Vice President Inonge Wina says proposed nomination fees by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) for candidates contesting the 2021 general elections were made after consideration of a number of issues.
Mrs. Wina says one of the issues is the requirement to issue all presidential candidates a free voter’s register for all the streams whose cost is estimated at 610,000 Kwacha per presidential candidate.
She says before the meeting with various political parties, ECZ undertook a benchmarking exercise on other electoral bodies in Africa where it was discovered that the average nomination fee was 350,000 Kwacha.
Mrs. Wina says the highest Nomination fees were in the Democratic Republic of Congo which was pegged at 1.8 million hundred Kwacha equivalent.
She says it is for this reason that ECZ engaged stakeholders and political parties to make proposals for election nomination fees for the purpose of agreeing on the final figure.
Mrs. Wina said this today during the Vice President’s question time in Parliament in response to a question by Chimbamilonga Member of Parliament who wanted to find out why ECZ had proposed an increase in nomination fees.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Wina said Government had an administrative matter to deal with before it could resume the social cash transfer programme.
She said the Ministry of Community Development is being empowered to ensure the beneficiaries of social cash transfer start receiving it.
Mrs. Wina further said there are many social protection measures that Government is taking in order to bring the various sectors and players under one unit.
She said Smart Zambia is currently working with the Ministry of Community Development so that data base is established for recipients of social protection funds to avoid double payments.
And the Vice President urged opposition members of Parliament to participate in Bill 10 debates and not merely complain about contentious issues contained in the Public Order Act.
Mrs. Wina said there are many other contentious issues in the Constitution that need to be addressed so that the country’s governance can be put on the right track.
Is she related to Kaizer Zezulu, Mayo be motherly.
This must be taken out of her position. I don’t know whether she is just a rubber stamp vp or not.
She is useless
PF must go!
These VP Q&A Sessions should be scrapped!
When the corrupt rule, they also corrupt the legal system to protect their own corruption! The good reason for increasing nomination fees should not be because DRC is doing the same. Why can’t we originate our own ideas? Why do we have to want to copy all the time? Just because your neighbor has a Mercedes Benz, doesn’t mean you should also have it!
Governance is not cheap. If you think democracy is cheap then try dictatorship. We are not a cheap nation and deserve the best in leadership. The fees partly ensure that usless chancers are deterred from wasting our time and money. Kz
@Kaizar Zulu. Governments exist in order to perform tasks of common good. They collect our taxes to facilitate the same. See the issue from an objective perspective
This Bo Inonge is an old senile hen who will be retiring next year why would she be worried about high nomination fees…these people are sell outs ..just look at where she comes from in WP too much poverty but her immediate family is forever on govt payroll.
Shallow justification and poor consultations
Any MP that needs carbon dating to determine age will be retired next year. Ba Yufi are on the way.
Just because they pay that much in South Sudan and Somalia we should do the same in Zambia.
I am sure everyone knows why she is VP. So soon she’s forgotten how her boss could not afford the nomination fee which was paid by Chikwanda. Now they are stinking reach they want to make politics a game for the reach. Didn’t Lungu cry at the stadium, saying this shouldn’t be about the reach only. What has happened between that time and now for her to change so dramatically? She knows, she’s there as a stooge, because she can’t challenge Lungu. That’s the problem, once in they think they are clever than everyone else.
so where is the PF going to get money to pay – oh wait there’s tax payers money that they keep using for their events instead of enriching the lives of Zambian citizens
SHE IS A SHAME AND RUBBISH.FOOLISH OLD WOMAN WHOSE SO HEADLESS.CHIPUBA SANA UMUZIMAI UYU.I WONDER WHICH SCHOOL SHE WENT TO WITH THIS CANT KZ
But is DRC a country to compare with? There are rebel groups there looting minerals as opposed to political parties. Ba mayo bushe mulifye bwino imwe? Ifima stroke filapasanganya amabongo.
Zambia is a poor country. We must find a way to make elections partially pay for themselves rather than the total bill for coming from the public purse (or AID), which is much needed for services to the citizenry.
I support this especially making the fees much higher for make candidates because they make up the larger top leadership group than females who are disadvantaged through discriminatory employment/selection practices by companies. This will help redress gender inequalities. Men earn higher salaries, so it’s not unfair : ) And we need funding to clean up after the riots these men cause during elections (although there are a few women offenders too, I hasten to add)!