REDUCE MP NOMINATION FEES – SIMATAA
…..Increase Presidential fees instead: Elections not a preserve for the rich, Councillor Simataa tells ECZ.
Kamwala Ward Councillor Mainda Simataa says the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) decision to increase the nomination fee for parliamentary candidates from K15,000 to K25,000 is unjustified, punitive, and utterly undemocratic, in a nation that is ranked as the 5th poorest country in the world.
Councillor Simataa says that while the democratic process of elections comes at a cost, it should not be turned into a fundraising venture, but that the cost must be affordable for an average aspiring candidate to appear on the ballot, adding that elections are not a preserve for only the rich and elite in Zambia.
He has instead proposed to ECZ that they should practice positive discrimination; were current MP’s re-contesting their seats can pay K50,000 nomination fee since they have K2.5 million gratuity in their pockets, while new contestants, youths, women and the disabled, can pay more or less around the K16,050 figure which reflects a marginal 7% increment in line with Zamstats current rate of inflation.
Councillor Simataa has further proposed that the Presidential nomination fee be increased from the current K95,000 to K500,000; arguing that Presidents have more financial capacity, but also, as an additional security measure to prevent jokers, comedians, mascaraders, chancers, Chainama suspects and voodoo practitioners, from congesting the ballot paper or coming anywhere near the highest office in the land