Press Statement
For Immediate release
NDC DISAPPOINTED WITH ECZ’S DECISION TO CHARGE CANDIDATES AGAIN THAT ALREADY PAID NOMINATION FEES IN MANDEVU, LUSAKA CENTRAL AND MPULUNGU
28/06/2021
Fellow countrymen and women, we wish to express our disappointment with the decision by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to surcharge parliamentary candidates that already paid their nomination fees of K15,000 each in Lusaka Central, Mandevu and Mpulungu constituencies.
We expect the ECZ to charge the new candidates the K15,000 and not those that already filed in. These candidates must not be surcharged for circumstances beyond their control.
You may recall that all the political players and stakeholders expressed their concerns over the exorbitant nomination fees being charged by the ECZ.
Unfortunately enough, the ECZ declined to heed the concerns of the stakeholders. Today, the ECZ is apologizing to political players for the inconvenience caused.
As NDC, these apologies are meaningless but demand that Justice Esau Chulu and Director of Elections Kryticous Patrick Nshindano look into this matter critically. Standing for elections is a human right and the candidates should not be disadvantaged due to these unforeseen circumstances.
Exorbitant fees and double charges pose a danger to Zambia’s democracy. So we would like to appeal to the Commission to engage stakeholders, if possible, than to be so unfair to these candidates.
Last year, we issued a statement reminding ECZ to be inclusive of different views from stakeholders. We presented our concerns including high nomination fees charged for candidates but ECZ ignored our plea.
Fellow countrymen, Zambia needs people that are passionate, dedicated and ready to serve their communities, unlike making elections a preserve of the rich. So people that are not even passionate or dedicated to serving others will be becoming leaders all because they have money to pay the various high cost of participating in elections.
It should not be so expensive and cumbersome to aspire for political leadership, but the qualities of a leader should be what sets candidates apart. It is this high commercialisation of our politics that even brings about corruption because, when they win, our politicians have to somehow recover all these huge costs related to our electoral process.
Therefore, all we want to see is the ECZ having a listening ear to the concerns of stakeholders. We also want the Commission to always be mindful that their decisions hinge on promoting peace and democracy in Zambia.
Issued by
Kennedy Siyanda
NDC Spokesperson