The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has dismissed allegations by United Party for National Development (UPND) Presidential Spokesperson, Anthony Bwalya that some ballot papers for Lusaka District had gone missing
Mr has been quoted as saying that it was unacceptable, that a few days to Zambia’s landmark election, there are already signs of electoral malpractice even before the first vote has been cast.
However, ECZ said that its schedule of distribution of ballot papers countrywide indicates that ballot papers for Lusaka District will be distributed on 9th August 2021, contrary to the opposition UPND’s assertions that some ballot papers for Lusaka district have gone missing while being distributed to the Lusaka Civic Centre.
Lusaka District Electoral Officer, Alex Mwansa said that such incidences have the potential to generate public anger and discontent and can potentially throw the election into turmoil.
Mr Mwansa said that in the first place the video which has gone viral allegedly showing missing ballot papers was not captured at Lusaka Civic Centre, adding that Lusaka has not yet received its ballot papers as this will only take place on the 9th August, 2021 for all the seven constituencies in the city.
Mr. Mwansa has since discredited the UPND allegations.
Meanwhile other districts have started receiving ballot papers
In Lusangazi, ballot papers for the August 12, general elections have arrived in Msanzala constituency in Lusangazi district, Eastern Province.
Lusangazi district Electoral Officer, Justin Mbashila has confirmed the development to ZANIS today, saying the ballot papers were received last night at the council offices.
Mr Mbashila revealed that the ballot papers received are for the four elections, namely Presidential, Parliamentary, Council Chairperson and Local government elections.
He however said that ballot papers for the Council Chairperson election in Msanzala constituency will not be used, following the election cancellation made after the death of Patriotic Front Lusangazi Council Chairperson aspiring candidate, William Banda, last month.
The district Electoral Officer added that other non-security materials such as ballot boxes have also been received in Msanzala.
And takeholders in Nalolo district, Western Province have received ballot papers, ahead of the forthcoming general elections, slated for August 12, 2021.
Nalolo district Electoral Officer Imuwana Mwanamwalye has disclosed that the ballot papers received are for all the 65 polling stations in Nalolo constituency.
“We have received ballot papers for all the 65 polling stations in Nalolo constituency and these are for presidential, parliamentary, Council Chairperson and Local government elections,” he said.
Mr Mwanamwalye commended the stakeholders from different political parties that turned up to witness the arrival of the ballot papers, and also applauded them for being peaceful during the process.
Among the stakeholders that were on hand to witness the arrival of the ballot papers were representatives from the Zambia Police, Patriotic Front (PF), United Party for National Development (UPND) and the Party for National Unity and Progress (PNUP).
And a representative from the UPND Wamunyima Ngenda said his party will monitor the ballot papers that are being guarded by the Zambia Police until the day they will be dispatched to the various polling stations.
“We shall monitor the ballot papers until the time they will be dispatched to the various polling stations so that we create transparency in the entire process,” Mr Ngenda pointed out.
The ballot papers are currently being kept at Nalolo District Council under the tight security provided by the Zambia Police awaiting distribution to the various polling stations across the district.
And Isoka district in Muchinga Province has received ballot papers ahead of next week’s general elections.
Isoka District Electoral Officer Judith Mukwita told ZANIS in an interview that the ballot papers were received at the Civic Centre at around 20:00 hours on Thursday.
Ms Mukwita noted that the arrival of the ballot papers was witnessed by various stakeholders, who included representatives of various political parties contesting in the general election.
She says the commission has put in place security measures, including a 24 hour military guard.
Meanwhile, Political parties have commended ECZ for the transparent manner in which the commission is handling the ballot papers, since the commencement of the printing process in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Socialist Party aspiring candidate for Isoka constituency Juliet Nalwimba noted that the commission has so far exhibited transparency in the preparations, drumming up to next week’s elections.
And Democratic Party, Isoka constituency aspiring parliamentary candidate Patricia McKenzie said she was confident that the commission will conduct a free, fair and credible election.
Zambia goes to the polls on August 12th, 2021.
WHAT WOULD ONE EXPECT FROM ECZ ??
IF THE OPPSITION IS DOUBTING WHY DONT YOU CALL THEM IN SHOW THEM THE BALLOT PAPERS
LISTEN TO THEIR CONCERN AND RESOLVE IT THAT WAY INSTEAD OF JUST SAYING ITS FALSE
WHAT ONE SHOULD UNDERSTAND THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO TRUST IN THE PRESENT ADMINSTRATION
I have told the opposition that if you want to make claims about anything in this govt you need solid video evidence….if you are making claims without evidence their standard procedure is to deny even if its the truth. Remember the issue of Hakienda being stopped from travelling it was only when people saw him in a video negotiating with the Provincial Police Commissioner did people see for themselves the oppression tendencies of this PF regime.
So if these allegations are false why not act to put a stop to such ? statements like these are alarming and create a foundation for disorder. And the other thing these public statements in the name of politics show a marked tendency to cry unfair and they discredit the electoral process even before it has began.
There goes ba Under 5, sensing defeat and looking for something to alarm the world. ECL hat-trick on Under 5 in sight. Uyo uyo uyoooooo…..aleteka nakambi sorry.
HA HA HA UNDER 5
PF WILL EAT THEIR WORDS VERY SOON
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
ECZ let the cows roam. They will soon find their way back to the ranch.
Tailor musuma tasala nsalu.
Alebwekelapo.
It’s because the ECZ attitude is ” We know u don’t trust us but we don’t care, after all u don’t matter to us”. Instead it should be ” We know u don’t trust us but we want to work with u because u matter to us and we want to earn your trust as that will make our work easier”. There’s a public relations office at the ECZ but it’s not friendly to the public.
110% point
@Nemwine
Opposition need to be watchful PF will do anything to rig the elections.
UPND SHOULD FOLLOW THE EVENTS AS THEY UNFOLD AND UNDERSTAND THE SCHEDULE TO AVOID SUCH EMBARASSMENTS
UPND should prove it with evidence rather
Then just keep crying everytime.It will not be
Easy but they have to be tough and smart.
PF will use all tricks to win the game but for
HH this is your last chance.
“Mr Mwansa said that in the first place the video which has gone viral allegedly showing missing ballot papers was not captured at Lusaka Civic Centre,….”
SO MISSING BALLOT PAPERS SHOULD ONLY MATTER FOR LUSAKA, IF IT HAPPENS ANYWHERE ELSE AS DEPICTED IN THE VIDEO, THEN IT DOESN’T MATTER?
Well, how do you explain this when this guy from ECZ only refutes missing votes in Lusaka, but doesn’t provide any other information, whether, indeed ballot papers destined for other provinces went missing.We dont care for which town, what is important is to establish or inform if at all any ballots went missing?
In the same way UPND copied their manifesto from some countries, they copied USA democrats strategies, use courts, it failed; use convid-19, it has failed instead credit goes to ECL, oppose anything the PF GOVT does, it has failed because Zambians are physically seeing what the PF has done; Use international organisations through some Zambian academician to discredit the country, it has failed; use violence in PF strong holds, it is failing because we have quenched it though sadly some people have been killed; lie that PF is rigging the election, no one can buy this lie. UNPD missed a good strategy, a workable song. UPND in 2026, without a workable song, it will be impossible to beat PF because the economic indicator arrows pointing downwards today will be pointing upwards in 2026…
Why are UPND always complaining and accusing . I hate such people. When somebody here where i am associates me with UPND i feel assumed and tell them that those UPNDs are foreigners who later became Zambians so we dont mind them !
assumed = ashamed
How can a team go into the finals with such low confidence.Their level of suspicion and fear is so glaring that they are literally walking into self defeat even before the game is played. This attitude infact actualises the saying ‘ what you conceive you manifest’. Welcome to your sixth loss ladies and gentleman.
Boring….no news here same morons crying and sensing defeat
And you ECZ, Why is Lungu campaigning and stopping others, are you agreeing with the notion from the Police that Lungu is President which is a lie because the man is a candidate just like every body else. There are no rules in this country which differentiate a President from others if they are all candidates in an election year, absolutely nothing special with him, nothing . Very equal before the law Start modernizing
It’s really sad that under 5 knows he is losing again hence these levels of desperation led by his grave sleeping traditional ruler in the south… mukakose
So you ECZ why is one candidate only campaigning in these elections and others stopped, is there anything special with candidate Lungu that we are not aware of. And you say you are managing elections, Tell him publicly to stop it
PF has failed but you have 15 opposition parties for what, instead of working together, and after the Presidential debates you can tell that the caliber is very low, only Hamududu could articulate issues in an logical manner with practical examples though he cant also make it and maybe the other was that energetic EFF guy, the others were very average to be head of states. This democracy mwandi, the guy who said covid does not exist could not articulate not even one thing to inspire hope
Gerasmos @20, unfortunately the skills u need to make yourself look and sound attractive to voters are not very useful whn it comes to actual governing. We need an honest government and not one that claims honesty.
By this time next week all the UPND diaspora noise makers will crawl back to their respective ingombe ilede holes….enough is enough..Zambians want Lungu to continue and they’re retiring HH….
Extra ballots it’s a waste of time. Every vote cast will be verified by polling agents from each party.
ECZ, We have heard that PF cadres have severely beat up a socialist party parliamentary candidate in Mpika, This was on Phoenix news today with the Secretary General of socialist party confirming the development,when are you banning PF from campaigning in Shiwangandu. We also know for sure that there will be no arrests from the Police
But Mwansa told you the election materials have not been distributed from ECZ to Lusaka City Council
Good that ECZ has put an end to the matter. Now we hope HH and his gang of criminals will refrain from fake allegations.
@Joe Silwamva Opposition need to be watchful and careful about campaign instead of getting into this petty blame game. If they have concrete evidence, then only they should open their mouth.
HH should consider himself fortunate that ECZ is taking cognizance of his allegations, not matter they are false. But people of Zambia are not that considerate. They will cut him to size on August 12.
Dear ECZ, no need to even give the clarification. We know HH and UPND are levelling false allegations. Just ignore them and continue the election work.
@Nemwine this approach you are talking about is applicable to the one who is reasonable. No one can’t be that polite with people like HH who are always on cribbing mode, finding fault in everything that goes against them.
This is nothing but the last kicks of dyeing horse. HH is the horse and he is now on false allegation spree. He will be dealt with according to law, after August 15.
@Tikki if ECZ started taking all the sundry allegations seriously, they won’t get time to work. And those levelling such baseless allegations need to be kicked on the butt, and not taken seriously.
@Tarino Orange Isn’t that basic minimum requirement when someone is levelling such serious allegations? Do you think allegations without solid proof would call for any action, but to be thrown in dust bin?
The opposition is misusing and abusing its freedom of expression. It is nothing but desperation to come to power anyhow. They create hue and cry over non issues and at the end of the day have an egg on face.
It was obvious. The claim itself was baseless. No one could have believed it except for blindfolded UPND surrogates.
Opposition UPND ni imbwa che
Just shut the internet now
Just waiting for the voting time and the announcement of the winner.
To God these elections were done long time ago and the winner is already in state house.
We are just witnessing what has already been decided by The Almighty God.
Shut the internet now
Police should act swiftly and apprehend this Anthony Bwalya for questioning. He should substantiate his allegations that ballot papers for Lusaka have gone missing. If left scot free, such pronouncements can bring chaos and lead to people revolting against ECZ, thinking that they are conniving to steal the vote for some political party. If found to be untrue, lock him up until after elections to appear before a judge.