Thursday, March 28, 2024

President Edgar Lungu looking at possibility of introducing E-Voting during General Elections

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President Lungu arrive at Cabinnet meeting
President Lungu arrive at Cabinnet meeting

PRESIDENT Lungu says he has deliberated with some funding agencies to consider implementing the e-voting system in Zambia during general elections.

Mr Lungu said there is need to educate people on the importance of the electronic voting system to avoid differences among stakeholders as government considers to upgrade its voting methods.

“I was talking to some of our funding agencies about e-voting in Zambia but even if they agree to establish e-voting in Zambia, it will be met with resistance and violence if we don’t prepare the minds of people. We have to get people to agree that this thing works and we can rely on it,” the president said.

Mr Lungu said this when he addressed Zambians resident in Namibia on Saturday night in Namibia after witnessing the inauguration of Namibia’s new President Hage Geingob.

Namibia is one of the first African countries to have used the e-voting system during last year’s elections which enabled its citizens in the diaspora to vote in their respective countries of residence.

“I am aware that people resist new concepts and ideas because of what they have known before. Change inevitably attracts resistance because of lack of knowledge. So it’s also up to those who have the knowledge to educate us about the e-voting system,” President Lungu said.

60 COMMENTS

    • what beer is lungu drinking now kansi??,,, E-voting??? are sure you,,, with a weak internet signal,,, worst phone network is terrible!!,,, this guy is lossing track of everything, the worst president in Zambian history so far

    • I hope he had taken too much wine when he was saying this.
      This is priority #1000, focus on things that will better the lives of citizen.

      What value will e-voting add to my life when i cant find a job and eat 3 meals?

    • @KARODS The people who were previously running the Nambian government have their hearts for their people and country. LUNGU AND THOSE HOLDING HIM CAPTIVE DO NOT, THAT IS WHY EVEN WITHOUT THE E-VOTING THE ELECTION RESULTS WERE HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE MANIPULATION THAT OCCURRED WITH THE TRANSMISSION OF THE LAST RESULTS. ECZ THEMSELVES AGREED THE RESULTS WERE MANIPULATED AND UP TO DATE THE CULPRITS HAVE NOT BEEN FOUND. YOU THINK THESE ARE THE PEOPLE TO TRUST WITH AN ELECTRONIC SYSTEM? PEOPLE THAT WILL WANT TO HOLD ON TO POWER AT ANY COST? AND NOW HAVE GOVERNMENT RESOURCES TO DO SO. WHAT WE IN ZAMBIA IS FOR EL TO BE RETIRED IN NATIONAL INTEREST.

    • You can’t abruptly implement such a large project with it’s associated risks on a general election which is just some 15 months away. What if it practically fails?
      Why can’t we use ward bye-elections as pilot projects?
      Moreover, that must be very costly, the money should be spent on improving the Zambian economy.

    • READ AGAIN, DID HE SAY 2016? OR IT IS JUST IN THOUGHT FOR NOW? IT IS NORMAL AND OKAY TO DREAM OR UTTER A VISION FOR FUTURE REALIZATION

    • We shall not accept this type of scheming. This country is not your mothers country to be making decisions of this magnitude without consultation and assuring the nation that stealing of votes will be chgecked.

    • Just stick to the constitution roadmap at the moment and then venture into the e-voting project later.

    • Opportunity for kickbacks, don’t be surprised if it’s one of those tech companies …he is going to see in China.
      Why is it that politican’s are in the forefront of such sensitive issues leave it to ECZ.

    • Start as a pilot project in Lusaka and copperbelt towns during the by-elections. Have side by side ballot papers to supplement, in case the need arises. E-voting does not mean email voting only. It goes beyond and it means computerised voting based at booths and results compiled and announced automatically.

    • LISHENI ABANTU FIRST IFYAKULYA BAKWANE BEFORE DREAMING OF SUCH LUXURY. OF COURSE IT WOULD BE NICE TO VOTE ON-LINE BUT FEED THE PEOPLE FIRST. THE MILLING PLANTS PROMISED IN RURAL AREAS MUST BE REALIZED FIRST. VOTING ON AN EMPTY STOMACH ON-LINE WON’T MEAN ANYTHING TO THE MAJORITY OF ZAMBIANS WHO HAVE BEEN CRYING FOR FOOD EVER SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

  1. Edgar doesn’t have enough time to start talking about such big projects.let him firstly address dollar,unemployment,mealie meal etc not those misplaced priorities

    • READ AGAIN, DID HE SAY 2016? OR IT IS JUST IN THOUGHT FOR NOW? IT IS NORMAL AND OKAY TO DREAM OR UTTER A VISION FOR FUTURE REALIZATION

    • @Mervis.

      We don’t need to read it in black and white. WE KNOW HOW PF WORKS They are in a hurry to bring development. They have said it, done it over and over.

      They basically don’t know what Short term, medium term or long term planning is. Everything to them is INFINTU NIBWANGU.

      We know.

  2. is this man gay i cant understand HIS WAY OR STYLE OF WALKING,IF HE IS NOT THEN THE MILLITARY SHOULD ADDRESS THIS AND TRAIN HIM HOW TO WALK WHEN YOU HAVE AUTHORITY OR HE IS A LAZY BONE.

  3. @Nodbo very correct,no net work then thinking of E-Voting…OMG…please sort out basic needs first,we are almost going to the next election and nothing tangible has been done apart from wish full think..

    • He is trying to find a way of stealing another election in advance. He just thinks of power at any given time. When most of the government departments if not all don’t even have computers, for someone to be thinking of evoting, shows misplaced his reasoning & priorities are.

  4. E-voting welcome move, but in a state where vote rigging is the order of the day including violence, then it becomes a tabboo. In Zambia we have been introduced to the voting of pangas and cheating. If only LUNGU can prove to the rest of us ZAMBIANs to say when he raises his FIT he is not telling his cadres to say GO YEE AND KILL them then we shall appreciate. There are a number of civilized ZAMBIANS out there who are really taken aback with the way PF has driven its cadres to be PANGA BOYS AND GIRLS and this is really sad. The more reason why NO normal ZAMBIAN takes LUNGU’s word for granted. He has to prove to us that THE CLETCHED FIST does not meant SLEDGE HAMMER.

  5. I agree with you Prayer; e-voting is not good in a culture of vote rigging. We will just see ghost voters. I would urge opposition parties to resist this move.

  6. @ 1 Karods or whatever. I am UPND and ordinarily this would excite me to nonsense but not in your scenario there in Zed. It will be a quadruple disaster: 1. Not only will the rains prevent people from coming to the polling station, it will 2. cut off electrical power and disable your already 3. snail paced and precarious Internet connectivity and 4. Frustrate an already technologically challenged voter population who will vent this out by smashing these things. Meaning what you witnessed during the last elections will be on a scale of x4!

  7. Misplaced priorities, how does someone in their try to install chandeliers in their house when the foundation is about to fall, when the walls are breaking, and most important, the ceiling is breaking. Be serious and address important issues not copy pasting what namibia did! Internet itself is a luxury, network connection is a disaster, even the software used by ZRA at nakonde is an experiment from your ‘sponsors’ and breaks down resulting in millions of dollars in loses. Mealie meal, fuel, unemployment, health you are quiet…vilibe nchito you are yapping your mouth…you have failed boss..these are delaying tactics to postponed your failure…

  8. E-voting is welcome. The investment in voter education and civic education will pay dividents in the long run. Hard ballots are cumbersome compared to soft ballots. At the same time, the possibility of a joint venture with the same familiar South African company for printing ballots and other voter materials must be considered. There is no point in running to Durban every now and then. Placing more trust in the ballot papers from South Africa is largelya mentality problem with enormous costs. Time for a new attitude is now. I am saying this because efforts to modernize Government Printers have been met with cynicism. Even GP can enter into a consultant agreement with the South African company to do the job efficiently locally within the country. No need for groups flying to South Africa.

  9. LEARN THE REAL MEANING OF ‘ EDGAR CHAGWA LUNGU’

    1. EDGAR.

    E= Empty and Useless President who will soon be

    D= Dying of several sicknesses and his

    G= Grave will also be Embassy Park and

    A= Again Zambia will be morning as they say may the soul of Chagwa Agwa

    R= Rest in peace.

    2. CHAGWA

    C= Chibuku addicted President is said to be

    H= HIV Positive

    A= And has Throat Cancer which will make him go in the

    G= Grave at Embassy Park and the

    W= World and

    A= Africa will conclude that Zambians had voted for a moving
    casket.

    2. LUNGU

    L= Lusaka and Copperbelt Residents are now regretting having voted for a

    U= Useless and Sick President who is a 100%

    N= None Performer but is busy

    G= Gallivanting like a mad dog

    U= Under the influence of rabies.

  10. There are things to be looked on before e-voting. The value of the Kwacha should be considered first and other things.

  11. Now I see why Henry Ford didn’t consult before coming up with his motor car (he aptly said people would opt for faster horses if consulted). Every new thing is disruptive. I do not understand how we trust scratch cards, credit cards and encrypted passes and yet we fail to embrace e-voting. The less we consult the superstitious the more progress we shall make. Kudos, Lungu. The sooner this is implemented the better. Then we will have fewer scapegoats after elections. Namibia has done it against the odds of all sorts of wimpers and attempts to block progress and now the pain is over, they have embraced that system as their own. Time for progress – it is disruptive, folks. Brace yourselves.

    • But was it not Henry Ford who said, “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black. Imagine a world of only black cars! So not all of his ideas were progressive.

    • @ Kalok, You are very dull…ati, kudos Lungu and comparing scratch cards to e-voting..at what grade did you drop out of school!…this is the type of stupidity the Zambian blind followers have across all political parties…mulebikako ifintu fimo aside politcal blind lenses and attempt to see plain facts flat one,and with an open mind……so Lungu has already implemented the e-voting, so Kudos, according to this chimpanzee…please evolve, evolution is not yet over, and it remains free to this day!

  12. It just goes to show how dull you clowns are. Lungu is not talking about implementing the evoting. Just read again and comment appropriately. To be in opposition doesn’t mean that you should always be negative even to someone opinion.

  13. There is absolutely nothing wrong with introducing e-voting. Some are saying internet is a luxury. I can’t believe anyone in this day and age would say that. Try and live without internet for a day and see how incovenienced you will be, not that you can’t do without it for a day just that doing without it for a day makes a lot of things hard, slow and ineffective. If anything, I would encourage the president to have one more ministry added to the government and this ministry is called the ministry of internet. China has that because they know it is inevitable to have it. I am sure some ignorant persons will oppose this. I think as the president goes to China they should study the ministry and position of internet ministry in govt. E-voting is the way forward.

    • There is no internet infrustracture in Zed to support this level of project. And that is what people are saying.

  14. At least we know how dull he is? He says he learnt alot when he went to Nambia. And from what he has been spewing so far we can tell that we are better off not having a president. We should have continued under Guy Scott till the 2016 election. Scott had ceremonial powers for 3 months, and things were still normal apart from Achalasia Fatigue and company trying to make things tough for Scott.
    You can tell a wise man when he opens his mouth. The few times Achalasia Fatigue has opened his mouth, you can not different him from the PPP president (Muliokela).

  15. UPND cadres always surprise me, i always say that Jealous and Hatrad wont take you any where, to you its like what ever positive move govt take is bad,just months ago you were the one crying foul that your votes were stolen you condemned the electoral system and called it all names, now that govt wants to initiate a more transparent system of voting, you again say no, people, its time to move on and stop being in denial Edgar Chagwa LUNGU is the Zambias sixth president the earlier you accept this fact the better , its like your only focus is to see cows at state house at all cost, i wonder what kind of people you are, no wonder you shall forever remain in opposition , because you fit well in that area.

  16. It is a good idea if and only if all other immediate pending issues are fulfilled. This must be the last policy in the PF manifesto in terms of priority .

  17. On Election Day the Israeli PM urged the right-wing to go and vote as the Arab voters were going “en masse to the polls.” Come 2016 Elections the Zambian President will be closely monitoring the election and I can imagine him urging the Bembas and Ngonis to go and vote as the Tonga voters were going en masse to the polls. It worked for Netanyahu and it might work for ECL.

    • P.S. The Israeli PM has apologised to the Arabs for this racial outburst but it is like locking the stables after the horse has fled.

  18. zam-mbia
    March 24, 2015

    ECL is right on this one.Let us invest in e-voting.In this day & era you want to continue using archaic voting methods of shifting ballot boxes from place to place.There are benefits of electronic voting & we need to explore them.ECZ can use satellite communications to set up a network to transmit the results in real-time from polling stations.The voters can then vote wherever they are(not restricted to places they registered)on polls day.THIS IS THE WAY TO GO!

  19. Just bring back Willie Nsanda’s body from SA and begin to prepare for Chagwa’s passing too. One thug down and may his soul rest in hell.

  20. Surprising someone can reject a proposal like this. Thank God HH is not and will never be in Statehouse because we can go 50 years behind. E-voting is the way to go and to my fellows do not be afraid of the computer please. I even wondered if Atonio Mwanza of FDD KNOWS EVEN WHAT E-VOTING IS. E-voting referes to voting using a computer through a net work. when you vote no one can change and goes straight to the totaling centre or adds to the person you are voting for. Is this what a normal person can refuse sure?

  21. The MTN Lozi guy rigged the electronic jackpot so that his girl friend in Livingstone could win it. Wont this electronic thing suffer the same fate.

  22. Please forgive me for diverting from this topic but I would like to give free advise to those who are blaming President Edgar Lungu for the Kwacha/Dollar exchange rate depreciation.
    The exchange rate is driven by demand and supply of forex. Zambia is majorly a consumer or trading economy. The effort we are spending to attack the president if spent on demanding that the mining companies should be bringing their sale proceeds to Zambia, the exchange rate will improve. When IS 39 was introduced the same people condemned it. It was reversed. My question is do we really understand the forces of economies or not. The VAT issue of mines, government has been condemned. But to advise again, the mines are demanding to claim Input VAT without providing clear documentations. Who can try that in USA.

  23. The solution to the fall of the Kwacha and unemployment include:
    1. Zambians must start supporting local companies run by the indigenous not fake Zambians who externalize sale proceeds.
    2.Zambians must start running financial institutions especially commercial banks like it is in Nigeria and South Africa. So lets first start support Investrust and encourage more Zambians to establish banks.
    3. Lets introduce entrepreneurship as a course in all tertially education institutions so that people don’t leave universities and colleges with only one goal – to get a job. If a job is not found someone with a degree education should think enterprisingly even if it means starting something outside their field of study.

    • @31 Prophetic voice

      You speak well and wisely.

      There is good wisdom in what you say. For what does it benefit a country to elect a Leader and then turn around against him for the things they could resolve themselves?

      Trouble with Zambian politicians, especially Party Heads; is their tunnel vision when it comes to their perceived right to rule. They fail to work with the gov’t to better the country. Their conduct is ‘one long election campaign.’

  24. Your Excellency, We have to be careful buying ‘E-Systems’ from foreign Funders, Sir.

    If we design the system ourselves then fine, but it can only work if the Digital infrastructure in the country is at its best.

    How much? We must be careful not to wholesale all our Systems into foreign hands. Really the costs of Development, and Implementation can be prohibitive.

    As a Digital professional, I would want those issues answered. If we Design and Develop it ourselves (creating employment for our digital kids); then I would be all for it. We need control. We don’t want an already designed ‘Package.’

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