PRESIDENCY, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AT STAKE AS ZAMBIA HEADS FOR POLLS AUGUST 12
By Abayomi Oyelami, Trek Africa Newspaper
L-R: ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF ZAMBIA (ECZ) CHAIRPERSON, HON. MR. JUSTICE ESAU E. CHULU; CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER, PATRICK NSHINDANO; AND COMMISSIONER, DR. EMILY SIKAZWE
All is now set for the general elections in the southern African country of Zambia Trek Africa Newspaper has reported. The general polls are slated for 12th August 2021. This election is to determine the men and women who will pilot the affairs of the country as President and members of the National Assembly in the Land of Chipolopolo.
The Chief Electoral Officer of the electoral body, Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), Patrick Nshindano has allayed the fears of political parties and other stakeholders as relating to the sanctity of the polls. He said that the GEN 20 form used to declare winners and record results has now been enhanced with security features which will make it difficult to reproduce. Mr. Nshindano, however, warned that anybody found with the all-important form will be treated as a criminal. The Chairperson of the electoral body is Hon. Mr. Justice Esau E. Chulu.
In the August 12 elections, 15 other presidential candidates will be vying for the top job against the incumbent President Edgar Lungu of Patriotic Front (PF). They will be competing as standard bearers for political parties such as United Party for National Development (UPND), Third Liberation Movement (TLM), Socialist Party (SP), Party of National Unity and Progress (PNUP), United Prosperous and Peaceful Zambia (UPPZ), Patriots for Economic Progress (PEP), and Democratic Party (DP).
The remaining parties are Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), Leadership Movement (LM), Zambia United for Sustainable Development (ZUSD), National Restoration Party (NAREP), New Heritage Party (NHP), People’s Alliance for Change (PAC), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and United National Independence Party (UNIP).
The African Union (AU) will be sending its observer group to the Land of Chipolopolo in its bid to ensure free, fair, and credible electoral process in Africa.
The observation mission which comprises current and former ambassadors, members of the civil society, alongside other independent bodies will be headed by former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma. The AU Commission noted: ‘The Mission’s objective is to provide an independent and impartial assessment of all aspects of the 2021 electoral process’.
