Why Zambia s upcoming poll risks tipping the balance against democracy
The Conversation
05 May 2021, 00:41 GMT+10
Zambia is one of the fastest eroding democracies in the world. This is according to the Varieties of Democracy Project (V-dem), one of the most trusted sources of information on indicators of democratic progress or regression. The project s 2020 report notes that Zambia has registered a remarkably rapid decline in the quality of democracy since the last election in 2016.
Nor is there great optimism about the next set of elections, due to take place in less than four months. Observers have serious concerns ahead of the polls. One of the main ones is about the quality of the voters roll.
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The Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG) has been challenged to provide proof of foreigners being registered as voters by the Electoral Commission of Zamba (ECZ).
CCMG has accused some voter registration officers under the Electoral Commission of Zambia of having enlisted foreigners on the new voters register which will be used in 2021 general and the future elections
But in an interview, Governance and Legal activist, Isaac Mwanza, called on Father Cleophas Lungu and his group to move beyond the making of mere political allegations by providing evidence of foreigners being registered as voters.
“At this point, it is clear the propaganda machinery of political parties is being used against each other and against ECZ. Some party functionaries are giving NRCs and voter’s cards to children and foreign nationals from neighboring countries to pose as persons ECZ registered as voters,” said.