Zambia’s information minister has dismissed accusations that a former president and the electoral commission will rig next year’s general elections to keep the ruling party in power.
Ronnie Shikapwasha told VOA the electoral commission is an independent body mandated to organize transparent elections.
“First of all, it must be dismissed with the contempt that it deserves. There is no way (former) President (Fredrick) Chiluba has nothing to do with the electoral commission, has nothing to do with the government and, therefore, he cannot be considered in any situation to do anything…the electoral commission is a high integrity organization that Mr. Lubinda is telling lies upon,” he said.
Given Lubinda, spokesman for the main opposition Patriotic Front, said Zambians will not allow former President Fredrick Chiluba, the government, and the electoral body to rig the 2011 general elections.
Lubinda has often accused former President Chiluba of rigging previous election results in favor of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD).
But, information minister Shikapwasha said the accusations are preposterous.
“If he has a complaint, he should have gone ahead and tabled this complaint in order for the electoral commission and, indeed, the courts of law to deal with it in Zambia,” Shikapwasha said.
Local media quoted opposition figure Lubinda as saying, “the PF supporters have since advised their Leader, Mr. (Michael) Sata, to go on a self-imposed exile so that his supporters are left to directly deal with the ECZ (electoral commission) if they attempt to engineer the 2011 elections.”
[Voice of America]
Of course you will never admit it. No dribbling this time around. l-)
Hm… MMD are not showing themselves above board with their continued partying naChiluba… remember this old age proverb: you get fleas if you lie with dogs.
So, iyoo bane baMMD people will continue to suspect your motives unless you break loose from ntweno kane uyo umwina Kongo. Word to the wise.
Stupid Lubinda trouble maker.
We really don’t know who is stupid in this case. The one hiding with a pseudo or the one trying to inform the nation of the MMD crooked behavior. People will make their informed judgment about who is stupid. I have made mine already.
Zambia has 3.5 million voters.
It is not possible to rig unless you bribe at least 1.7 million voters to vote for you and whether they will or not is another story.
Rigging is not possible under the current laws of Zambia and the current practice of the ECZ.
This is why the opposition dont petition presidential results. They know that it is not possible to bribe millions of people to vote in one way or another.
At the end of the day, its every man alone in a ballot booth with his ballot paper and a pen.
Iwe chi Ronnie Shikapwasha dont still our votes next year !! coz no one will vote for mmd. VIVA PACT !!
Iwe chi Ronnie Shikapwasha dont still our votes next year !! coz no one will vote for mmd. VIVA PACT !! SATA/HH for President !!
# 5 rigging is possible in the rural areas,ballot papers are usually transported to the BOMA for counting as opposed to counting at the polling station since it gets dark and the BOMA is the place where power is available. The condition of roads is bad, so between the BOMA and the polling station thats where it all happens. I would advise the opposition to be vigilant this time around dont accept car breakdowns when ballot papers are being transported or better still insist on counting the votes at the station.
Number Five. You should be a very DULL human being!!!!
#5 Anthony Lloyd – PhD Anthropology – Oxford – You are out of touch my baby. Rigging here involves a lot of ways. Getting NRCs of living and dead persons, intimidating(neutrized) aliens and other squaters mostly in peri urban areas, delaying certain results if the opposition is leading, misinformation by toilet paper Times of Zambia and pit latrine ZNBC. The list is endless.
#7, Already you can see on LT that not everyone, certainly not myself, will vote for SATA or PACT.
#8, Ballots and votes are counted and signed for by all parties at the polling stations. If your suspicions were correct then final votes would not tally with those from the polling stations. As #5 has correctly pointed out, opposition leaders know this and do not petition presidential results. Rather they make a public show at the High Court and then withdraw the petition, tail between legs.
#9, Who is the real DULL between you and #5? Prove how rigging is done, not just innuendos and fertile imagination.
#10, In the whole process of voting, counting and totaling votes, there are many individuals involved (some like yourself). Not all these individuals are sympathetic to the ruling party. Can all these people be rigged? In short if it were you, are you so cheap that you salivate at the sight of 50pin? And how many 50pins can one give in order to rig? Be analytical and realistic.
Honourable Shikapwasha, all that Lubinda and his ilk are trying to do is prepare the minds of the people for violence. Every serious person knows that the PACT is still born and has damaged the partners individually and severally beyond their wildest imagination. Lubinda knows that the game has changed and that apart from the now discredited 90 days myth, they have no new campaign ideas and no vision. In the imaginary event that they won, they would not even know what to do with the power.
# 11 you have no idea what you are talking about i was among the last to vote at Kabangama primary school in Lukaleshi, in the last elections. No votes were counted. The ballot boxes were just sealed and put in an almost run down van for counting at Chinsali BOMA. The polling station was closed at almost 8 PM and it was dark. The road was terrible. The van broke down at least twice before reaching the BOMA. Th opportunity to swap the boxes were immense along the way. anything could have happened so yes rigging is possible in a rural area , speak with facts , i know my story
#14 ibange libi
Could this not be prevented by:
1. having all the interested parties to have a representative to accompany ballot boxes in trasit?
2. Locking the ballot boxes in a container with a lock with the only person having the key is the Returning officer. Like the way Banks transport cash.
3. Sealing ballot boxes with unbreakable seals.
BUT, the most important issue here is CONFIDENCE in the electoral process. All the participants were once in the MMD govt. so if they did not rig in the past, why do they think rigging is possible now? If they were part of the govt. that rigged, then they should be arrested as accomplices to crime. People must have confidence in their systems, otherwise allegations will never end.
For the first time I agree with with you handsome Ronny…………
# 11 is nothing but an ignorant, illiterate empty drum who has hardly got a tinge of understanding of the common Zambian electral malpractices probably because he / she lacks in knowledge on a grand scale. Electral malpractice has been happening all across africa for far too long and its not going to stop any time soon. Ballot boxes get stuffed with extra ballot papers during transportation. An incidents of this kind were reported in 2001 and 2006 during the Chiluba and Mwanawasa era. Your arguement is superficial my friend and most of all, your word construction tends to suggest that you probably didn’t go far in the corridors of academia. Best if if keep your arguements simple.
I think lubinda and sata understands this game of of rigging because there know the game better than anyone else blogging here.I guess the best way to overcome rigging mr lubinda is to sale your manifesto the best to the electorate and by showing true leadership to the innocent pipo of zambia.The pipo of zambia are very mature and there know who can lead.
#17, I think that you could use a short lesson in English spelling.
Lesson 1: “Arguement” is spelt as “argument”, you drop the “e” from the word “argue”.
Lesson 2: “Electral” is spelt as “electoral”. The latter is the correct spelling but when the word is pronounced in speech, the “o” is silent and sounds like the former.
Please write down the lesson so that you do not forget when next you want to criticise someone’s academic standing.
Practically speaking, I know rigging is there, but onething you people should also know is the fact that even Ba Sata at one time practiced this Nonsense. Do not forget that he was the last to leave MMD and has been in all Governments. He must an expert in the matter!!!!! So what are we talking about. Lets be OBJECTIVE and face actual facts…..alaaaa