By Marvin Chanda Mberi
Following the communication from the Electoral Commission of Zambia on the proposed revised fees for candidates in the upcoming coming general election, the UPND is one stakeholder that came in open disapproval of the proposed fees.
The long serving opposition vehemently objected and demanded for the user friendly fee scale for all irrespective of the financial muscle.
On 17th June, 2020, UPND Hakahinde Hichilema took it to social media and protested the new nomination fees.
He was quoted as having said, “New nomination fees totally unacceptable and an affront to the principle of Constitutional Democracy.”
He went on to say and we quote, “POLITICS SHOULD NOT BE THE PRESERVE OF THE RICH but every Zambian citizen who had a vision and the capacity to contribute to the wellbeing of Zambia must be allowed to enter the arena.”(UNDERLINING AND BOLDFACING FOR EMPHASIS ONLY)
The UPND even went greater lengthy as far as petitioning the ECZ to express their discontent on the proposed nomination fees.
Sadly, Mr Hichilema and his political party have been caught in the web of the same decision they condemned and their deeds have been established to the contrary of what they preached.
In the week coinciding with the celebration of the youth day, the nation is greeted with the disturbing news of exponentially high nomination fees for the people wishing to be adopted as candidates under the flag of UPND.
This is the deliberate ploy to technically knock out the people wishing to offer themselves for election from the race.
On the youth perspective, this is condemned in the strongest terms as it has the ability to undermine the credibility of the electoral process.
Imposing heft fees for the candidates has the ability to commercialize politics and this is exclusion of the aspirants who may not have a deeper pocket.
The deeper pocket theory in Zambian politics should not be the basis of deciding who should be the flag bearer.
If their request for the ECZ to reduce the nomination fees was made in good faith, we expected that to be their internal criteria.
It is clear, they didn’t mean what they said when they condemned the ECZ for increasing fees payable by candidates.
They were merely politicking and we urge them to take national matters seriously.
The inconsistence on national matters should their instability on serious national matters.
Every patriot has a responsibility t hold the UPND accountable and ensure they refrain from commercializing politics especially service to the nation.
We are made to assume that there is a deliberate ploy to explosively exclude the marginalized people such as the youths and women on account of not affording the high nomination fees is unacceptable.
This ought to be vacated.