THE Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has uncovered a scam in which some district registration officers are making false claims on activities not related to the on-going voter registration exercise and warned that it will not entertain such officials.
ECZ director Dan Kalale said he had received reports of abuse of resources by district registration officers, some of whom were making claims for business unrelated to the voter registration exercise.
Mr Kalale said, in a letter of July 12, 2010 addressed to all town clerks, council secretaries, city, municipal and district councils, that the commission would only process claims from officers travelling to Lusaka specifically on ECZ business.
The ECZ would also impound any motor vehicle found on non-ECZ assignments.
The warning follows reports of claims ECZ received for subsistence and fuel expenses from some district registration officers travelling to Lusaka on assignments not related to ECZ.
“Please be advised that only claims from officers who have specifically travelled to Lusaka on Electoral Commission of Zambia business will be processed and the ECZ Land Cruisers allocated to the districts will only be used for ECZ assignments.
“Any vehicle that will be found in Lusaka on non-ECZ business will be impounded,” Mr Kalale said.
He said officers should be aware of the budget constraints for the continuous voter registration exercise, and that it was incumbent upon all officers to ensure they were as prudent as possible in expenditure.
The voter registration would initially be for a period of 90 days and each district has a registration deployment plan and timetable for its respective constituencies.
The registration officers are stationed at each registration centre in every constituency for a period of 12 days and voters would be able to register at any centre in the constituencies as long as they indicate their preferred polling stations.
Meanwhile, the commission has expressed disappointment at the continued low turnout of people to register as voters in Livingstone under the on-going voter registration exercise.
More than 1,800 people have so far been registered in Livingstone District since the exercise started on June 21 this year.
Livingstone ECZ assistant registration officer, Nelson Sakala said the commission was also disappointed by some Livingstone residents who had continued to tear down voter registration campaign posters, adding that such behaviour was affecting public sensitisation on the programme.
Mr Sakala was speaking on a live-phone in programme on Zambezi FM.
[Times of Zambia]
