NGOCC condemns Nkhoma’s proposal to raise presidential nomination fee to K5 million
THE Non-Governmental Gender Organisations’ Coordinating Council (NGOCC) has condemned the suggestion by economist Noel Nkhoma to increase the presidential nomination fee to K5 million.
On Wednesday, Nkhoma was quoted online urging the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to raise the amount for those wanting to run for president.
In a statement, NGOCC acting executive director Florence Lufunsa said the proposal is unfair and would block many ordinary people, especially women and persons with disabilities from taking part in elections.
Lufunsa stated that high nomination fees go against the spirit of equality and democracy and could even lead to corruption, as leaders may try to recover the money they spent once elected.
“To employ exclusionary policies as suggested by Mr Nkhoma is not only sad but retrogressive and aimed at disadvantaging these marginalized groups from participating as Presidential candidates,” she explained.
The organisation urged the ECZ to reject the proposal and ensure elections remain open to everyone.
“In addition, exorbitant nomination fees may compromise the integrity of leaders elected, as they will be prone to corruption and state capture. Therefore, we strongly urge the ECZ to ignore the call by Mr Nkhoma to increase the nomination fees to K5 million,” said Lufunsa.
“The proposal of this astronomical amount is absurd and designed to restrict the Presidency to only a few privileged individuals.We also take this opportunity to urge leaders not to use their strategic positions of influence to propagate elitist policies, including those that exclude the poor and vulnerable populations. Inclusion should always be the hallmark of our governance as a country.”
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, October 10, 2025
A Munalian My school & dormitory mate. 1980s
I personally support the proposal by Mr. Nkhoma. We need presidential candidates who are capable of raising resources for themselves, which shows that they can manage to do so for the country as well, should they be elected. Surely, as a country, how can we entrust someone to manage to run the country, attract investment and grow the economy, if they can’t manage to raise resources at personal level? This is why we have people who abuse government resources when given leadership because they see it as an opportunity to enrich themselves. I stand to be corrected, but even in the USA, a presidential candidate is expected to raise at least $20 million dollars to qualify to run for elections, but why do we want to cheapen the position in this country?
Ba Sam, the USA is not the best example to follow blindly. There are a lot of things that the
USA approves which we might find detestable.
The ability to raise money doesnot automatically translate into capacity to attract investors. Money can be raised from all sorts of sources, legal and illegal. South Africa is right now embroiled in a scandal involving the police, politicians and criminals. Policians were funded by criminal gang leaders and became compromised putting pressure on the police to drop assassination cases involving their criminal sponsors.
We should not deceive ourselves that the rich donot steal. They do and in a big way. Thieving is at every level of society, from the very poor to the very rich. It is more a question of character. There are people who are very poor but of high integrity, even higher than the so called rich. What we need are people of good character and that is why we must probe anyone who presents himself/herself as a presidential candidate. There is nothing like this is a personal or a private matter.
Someone defined politics as the means by which you translate PERSONAL beliefs into PUBLIC policy. Remember Mr. Lungu’s “uubomba mwibala alya mwibala” and how it became the defacto policy of the PF and its government? And what was his background in terms of character? We ignored the red lights and paid a heavy price.
On the other hand, Dr. Kaunda came from a God fearing background. He was not rich and when he was relieved of power in 1991, he didn’t have much wealth to show for the 27 years he ruled. Mr. Lusambo even mocked his eldest son, Mr. Panji Kaunda, for being foolish and not enriching themselves during their father’s rule. But where is Mr. Lusambo today?
So, what is important is a noble character, not riches.