IT COST ABOUT K3.8M FOR AN MP TO WIN IN 2021 – TIZ
A STUDY by Transparency International – Zambia (TI-Z) has revealed that the estimated average cost of winning the 2021 general election for an individual Member of Parliament (MPs) was K3.8 million.
In a report titled ‘Elections and Money: Perspective from the Members of Parliament in Zambia’, TIZ says the K3.8 million was equivalent to US$192,266, which was expenditure at four stages – pre-adoption, adoption and nomination, campaign and post-elections.
TI-Z advocacy, policy and research manager Bright Chizonde said 80 MPs were engaged in the research and they spent about K397.92 million to win their elections.
Mr Chizonde said yesterday at a stakeholder dissemination meeting of the report that majority of the cost was incurred at pre-adoption stage, which accounted for over 55 percent of the total average expenditure, K2.1 million for each candidate.
ZDM
Based on what? Throwing highly speculative numbers that have no bearing on the daily lives of Zambians. TI-Z do studies that are relevant to issues that plague Zambians. Abstract notions for people that want to be elite but dont serve the electorate? For what?
This is partly why most of them cannot deliver to the people but embark on a vicious journey to source money to pay back their sponsors. If voters only vote for those who can give them small amounts of cash then they should as well forget about development in their respective communities.