ECZ warns against vote buying

THE ELECTORAL Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has said it has received reports of vote buying and warned perpetrators of punishment by the law.

ECZ director of elections Priscilla Isaac said in Lusaka yesterday that the commission had been receiving anonymous messages in form of letters and text messages from members of the public in Lusaka and some districts indicating that there was rampant vote buying.

“There have been no specifics and that is why we are making a general statement. People are not being open so we cannot take the bull by its horn. Members of the public should also report such cases to the police and the ACC (Anti-Corruption Commission),” she said.

Ms Isaac urged members of the public to guard their voters’ cards jealously, saying their vote was sacred.

She also said ballot papers for the September 20 tripartite elections would arrive today aboard a chartered plane scheduled to land at Lusaka International Airport between 11:00 hours and 12:00 hours.

She said all those nominated to witness the arrival and inspection of the ballot papers before they are dispatched to polling stations should be accredited with the ECZ.

Ms Isaac said the ECZ would only allow two representatives from stakeholder groups and political parties to avoid congestion as was the case in 2008.

She said the ballot papers would be kept at a Zamcargo warehouse at the Lusaka International Airport, which the ECZ was renting, and would start being dispatched to the various polling stations by road between Wednesday and Friday, after inspection by district electoral officers.

She said ECZ was installing closed circuit television (CCTV) in and outside the Zamcargo warehouse to ensure maximum security.

Ms Isaac appealed to Zambians to allow the safe passage of ballot papers to their respective polling stations to avoid undue delay of the electoral process.

“I appeal to all people to allow the safe passage of the ballot papers. Our trucks should not be disturbed and there should be no undue delay of the papers,” she said.

She maintained that the end of the campaign period was September 18 at 06:00 hours as had been agreed with stakeholders at a meeting in Livingstone last year, and urged all Zambians to observe the end of the campaign period or be in breach of the law.

Ms Isaac said more than 500 international monitors from about 20 organisations and countries, including the media, had already accredited, among them the Electoral Institute of South Africa, Southern African Development Community parliamentary forum, Botswana, Kenya, the Commonwealth and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

On alleged corruption involving Universal Print Group, Ms Isaac said any direct allegations of UPG and corruption had been forwarded to the ACC as it was the best wing of Government to investigate the printing company.

On public media failing to observe the electoral code of conduct on coverage, Ms Isaac defended the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail saying the two public media had tried to ensure equal coverage of all political parties and stakeholders in the elections under difficult circumstances.

She said Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation had also tried to offer coverage to all stakeholders and political parties.

She urged political parties and other stakeholders to make it easy for the public media to cover them by minimising hostility.

On the special vote, she said the ECZ would not be able to offer a special vote for the media and the police but was looking at developing procedures for 2016.

She however said ECZ officials and the police would be given certificates to vote where they would be deployed.

[Times of Zambia]