UPND HAS A REPRESENTATIVE TO MONITOR THE PRINTING OF BALLOTS IN DUBAI – NKOMBO
UPND Chairman for Elections Gary Nkombo says the party has managed to dispatch a representative to the United Arab Emirates to monitor the printing of ballot papers for the August 12th General elections.
Mr Nkombo says it had become difficult for the party to dispatch a Zambian based observer due to strict pandemic restrictions imposed by the UAE on Zambian residents and needed a special Visa that could only be obtained through the ECZ.
He revealed that the party representative,Richard Njolomba had by 22nd June 2021 bought the air ticket as well as obtained a Visa which unfortunately was rejected as he needed a Government to Government consented Visa which could only be gotten through the Elections body.
” We made frantic efforts to have our representative get the special visa through the ECZ but there was inertia on the part of the commission leading to the party running out of time hence the reported lack of representation in Dubai,” he said.
The Elections Chairman has however assured the general party membership and the country that a representative based in the UK has since been dispatched to Dubai to monitor the printing due to relaxed entry requirements between the UK and UAE.
Earlier UPND Chairman for Elections Gary Nkombo says the party has managed to dispatch a representative to the United Arab Emirates to monitor the printing of ballot papers for the August 12th General elections.
Mr Nkombo says it had become difficult for the party to dispatch a Zambian based observer due to strict pandemic restrictions imposed by the UAE on Zambian residents and needed a special Visa that could only be obtained through the ECZ.
He revealed that the party representative,Richard Njolomba had by 22nd June 2021 bought the air ticket as well as obtained a Visa which unfortunately was rejected as he needed a Government to Government consented Visa which could only be gotten through the Elections body.
” We made frantic efforts to have our representative get the special visa through the ECZ but there was inertia on the part of the commission leading to the party running out of time hence the reported lack of representation in Dubai,” he said.
The Elections Chairman has however assured the general party membership and the country that a representative based in the UK has since been dispatched to Dubai to monitor the printing due to relaxed entry requirements between the UK and UAE.
Speaking to journalists earlier Secretary General Batuke Imenda told disclosed that despite completing all documentation correctly the person who was assigned by the party to travel had his documents rejected because they said Zambia is among the countries blacklisted to travel to Dubai.
He said the names and conditions were submitted and the conditions approved.
We were surprised when they informed us that the said visa was not approved by the Dubai government due to the pandemic.