Friday, March 29, 2024

Technical Committee to be headed by the ECZ to be constituted to manage elections under Covid-19 conditions

Share

The Ministry of Health and the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), have held a meeting to discuss the way forward on how to conduct the August 2021, General elections under the new Normal.

The meeting has been held under the directives of President Edgar Lungu.

The meeting was attended by Health Minister Jonas Chanda, his Permanent Secretary for Technical Services, Kennedy Malama, ECZ Chief Electoral Officer, Patrick Nshindano and Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) Director, Victor Mukonka.

The meeting resolved to urgently constitute the Technical Coordination Committee to be headed by the ECZ.

The committee, will bring together different players who will come up with actionable points on how the August, 2021 elections will be conducted amid the COVID-19.

And Health Minister, Jonas Chanda says he was happy that the meeting, which was under the directives of President Edgar Lungu, resolved to have a Technical Coordinating Committee constituted, which will have a clear and simple message to communicate to the country.

Dr. Chanda also said the committee is very key as it will have to coopt various stakeholders.

He further stated that the committee should be above politics and focus on the health of Zambians.

Dr. Chanda appealed to everyone who Will be part of the committee to be professional and put safety of the people at the heart of everything.

” It is very easy for everything to be politised especially during an election period. However, measures aimed at protecting the people should not be politicized, he stated.
He noted that once the committee is constituted, there will be need for frequent updates to the public on the safety of Zambians before, during and after elections.
The Minister has since reassured ECZ of his Ministry’s support and that of many Cooperating Partners.

Dr. Chanda also said the changing epidemiology of the COVID-19 can easily change things at any time, stating that is was the reason Government was moving aggressively to have the vaccine.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nshindano says the engagement was timely, as it would give a road map on the holding of elections amid the COVID-19.

Mr. Nshindano also said his institution recognized the threats that the pandemic posed to the election calender, adding that there was need to continously observe and review COVID-19 guidelines in order to protect the stakeholders.

9 COMMENTS

  1. OUR BEST CHALLENGE IS RIGGING, INCLUDE ALL STAKEHOLDERS IF YOU ARE HONEST AND SERIOUS.
    ECZ SHOULD DO BETTER THAN FIFA ON RESTORING IT’S INTEGRITY.

    4
    1
  2. If the Technical Committee is being formed under the direction of ECL how can it not be Political? The Committee will weaponise Covid-19 to the disadvantage of Opposition Parties during the Campaign period. While PF All along has been campaigning freely in Provinces under the excuse of “working visits” and “supervising Project Implementation”, Opposition Parties have denied permits to campaign. During these Campaigns PF hasn’t been complying with Covid-19 Guidelines even though such gatherings are known to be Covid-19 Super Spreaders. The Plan by Team Lungu Committee is now to restrict such Campaign gatherings by Opposition Parties during the Campaign period. The Committee will allow PF to freely Campaign but will use Covid-19 to restrict campaign by Opposition Parties. This…

    4
    2
  3. This is just another Election Rigging Committee which will be used to restrict Opposition Parties Campaigns during the Campaign period. Team Lungu is weaponising Covid-19 to stop or restrict Opposition Parties from campaigning freely during the Campaign Period. This Committee is Team Lungu controlled and will therefore give PF free reign to Campaign while Opposition Parties movements will be restricted. These are tactics by Team Lungu to rig the August 12, 2021 Elections in his favour.The writing is on the wall.

    4
    2
  4. We told you to allow us in diaspora to vote too. We could have shown you how to vote using mailing ballots, and early voting system.
    Tip: Early voting, since only 10 million will vote, open polling stations Friday close on Sunday. 3 days only.

    4
    2
  5. Who didn’t see this coming??? That is the rigging team for you. This is the people that will be meant to exclude observers anywhere near the counting centres. Rigging machinery in motion

    3
    2
  6. Excellent proactive and pragmatic approach. We are not postponing elections because we want to beat that tribal Bush boy again so that he can pack his boots and retire to his village i

    3
    2
  7. Holding a meeting with MoH and ZNPHI under the direction of an incumbent president indicates that ECZ will not be an effective independent electoral referee for the 2021 elections. Why didn’t ECZ first call all participating political parties to a meeting to have inputs on campaigning, election monitoring, vote counting and protection of all votes under COVID before seeking MOH and the ZNPHI guidelines? Why should a committee established through a directive of one of the Presidential candidates be trusted to be fair in administering elections under COVID? Going forward ECZ should call all political parties to discuss and agree what will constitute transparent, free and fair campaigns, election monitoring, vote counting and protection of votes under COVID.

    3
    3
  8. After exporting election rigging experts to Malawi anything is possible.
    Remember this – UTM Secretary General Patricia Kaliati has called on the Zambian High Commission in Malawi to ensure that three top Zambian nationals leave the country.
    Kalyati claimed that former Minister of Finance, Dr. Katele Kalumba, former intelligence chief, Xavier Chungu and former State House Special Assistant for Politics, Kaizer Zulu were spotted in Malawi and have been brought to allegedly rig elections in favour of incumbent Peter Mutharika due on Tuesday.
    Malawi goes to the polls on Tuesday in a historic presidential re-run after a court overturned last year’s elections and ordered a fresh vote Citing “grave” and “widespread” rigging, the country’s constitutional court ruled in February that President…

Comments are closed.

Read more

Local News

Discover more from Lusaka Times-Zambia's Leading Online News Site - LusakaTimes.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading