By Masuzyo Chakwe and Edwin Mbulo
IT is apparent that the UPND has already smelt another election loss and
has now started preparing grounds to justify their loss, once pronounced
after the August 12 Presidential and General Elections, says acting chief government spokesperson Stephen Kampyongo.
UPND Alliance leader Hakainde Hichilema has written to the AU and SADC asking them not to legitimise Zambia’s elections based on a
compromised voters’ roll.
In a letter dated March 25 captioned: “New electoral register threatens prospects for a free and fair election in Zambia 2021” to the African Union chairperson President Felix Tshisekedi of Democratic Republic of Congo and
SADC chairperson President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi, Hichilema said: “In its current state, we believe the new voters’ roll threatens to undermine the credibility of the August 2021 elections and paves the way for election disputes before the campaign period has even begun.”
“We are writing to express our grave concern regarding the outcome of the recent voter registration process in Zambia ahead of the general
elections scheduled for 12 August 2021. Based on the figures presented by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), it appears concrns that the new electoral roll was not developed in a fair and impartial manner have been validated. This is most clearly seen in the fact that the number of voters registered in provinces that voted strongly in
favour of the incumbent Patriotic Front party in 2016 have increased significantly. Meanwhile, the number of voters from provinces viewed as traditional opposition strongholds has seen substantial decreases,” he said.
“We also believe it violates the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) and the OAU Declaration on Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa. We therefore call upon Your Excellencies, to: 1. Ensure the AU and SADC does not legitimise an election based on a compromised voters’ roll. 2. Advocate for an independent audit of the new register to ensure the upcoming elections are credible and support public confidence in the process. 3. Support an extension to the voter registration to ensure eligible Zambians are not disenfranchised come 12 August 2021.”
Hichilema told the AU and SADC chairpersons that the voter registration process, which took place in November and December 2020, was highly
contested by both opposition parties and civil society groups who raised concerns around the practicalities and the partiality of the process.
He said that these concerns included the fact that the new voters’ roll replaced the pre-existing register, meaning those unable to participate in the recent process would be unable to vote in the 2021 elections.
Hichilema said: “Despite this, just 37 days were allocated to registering the entire country. In light of the reduced number of voters in four of Zambia’s 0 provinces, there are concerns that thousands of eligible citizens who were previously registered have been disenfranchised as a result.”
“The new voters’ roll contains an additional 304,021 voters. Yet, since the 2016 elections, almost two million Zambians have turned 18
(years old). The 4.5 per cent increase in the number of voters on the roll is significantly lower than the increases recorded ahead of the 2016 elections, when the roll was increased by 29.7 per cent and in 2011 when the roll was boosted by 31.1 per cent,” he said.
“During the registration period there were frequent reports of long queues, with voters discouraged by the lengthy waits or turned away and told to come back another day. These were compounded by staffing and technology issues. Misinformation and poor communication meant that voters were often unaware of when the exercise would take place
at local polling stations, with deployment schedules communicated once the process was already underway.”
He revealed that at the time, reports circulated that known PF members were being bussed to registration stations in the middle of the night and also allegations that the process was skewed to favour regions supportive of the ruling party.
“The exercise fell almost two million voters short of its target of nine million voters. The resulting register contains only an additional 304,021compared to the 2016 register, which is composed of large increases in the number of voters in perceived ruling party strongholds, with significant decreases in areas that voted strongly for opposition candidates in 2016,” he said.
“There were previously concerns around the mobile National Registration Card (NRC) [issuance] exercise that proceeded the voter registration period, as citizens must have a valid NRC card to register as a voter. Oversight of the process was compromised in August 2020 when the Ministry of Home Affairs disbanded organisations which were monitoring the exercise,” Hichilema said.
He added an appendix showing the voters’ roll differences between that of 2016 and 2021 per province, starting with Lusaka which has a total
of 1,242,992 voters this year as opposed to 2016’s 1,119,318 giving the province an additional 112,674 registered voters.
Copperbelt and Eastern have 1,023,223 and 896,213 this year compared to 2016’s 1,034,548 and 775,889, giving them a minus 11,325 and a plus
120,325 respectively.
Southern, Central and Northern have 778,099, 666,640 and 600,859, respectively this year compared to 2016’s 810,077, 642,127 and 557,225, representing a minus 31,978, plus 24,513 and plus 43,634 respectively.
Luapula, Western, Muchinga and North-Western this year have 562,230, 447,143, 401,542 and 384,452 compared to 510,467, 498,915, 349,231 and 400,575 in 2016, translating in a plus 51, 763, minus 51,772, plus 52,311 and minus 16,123 voters respectively.
But Kampyongo in a statement todayon the UPND calling for the AU and SADC to intervene in an internal process of preparing a voters register, Kampyongo, who is home affairs minister, said the government found it irrational and disturbing reports in some sections of the media that the opposition Party for National Development (UPND) has written to the African Union (AU) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to complain about a process that had been “highly consultative”.
He said the preparation of a voters’ register, which UPND leader Hakainde
Hichilema was complaining about to the international community, was a process
that the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) had been “undertaking
without leaving anyone behind”.
“Political parties; civil society organisations; and both national and
international collaborating partners have been involved in this process from
inception. Government believes that the preparation of the voters’ register has been conducted in an exceptionally transparent manner and that there are
sufficient local grievance resolution avenues that anyone who has a problem
with the process can use to be heard and be assisted,” he said.
Kampyongo said the UPND ought to know the limitations of international stakeholders in how far they could go in expressing themselves on local matters like registration of voters.
“It is apparent that the UPND has already smelled another election loss and
has now started preparing grounds to justify their loss, once pronounced
after the August 12 Presidential and General Elections. Government wishes to appeal to Mr Hichilema to desist from exciting his party members unnecessarily and, instead, concentrate on mobilising his supporters to verify their details in the voters’ register,” said Kampyongo.