The “note” issued by the ECZ on presidential nominations is more serious than many politicians think.
ECZ has clearly warned that adoption certificates must only be signed by officials recognised by the Registrar of Societies. Not by factions. Not by parallel leaders. Not by people recognised only on Facebook or by cadres.
This is where many political parties may face problems.
For years, Zambia has seen confusion in political parties. Parallel leaderships. Court injunctions. Suspensions. Expulsions. Different people all claiming to be in charge of the same party. Examples are UNIP, MMD and PF (Funny enough they are all former ruling parties).
But elections are legal processes.
And the law requires order.
Imagine nomination day where Miles Sampa signs adoption certificates for PF candidates while Robert Chabinga also signs separate certificates under the same PF. That would create total confusion for ECZ.
Who becomes the legitimate authority?Which signature should ECZ recognise?Which adoption papers become valid?
This is exactly the kind of chaos ECZ is trying to avoid.
Some political parties are gambling, hoping ECZ will bend under pressure at the last minute. That would be a very dangerous mistake.
Once nomination papers are rejected, emotions, insults and press conferences will not help anyone.
I know my former party PF loves to dare the system as if they were not previously in government and fully aware of how state institutions operate.
But we cannot always have an “aka wawawa” mentality even on serious constitutional and electoral matters
Sometimes leadership requires humility and the wisdom to simply do the right thing.
It is this same arrogance that cost PF Kabushi and Kwacha. The party knowingly fielded candidates whose eligibility was legally questionable and instead of correcting the situation early, they chose to challenge and dare the system.
In the end, it was not ECZ or the courts that suffered politically. It was PF itself.
The truth is simple: a political party that cannot organise itself properly may struggle to organise a country properly.
ECZ is simply saying political parties must put their houses in order before nominations begin.
Fix your records.Resolve your leadership disputes.Respect your party constitution.Ensure your adoption process is lawful.
Because when nominations begin, politics will give way to law.
And the law has no emotions.
Do the right thing bane namipatata.
Nipano tuli, Kabusha ta kolelwe bowa🚶 🚶♂️
Simon Mulenga Mwila – Aspiring Mayor of Lusaka. (DBA Student, MBA, LLM, LLB, Legal Practitioner, Commissioner for Oaths, Notary Public)