The Prisons Care and Counselling Association (PRISCA) has appealed to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to ensure it conducts an effective voter registration exercise in correctional facilities.
Prisons Care and Counselling Association Executive Director Godfrey Malembeka says ECZ must ensure it registers all inmates eligible to vote in the allocated period of 3 days.
Speaking to ZNBC news in a telephone interview today, Mr. Malembeka said inmates should not be denied an opportunity to exercise their right to vote in the 2021 General election by failing to register them as voters.
He said the Voter registration exercise for inmates was initially supposed to be conducted in a period of 1 week but that it was reduced to 3 days.
Mr. Malembeka also urged the ECZ to run awareness messages on radio and television sensitising inmates about the scheduled voter registration to be conducted in their correctional facilities.
He further said the Department of National Registration and Passports should have had a special programme to issue National Registration Cards to inmates who have lost or are not in possession of NRCs.
Mr. Malembeka said his Association had conducted inspections on 30 correctional facilities in the country and that a lot of inmates were found NOT to be in possession of NRCs.