas or bullets were fired by police since our observation began in March. All these incidents involved UPND except one where both PF and UPND were involved. In Ndola our monitors observed that the police blocked the UPND party president for several hours from attending a funeral. As if this was not enough, on 6th June our monitors reported that Police allegedly fired shots at citizens in a bid to disperse the crowd as the UPND party president was trying to attend a church service. All of these actions by the police contributed to the limiting of campaign space for political parties.”
And Fr Chikoya said a return to the rallies rather than door to door and road shows was necessary.
“We believe that Zambia missed an opportunity to carry out mass sensitisation to get the population wearing masks. Political rallies that have been banned could have provided that opportunity. All the political parties could have been tasked to ensure that all their supporters and those attending their rallies were masked up and venues where such rallies were to take place could easily have been disinfected before the event. The roadshows that were allowed were actually dangerous because they carried the virus from one street to the other. After the ban on rallies and road-shows is lifted, CCMG proposes a return to the rallies rather than door to door and road shows,” Fr Chikoya said.
Fr Chikoya noted that there was unbalanced media coverage of candidates, and further called on ECZ to ensure the public media allocates equal access to all parties.
“CCMG is concerned with unbalanced media coverage of candidates contrary to provisions of the Electoral Code of Conduct 7 (a). Several instances of unbalanced media coverage of candidates by public media were observed and highlighted in the MISA Zambia media monitoring report. On 10th June, the Ndola High Court directed ECZ to prescribe the amount of airtime in public media to be allocated to all the participating parties. As the campaign period has already begun, CCMG calls on the ECZ to urgently abide by the court order and engage the public media to allocate equal access to public media by all parties and candidates. Access to media in the electoral process is important because it helps to a greater extend, level the playing field in the light of restricted physical campaign activities as a result of the pandemic,” Fr Chikoya said.
Meanwhile, CCMG noted that endorsement of party candidates by traditional leaders had potential to exert undue influence on their subjects.
“Traditional leaders are the heads of traditional establishments and they should be non-partisan because they represent the affairs of people with different opinions, views and interests. Since the campaign period began, CCMG’s reports have documented 16 instances of traditional leaders declaring public support for parties or candidates, with 14 supporting PF and two supporting UPND. The endorsements have the potential to exert undue influence on their subjects and are contrary to section 15(i) of the Electoral Code of Conduct. Equally CCMG reports have documented seven instances of church leaders declaring support for parties or candidates, with five supporting PF and two supporting UPND since the campaign period began,” he said.
He observed that since the campaign period began there had been 13 incidents of violence with PF as the main perpetrator in eight instances.
“Since the campaign period began, CCMG’s reports have documented 13 acts of politically-motivated violence, with PF as the main perpetrator in eight instances, UPND as the main perpetrator in two instances, both PF and UPND as the main perpetrators in one instance, and two instances of intra-party violence one each for PF and UPND. Destruction of campaign materials, which raise political tensions and can lead to violence, is becoming increasingly common during the campaign period. CCMG’s reports document 11 such instances, with PF as the main perpetrators in seven instances and our observers unable to identify the main perpetrators in four instances. UPND campaign materials were the target in eight of the 11 instances,” he explained.
CCMG called on government officials and PF to immediately end the use of government resources and personnel for party purposes.
“A level playing field is critical to a credible election. Incumbents who misuse government resources and civil servants who take a partisan stand or engage in partisan acts are inappropriately tipping that balance. During the campaign period, CCMG’s reports have documented four instances of the use of state vehicles for PF party activities and three instances of the use of government venues for PF party activities, which is a violation of the section 15(k) of the Electoral Code of Conduct. In addition, CCMG’s reports have documented four instances of partisan acts by non-elected officials, all of which involved District Commissioners,” Fr Chikoya said.
He also wondered why the police failed to arrest people operating a torture chamber in Kanyama called Kamugodi, which many people have been complaining about.