United Party for National Development (UPND) President Hakainde Hichilema has slammed the Summit for Political parties Presidents held at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka today with the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) as a total sham that just underscored the long-held view that ECZ doesn’t have the people’s aspirations at heart.
Posting on his Facebook page the, UPND leader accused ECZ Chairperson, Esau Chulu, and what he termed as his cohorts, of bulldozing their way through the entire process while dictating only what benefits them, and not the majority suffering Zambians.
The UPND leader urged his supporters not to lose hope because help was on the way, and that, together they shall what transpired today.
At the meeting attended by President Edgar Lungu and other Opposition political Party leaders, where ECZ announced the road map leading up to the 2021 general elections, Mr. Hichilema called for more time to dialogue over a number of matters discussed during the summit.
The Presidential nomination dates have been set for May 17th, to 21st, 2021, while nomination dates for Members of Parliaments, Mayors and Council Chairpersons have been set for May 18th, to 19th,2021 and nominations dates for Councilors have been set for May 18th, 2021.
ECZ Chairperson, Esau Chulu said the meeting was intended to update the political leaders on the commission’s preparedness for the 2021 general elections scheduled for August 12th, 2021.
“ECZ has lined up a number of crucial activities in the run-up to the 2021 polls which include the voter registration, consolidation of the voter register, an inspection of the voter register, nominations and prevention and management of the electoral violence among others,” Justices Chulu said.
He said stakeholder engagement is key to the electoral process and ECZ had been consistent in doing so.
“ECZ stands ready to work with all political parties during all these processes leading to the Parliamentary and general elections in 2021,” Justice Chulu said.
ECZ Chief Electoral Officer, Patrick Nshindano said the commission targets to register about 8 million to 9 million eligible voters.
“The target is in reference to all Zambian who are eligible to vote according to data provided by the Zambia statistical agency,’’ Mr. Nshindano Said.
Meanwhile, the United National independence party President (UNIP) Tilyeni Kaunda commended the ECZ for convening the meeting early in the run-up to the 2012 general election.
Mr. Kaunda however, expressed concern on the nomination fees which he said are too high for the Zambians.
And National Democratic Congress (NDC) President Chisimba Kambwili said the 30 day period allocated for voter registration is not enough to capture the targeted 9million voters.
Meanwhile, Forum for Democracy (FDD) President Edith Nawakwi expressed concern over electoral violence and called for the enhancement of the electoral code of conduct to give powers to ECZ to disqualify the political parties engaged in violence.
Looks like under 5 had a hard time at the summit where he was not at the centre of the show. That look from Justice Chulu is worth a million Memes and am sure it was directed at naughty school boy HH
dungu did not talk because he was well represented by ECZ and surrogates
Was this a summit for the deed poll office or for ECZ? It looks like everybody who attended came to change their names by Deed poll. The LT reporters are calling
the UPND President as Hichiluma. The ECZ Chairperson changed his name to Easu. The UNIP President’s new name is Tilyeni. The NDC President became Chisimba, The FDD President became Nawaki.
PF should not worry. Edgar Lungu will contest the next election as EC Lungu no change there.
Hh is a very childish little cow. I mean this guy loves to be centre of attention. Everyone went there and had a constructive forum. Meanwhile the f00l hh says he was treated like a grade 4 by ecz, is it not ironic he complains about this and yet he actually acts like a kid whose testlcles have not dropped yet.
HH, ECZ shared the road map. The best UPND can do is to start preparing for August 2021 election. Do not waste your party members to fight againat things you cannot change. Direct all the energy towards grassroot mobilisatoon.
@Samlindo Kikikikikiki
Chiimbwi no pulani….grow up you oval headed twit!! That’s why Zambians can never trust your leadership because you offer none except unfounded accusations. Instead of setting up a team of professionals around you to advise you like my president Kambela Mazoka did, you want inept tribesmen who can’t even advise on such fundamental national matters, pa last bakunwebamo….suntwe!!!
I think the article is completely off the mark, HH articulated in a very short time a number points which ECZ need to attend, One has has to watch the video to appreciate his contribution and what Lusak times has brought out
The problem with HH is that he talks like one who does not want solutions but a fight. A man raised the point of order and he actually consented to it but quickly changed his mind when the chair person indictated that he was protected. Mr Sakwiba actually raised a very important issue of how these guys cried that the voters register be discarded but today they are saying something else. The pro lem with HH is that when it is time to discuss important issues he asks his MPs to walk out but on these talk shows he behaves like a school boy demanding a black board instead of a green board. Untill we have a mature and genuinine opposition political party PF with its blemishes will remain in power. HH does not have the qualities of a leader to win the majority of the electorate hearts in Zambia.
@ LT editor please proof read before posting articles, read the number of grammar errors and people’s names spelt incorrectly in this article.
ECL behaved more of a head of state than those that went to this ECZ summit to campaign. There was really no reason why a head of state would be presenting issues like HH did. He should have asked one of his deputies to present those issues, but alas, he saw it as an opportunity to campaign because that is the only thing that makes sense in his life at the moment. So ECL kept quite so that the shallow minded would hang themselves and they did. Those who spoke with integrity were heard.
HH has betrayed Mwaliteta. Mwaliteta, to please his boss walked out of the meeting how does he feel now that his boss has attended they very meeting he abandoned. His ka walkout has failed.
A number of haters here are commenting from without. Did you listen to the concerns?
I watched the sham of the conference.
Lungu had the ECZ and surrogates like Sikota,Pule, Tayali speaking for him.
Cry babies who are bitter can never be satisfied.
Double h aka h² or kleptoh² and his bunch of losers are always negative on progressive ideas and activities.
May the spirit of loses haunt his path forever more.
What s+up!d tantrums from kleptoh²! Sick puppish!
This sat.anist first and foremost upnd are the ones who called for change of the votes registration during the petition of 2016 general election, And what ECZ wants to do is to provide the security of voters and the system. Increase the size of a photo secondly finger prints all ten fingers will be done thirdly Removing names and details of people that have passed on from the register this was a complaint that the satan.ic party and sat.anic leader wanted to be addressed. I don’t know what is sata.nic party wants.
Diaspora lady
Thank you thank you thank you
The substandard of journalism is on the increase Grammar,spelling
Etc etc Surely they could use something on line to correct if they are against buying a dictionary
The biggest sham in Zambian politics is Hichilema
Whoever is close to HH should advise the man that no exam paper is set exactly the way the students want it so it is up to the students to do their best to prepare for whichever way the exam is set. Rather than complain all the time the UPND should find a way to scale up their current hurdles or hindrances.
There is need to be clear about the purpose of an ECZ consultative meeting with key stakeholders. As Sanders has already indicated, HH articulated in a very short time a number of points which ECZ needs to attend to. So ECZ needs to respond to all the concerns raised by stakeholders and perhaps set another meetings to reach consensus on decisions to take going forward. I would suggest that the UPND/NDC media houses document the points and issues raised by the opposition in writing for all to see. I find comments which are directed at just trying to demean an individual, quite shameful and not worth responding to. Let us get a clear feedback what ECZ response is on concerns raised and what ECZ final decision will be based on the consultative meeting they initiated with stakeholders.
Under 5 on what he knows best, disputing before the game starts. Wapona 17 time per hour you are still complaining.
ECZ should not call a meeting “stakeholder consultative meeting” if ECZ just wants to push decisions it has already announced to the public. A serious consultative meeting should allow ECZ to get inputs and concerns from stakeholders and give qualified and satisfactory responses before final decision making. If ECZ calls for consultative meetings just to stick to decisions it has already made before consultation, then indeed such a meeting is a sham meeting. Going forward, the opposition have to adopt other strategies taking into account the biased decisions ECZ intends to implement for the 2021 elections. You are forewarned so be forearmed !!!
The meeting was not at all a sham. On the contrary, it was an opportunity for the Opposition to present its side. Most importantly, for Mr Hakainde Hichilema to bring all the so called discrepancies to the notice of ECZ. Instead, you chose to run away! Is this how you intend to lead the country? You have always been running away in testing situations.
ECZ should not be dictated to by political parties – ruling or opposing. When they say they will register so many voters in one month, no one has the right to argue with them. Wait for one month and prove them wrong. Like one of the commissioners argued – they conduct a vote for 5 million in one day. Political parties cannot be telling ECZ how to conduct their business, instead parties should be encouraging their members to register. The road map is clear. At every point the citizens have a right to check the benchmark
This oval head of yours is becoming boring really! Why complain all the time? Hopeless sympathy seeker! If you feel 30 days aren’t enough to capture 9 million voters, why not do a review of numbers after the 30 days and then seek for an extension so that the target is met? Under 5 indeed!
Hakainde Hichilema sided with a politician who openly threatened that the ‘country will burn’ if the voters’ registration process was not rectified. This is nothing but threatening and trying to intimidate the ECZ. How can Hichilema side with such a violent person? Does he endorse what Chishimba Kambwili said in the meeting? If yes, its good that Hichilema walked out. We don’t want such leaders who oepnely threat of widespread violence in our country.
The way Hichilema treated Chilufya Tayali when they met at the meeting venue, was the most unacceptable. Is this the way he treats people? Forget that both are political rivals. But there is something called basic human courtesy. And that needs to be followed. The one who can’t show basic courtesy to fellow countrymen, can’t be a good human being at all.
When Hichilema walked out of the meeting, he literally flushed out the golden chance to put his thoughts and claims on record. It would have cleared the air around his claims and tall talks which he continues to propagate all over social media. It was not at all like a seasoned politician.
HH, you asked Tayali if his greetings were genuine. How can you do that? It shows that hate and anger are paramount. You don’t care for humans. If you start getting so personal with everyone, then I am afraid, you don’t have much political career left for you. Your days in politics are numbered. Not everyone that opposes you is your enemy. If you can’t understand this very basic thing, then you should be something else, but a politician.
Hh opposes everything, clergymen who support the pf, chiefs, etc but he is OK to get mukuni’s support, Tresfore mpundu’s support.
His concerns became useless to me when he said “we will deal with Bill 10 in Parliament “, knowing full well that he has instructed his MPs to walk out. Also, he complainec about tge POA and yet he fought tooth and nail to defeat the Referendum.
We were listening to the party presidents converse with ECZ the meeting was good, reason being that every one had a chance air their views which stand as the cole issue of such a meeting .
It could have been that your opinion was not attended to it doesn’t mean that there was talking , to me as an observer there was nothing anyone can complain about.
What I learnt on this meeting is that those politicians are all fine except that some of them are just negative negativity can be a disease incurable disease indeed.
Thanks for finally talking about > Zambia : Meeting was a
Total Sham, HH Denounces Summit held with the Electoral Commission of Zambia < Liked it!
Kaizer is a very good name-rally behind him for president in 2021. Let us mobilize
Why is it that HH and UPND will not accept anything unless it is what THEY want. What anybody else feels is irrelevant. That is bad for elections, bad for democracy, and bad for Zambia.
Why is it that HH and UPND will not accept anything unless it is what THEY want? What anybody else feels is irrelevant. Greed, selfishness and arrogance. That is bad for elections, bad for democracy, and bad for Zambia.