The Christian Churches Monitoring Group has urged the Ministry of Home Affairs to clarify its plans for the mobile National Registration Card issuance exercise.
The CCMG has also called on the Ministry to release immediately the schedule for any current mobile NRC issuance activities as well as the plan and nationwide schedule for mobile NRC issuance exercises in 2020.
CCMG Steering Committee Spokesperson Fr. Emmanuel Chikoya said there are many new voters who have become eligible since the 2016 elections and do not currently have NRCs.
Father Chikoya said with the recent announcement by the ECZ that it would begin mobile voter registration in May, CCMG is concerned about possible voter disenfranchisement if citizens are not afforded the opportunity to apply for NRC through a mobile NRC issuance exercise.
He said prior to the 2016 elections, the Ministry of Home Affairs’ projection for new NRC cards to be issued under the 2015 nationwide mobile NRC issuance exercise was just over 1 million thus CCMG anticipates that failure to conduct a mobile NRC issuance exercise prior to mobile voter registration in every area of the country would result in considerable disenfranchisement of new voters.
Father Chikoya said the Ministry of Home Affairs has not yet publicly shared any plans or schedules for a nationwide mobile NRC issuance exercise.
“In 2015, the Ministry announced it would begin the national mobile NRC issuance several months prior to the mobile voter registration exercise and also noted that the exercise would be in 90-day phases. It is now less than 90 days to May, the month in which ECZ has said it will begin the mobile voter registration exercise”, he said.
“CCMG is very concerned about the lack of any publicly available information related to the Ministry of Home Affairs’ schedule for the nationwide mobile NRC issuance exercise. We are now just more than two months away from when ECZ says it will begin mobile voter registration”, Father Chikoya added.
He expressed fear that the Ministry of Home Affairs will not be able to conduct the mobile NRC issuance exercise in each area prior to the start of mobile voter registration and so many people could be disenfranchised.
Father Chikoya said this is an urgent matter, and it is important that the Ministry Mobile NRC Issuance to Start in April.
Meanwhile, Father Chikoya has also asked the ECZ to coordinate closely with the Ministry of Home Affairs to ensure that no mobile voter registration takes place in an area prior to mobile NRC issuance in the same area.
He said if that is unavoidable, the ECZ return to the area at a later time for a supplemental mobile voter registration exercise, as was done in several instances prior to the 2016 elections.
Father Chikoya said without these measures, some eligible voters inevitably will be disenfranchised and has noted with concern that to date there is no publicly available schedule for these activities, despite CCMG requests from the Ministry for that schedule.
He said the CCMG is concerned that the lack of public information on the mobile NRC issuance activities creates the perception of an unfair process and so could damage public confidence in the electoral process.
Father Chikoya has urged the Ministry of Home Affairs to declare publicly all areas where mobile NRC issuance has taken place since November 2019 and to disclose immediately the schedule for any future mobile NRC issuance activities.
“The Minister of Home Affairs has stated there are some mobile NRC issuance activities underway already, but there is no information available from the Ministry on the locations targeted or the schedule for these activities. With the NRC requirement for voter registration, CCMG is concerned the lack of information could damage public confidence in the electoral process”, he said.
He has urged the Ministry to release information publicly and immediately about these activities,
Despite CCMG’s requests and engagement with the Department of National Registration and Citizenship (DPNRC), this information has not been provided to stakeholders. During the 2015/16 mobile NRC issuance and voter registration exercises, stakeholders raised concerns about the lack of coordination between the schedules of the two and questioned the impact of that lack of coordination on the fairness of the electoral process”, he said.
Father Chikoya said CCMG does not want the mistakes of that time repeated as the country heads toward the 2021 elections. Therefore, CCMG calls upon the Ministry of Home Affairs, to release immediately the details of mobile NRC issuances conducted thus far, to make public quickly the schedules for the phased nationwide mobile NRC issuance and to engage stakeholders to raise public awareness of the exercise.
There is a much bigger problem than meets the eye! People are hungry and need to survive.. Given the hopeless situation in the economy, people are tempted to try anything that gives them survival… ECL and PF are to blame for this disaster in Zambia! Show me a police person who has never accepted a bribe in Lusaka… Times are hard for people and Edgar Chagwa doesn’t get it…56 years after independence and majority of Zambians go to bed hungry.. How thick are some so called leaders heads?
Fire is a good servant.But a bad master.Peter Carlos Hinds.
Viva Cuba.Hail Equality.Peter Carlos Hinds.