THE Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has engaged information technology forensic experts to help with investigations into what led to Zambia National Broadcasting Corperation (ZNBC) to broadcast wrong results.
ECZ director Priscilla Isaac said this in a submission made before the parliamentary committee on legal affairs, governance and human rights chaired by Jack Mwiimbu in Lusaka yesterday.
She said that investigations are ongoing.
“We are certain that the forensic experts we have engaged will get to the bottom of the matter,” she said.
And Mrs Isaac said the commission can only start conducting continuous voter registration if it receives funding.
She said that funding would enable the commission to decentralise and conduct the continuous voter registration exercise in different parts of the country.
Mrs Isaac said the ECZ will start the exercise in the second half of the year in preparation for the 2016 presidential, parliamentary and local government elections.
She said that the ECZ has received an appeal from political parties to be allowed access to the restricted room at the totalling centre, but that she will submit this request to the commission because it is a policy issue.
“We only restrict entry to the back room where we receive and transmit results from various centres. We do not want the room to be crowded, neither did we want interference,” Mrs Isaac said.
She said ECZ has no mandate to restrict how much money particular political parties can use during campaigns.
Mrs Isaac said that the commission only regulates the type of material to be used during campaigns but that there is no law that restricts how much a political party can use.
Just wasting few resources. Investigating what you know does not make sense.
” we did not want the room to be crowded ” ooooh please spare us, we are not all dull. Why then did you allow few individuals to go in and alter figures??? Why didn’t you allow only one party representatives for transparency’s sake??
Sometimes keeping silent is good than poking us where it pains most. This primitive mentality of stealing from ordinary Zambians will keep the nation poorest.
@michealme, I don’t quite agree with the logic in your contribution, firstly the transmission room does not matter, we Are all in agreement that your polling agents endorsed the announced results by ECZ in fact this time mambilima went out of her way to ensure you Undp agre happy with transmitted results before announcing. Their was just an error with figures that ZNBC showed & that is what they are investigating, it’s nothing to do with rigging regarding ECZ.. Please sober up and brace for national development under PF..
Nonsense!
Side note to Priscilla – That picture makes you look like a dude! Not that it matters if you are ok with it.
CANT EVEN CONTRIBUTE TO THIS PRISCILLA ISAACS COZ CAN INSULT HER BIG TIME,LET ME JUST ZIP MY MOUTH
HH and all concerned please find out from this Pricilla Isaac and Mambilima got as allowances in the just ended elections. Am aware these suckers got six figure amounts. Let there be transparency with the money they ECZ chaps get. It is time to know the truth.
@ba koswe, for sure you are koswe, Another confused boy,allowances and gratuity are bargained and are part of conditions of service, how do you want to start dictating how much the officers at ECZ should get? Go and work there if you have the qualifications..your HH is still in shock, with assurances from Jv he was sure of a win, leave him alone for now.
SO THIS MAN IN THE PICTURE SHE WHO WAS A HE IS MARRIED TO MR ISAACS
Election rigging demoralises voters.
Ask your jv he is the one who tried but ran out of rigging material… God is above there for a purpose.
CHILIMA CHA CHINYAMA!! If any one of the politicians put food on your table don’t think the millions of Zambians befit in the same manner!! we depend on good governance!! And good governance involves a lot!! If you say everything ok at ECZ why did they announce in the first place that they were set when in the actual sense election materials were not delivered everywhere?? why conducting a single presidential election for a week?? why start announcing results when voting was still going own?? why so many irregularities?? For lack of a better term uchilima. Remember we had the most powerful dictators in this world but they are no more!! Everything has got time!! What is comforting is that you fulfilling Bible prophecies!! injustice!! If you want you can own the whole of this world today…
@mistaken id, the ECZ had done well and if there was even a single dark spot your HH could have been all over seeking redress, anyway the same ECZ to uphold transparency is hosting an enquiry on some wrong display of results by one media house, commend effort and wait for findings..
@ chinyama, who the hell are you? A dunderhead, if PF has given you a job does not mean that every citizen in the country is happy with them. People are keen to know the irregularities that happened and you are busy barking like a mad dog. Your relatives are terribly suffering just to have a meal of cassava. You sound like one of those foolish boys Michael Chimbwi Sata gave jobs as mail men in the missions abroad and you now start worshipping your masters. Shame on you rotten egg.
@voice of reason, I am not preview to your age , but your script surely lucks maturity, u called me a dunderhead, barking dog, rotten egg for no apparent reason, let’s chat respectfully, do you still have hope to find any irregularities at the ECZ? Your polling agent already confirmed the ECZ’s results against theirs on the ground,how then do you expect any difference in Figures or anything that can make your HH become the winner? Wake up to reality it may help your depressed president.
This the most costly commission in the world! And they do less work than most. Imagine what would happen if every Zambian of voting age went to register this year, they will not be sable to cope.
In Zambia we have a very low number of voters yet the commission gets itself into a Twist even if a few bother to vote.
Where does all that foreign aid go????
priscilla dont embrass ECZ, you dont expect ZNBC to get figures from dogs or monkeys they got them from ECZ. we are proffessional jounrnalists who know the consequences of giving wrong information. let ECZ not hide in the name of ZNBC let them review how they manupulated the figures. if ZNBC announced the correct figures are they going to reverse the declaration? shame
Hence the inquiry remain put work is being done.
Imwe bantu investigating what? We all know that if a media institution is owned by the government it is always scared shiit of government officials. Being scared and journalism doesn’t work together. So the scared journalists will put out shiit because they aren’t using their brains. They are depending on somebody else’s commands. Free ZNBC! Privatise it! Or make it a public broadcaster. Not a State broadcaster.
Priscilla Isaac will unpopular like Bob Bwalya. Even Akufina has some integrity left in him. The outburst, the protectivity, the prejudice, the accessive authority, the language makes Isaac even her own name ‘Isaacs’ questionable. She may be in the same shoes with Ireen Mambilima but by far Mambilima is still full of integrity and command respect from both ruling and opposition supporter where as Isaacs commands no respect but only appreciation from cadres of PF. When true reflections are made Isaac’s position is like that Emmanuel Mwamba, Nkandu Luo, Kambwili or even Brian Hapunda where even your party president doubts you to be enstrusted with sensitive positions. You can soar even into clouds but you will soon or later be forgotten like own faecal material; yes own dung Job 20:7
Zambians are not happy
@leon,dont be cheated Zambians are happy, the one who needs to cheer up is you, there can only be one president whose the people’s choice not yours, Noah is calling get in the boat,big storm approaching.. Friendly advise…