Press statement for immediate release by UPND President Hakainde Hichilema
2nd December 2020
VOTER REGISTRATION EXTENSION AND EXTRA MANPOWER.
Going by the recently released figures on the number of voters captured and the slow pace in reaching the intended target of 9 million voters, we call on the Electoral Commission of Zambia to urgently carry out the following measures.
1. Extend the voter registration exercise so that all eligible citizens can register as voters. After all, the current law provides for a continuous voter registration process as provided in the Electoral Act No 15 of 2016.
2. Urgently deploy extra manpower and open all polling stations at once across the country, in order to enhance the process and capture all eligible voters.
3. On the part of those controlling government resources, we call on them to prioritise funding the entire electoral process, starting from the voter registration exercise, instead concentrating on corrupt exercises such as now the media reports of wanting to buy Chrismar Hotels.
4. Issuance of National Registration Card (NRC) should not be selective, but be afforded to all eligible citizens in all the provinces, to enable those that are of voting age to register
To those of our citizens who have already acquired these documents, we urge you to guard them jealously and refuse offers of money or other false promises by crooks, in exchange for your right to vote. Further, do not provide personal details of yourselves as this may enable those with dubious intentions to manipulate them.
We keep on requesting our citizens across the country not to lose hope, but to do all they can to get NRCs and voters’ cards to enable them exercise their democratic right to vote.
Hakainde Hichilema
UPND President