The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) says it will undertake a number of processes as part of electoral reforms between now and 2026.
The ECZ Chairperson, Esau Chuulu said the Electoral body intends to explore modalities for electronic voting and capture the diaspora vote in the 2026 general elections.
Justice Chuulu said the Commission intends to roll out continuous voter registration across the country in order to capture more eligible voters.
He said the Commission needs to be decentralised because it only has presence in Lusaka and not the rest of the country.
Justice Chuulu was speaking at State House when he held a meeting with President Hakainde Hichilema at State House in Lusaka.
Justice Chuulu was accompanied by some ECZ Commissioners and Chief Electoral Officer, Kryticous Nshindano.
Justice Chuulu told President Hichilema that the commission wants to be financially independent in discharging its work.
The ECZ Chairperson said the commission intends to initiate the delimitation exercise within the next five years.
Justice Chuulu also said ECZ intends to hold a referendum for the enhanced bill of rights.
He congratulated President Hichilema for winning the August 12, 2021 Presidential elections.
And President Hichilema praised the ECZ for conducting and managing the August 12 polls very well despite facing numerous challenges.
“I want to thank you, the commission for managing the elections without fear or favour” said President Hichilema.
President Hichilema said the environment leading to, during and after the Presidential and general elections was toxic and made it difficult for the electoral body to discharge its work.
“The political environment was quite toxic…but election day was special in that it did not raise its ugly head,” said President Hichilema.
The President said ECZ and its contractors and stakeholders worked well to ensure that the vote and voice of Zambians were held.
President Hichilema said the completion of the transitional process cemented the country’s democratic process.
Mr Hichilema said the processes mentioned by the ECZ were a very useful subject and thanked the Electoral body for finding time to update him of its intentions for the next five years.
President Hichilema was accompanied in the meeting by Justice Minister Mulambo Haimbe, Home Affairs and internal Security, Minister Jack Mwimbu and several State House aides.
Why are they still doing at ECZ these people?
As long as a president is involved with the ECZ, the commission will never be free. Like Muhammad Ali once said IF YOU WANT TO BEAT A CHAMPION, YOU MUST BEAT HIM BEYOND DISPUTE…. LIKE 2021 elections…if the difference was minimal Lungu would have searched for a vote, a vote there and win that election.
ECZ must survive strongly on donner countries………….
Otherwise lungu would have steamrolled Zambians into accepting him as president in August 2021……
Planning how he will rig next election as he knows he is not winning..not with the lies and over ambitious promises he made
Elections are an event that comes at 5yr intervals with a few smaller by-elections in between. Many Zambians feel that we should minimize by-elections as much as possible, in fact there have been calls to abolish them. As such I don’t see why we should have a continuous voters’ registration exercise. Our politicians are very immature, a continuous voter registration might cause election petitions. Further, we might begin to see a surge in the number of new voters in places with by-elections. The ECZ doesn’t have money to maintain offices across the country. Without the support of the EU it’s almost impossible to hold elections. So why should we increase the financial burden with such proposals? Life can’t revolve around elections. We need time to work and that time is now!
CAN THE PF PUPPET STOP SPEWING GARBAGE
WE ARE TIRED OF HIS NONSENSE
Mr President, that disgraced judge Chulu is the one who faked results in Lundazi in 2016 giving Lungu more votes than the registered number of votes. How does he merit thanks today from you sir? Jugde Esau Chulu is a danger to our democracy and ECZ in its current state, is not fit for the purpose.
Surely HH7 how can you talk about General elections in Zambia without tackling the issue of making some Arabs very rich by using their printers …its 2022 and we are still printing in Dubai…shame!
After claiming that he is not here to win or worry about the 2026 elections, now he can see that he has failed. That he is clueless. So he is now looking for a rigging strategy
Disband these people and lets get a new look ECZ…lets not pretend all is well….
Please Lusaka Times, he is not Justice CHUULU. He is Justice CHULU. Don’t alter his tribe.
Wolves in a Sheep’s skin.
Some people are a disgrace…