The Committee of Citizens has said Zambia’s Electoral Act prohibits monitors and observers to declare or disclose results of any election before the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) does so.
Executive director Gregory Chifire said regulation 15 (6) (F) of the Electoral Act was explicit as to why the parallel vote tabulation (PVT) system was illegal.
“We should emphasise that under regulation 15 (6) (F) of the Electoral Act, monitors and observers are prohibited by themselves or through their organisations to declare or disclose the result of any election before the ECZ does so.
“This provision in the Electoral Act is what makes the PVT system illegal,” Mr Chifire said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday.
He said the ECZ was the sole institution mandated by the Constitution in Article 76 and the Laws of Zambia to conduct elections and all its processes.
Mr Chifire said for the purpose of transparency and principles of holding free and fair elections, the ECZ did allow independent observers and monitors to witness the entire electoral process.
“It does not mean that these NGOs (non-governmental organisations) should usurp the constitutional powers of the ECZ by wishing to count, tabulate, collate and announce poll results using the PVT.
“Furthermore, our opposition to the use of the PVT by these NGOs is because they cannot be trusted to use this process responsibly since their partisan and hostile stance against the MMD Government is well-known and documented,” he said.
He also questioned the decision by the Department for International Development (DfiD) of the United Kingdom to engage the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to carry out the PVT system at a cost of 3.8 million Euros during this year’s elections.
Mr Chifire further questioned the decision by NDI to contract the Press Freedom Committee (PFC) of the Post and Caritas Zambia as lead institutions, which have also engaged the Anti-Voter Apathy Project (AVAP) and Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD).
He said PFC also intended to contract Transparency International Zambia to form a consortium or block that would carry out the PVT.
Mr Chifire said it was surprising that DfiD and NDI could engage PFC and Caritas Zambia as lead organisations to carry out the PVT system when the two organisations had never been known to be monitoring or observer bodies and had no relevant experience to monitor elections.
“This is the reason which has heightened our suspicions that PVT will be used for the purpose of inciting violence and anarchy,” he said.
Mr Chifire said PVT was at the centre of the post-electoral conflict and anarchy in Zimbabwe, Kenya and recently the Ivory Coast, although the proponents claimed that PVT was used successfully in Ghana and Zambia in 2008.
He said his organisation was aware that a sampling method to ascertain the integrity of election results was secretly used by the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) for a targeted audience like donors.
He said although the 2008 PVT conducted by FODEP demonstrated that election results as announced by the ECZ in Zambia were accurate, that did not stop The Post and its allies such as Citizens Forum from making their usual unfounded claims that the polls were rigged.
Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata maintained in the Post yesterday that despite the warning by President Rupiah Banda that anyone computing and tabulating results of the 2011 elections instead of the constitutionally mandated body, the ECZ, would be committing a criminal offence, he would go ahead and call for the use of the PVT system.
[ Times of Zambia ]
Mr Chifire, MMD has been using PVT since 1991, what do you say about them? Is this Chifire the husband to the Minister? We must know the links of some NGOs to MMD
Chifire you failed pants down and was excluded from CBU, where and when did you acquire the skills to interprate the law? Your sister and MMD should be proud of you.
Chifire or whatever you are called, your statement just shows how much you don’t know what the purpose of PVT. The purpose of PVT is simple and helps to avoid MMD manoeuvring the results
PVT does not usurp and take over the role of ECZ as provided under the law.
Get this into you thich head
Dear Angie,
Thanq very much for reminding the Zambians, correctly or otherwize, with regard to who should announce the election rezults.
Now tell the nation what would be wrong with anyone publishing/broadcasting genuinely tabulated rezults that show that the MMD or indeed RB haz won the election?
#1. The issue at hand is simple. Political parties and some organizations tend to be biased when it comes to tabulating results. Now there is nothing wrong with Organizations and individuals tabulating results, but it must not be done before the ECZ which has been constitutionally mandated to do so. The law allows for people to announce their own tally of results but only after the OFFICIAL BODY which is the ECZ. PVT has a STRONG history of causing civil wars in many countrie, it must not be accepted lightly my friend.
I think for transparency purpose, ECZ should ASSESS and ALLOW selected non partisan monitors to use PVT , this is a democratic country and a people’s govt, why should PVT be criminalised with this lot of time left before elections, MMD must be at play in the back ground.Our govt is now no more a listening govt.
Mr cifire,why do you interpret all progressive ideas as wrong? Dont mislead zambians, let me say this,PVT did not cause problems in Ivory coast,kenya or zimbambwe.In Ivory coast,the Electoral commission gave the oppostion 54% of votes and declared their candidate winner but the judiciary(high Court of that country decided to nullify votes for 8 constituencies in the opposition’s stronghold and made bgambo to be the winner.that has been the source of conflict and not PVT .PVT has been the cry of majority kenyans and zims,If PVT was used in Ivory coast, Kenya or zim they would have not experienced anarchy.
#7 get your facts right. PVT was USED Ivory Coast, Kenya, Zimbabwe. #3 please dont confuse issues, its really very simple you dont have to complicate things. The law allows for international observers to monitor elections, political parties and organizations are free to tally their own results, but NOT announce before the ECZ, which is the only body mandated by our constitution to do so officially. picture this you tell PF or UPND they have won flat out and some voters celebrate, then ECZ says no MMD or ULP has won, dont you know that stirs up problems?
Edwin Lifwekelo and Gregory Cifire, who had been leading the government orchestrated attacks on the PF and Sata, were unemployed and survived on being used by the MMD government
All Zambian citizens HAVE THE RIGHT to look at public notices at each polling station and phone these results to anybody they choose.
This is not about releasing the details first.
IT”S ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY AND ACCURACY!
#1. Gregory is not the husband to the minister.( A brother to the minister perhaps). As for PVT everything has advantages and disadvantages. Do u stop flying because a plane crash landed. PVT is not an organisation, but a system. Transperancy is the alien this side of the World. PVT’s other advantage is should number of cast votes exceed registered voters in a given area/location, someone can easily pick it up.
Gregory Chimfine you are dull. PVT doent mean they will announce the results before ECZ. They will only tabulate and verify the authenticity of the announce results by ECZ. We will catch you this time. We know you have been cooking figures for a long time
THE ELECTORAL ACT No. 12 of 2006
70. (1) After determining the result at a polling station, a counting assistant shall complete a form, as may be prescribed, reflecting— …………
(2) When a counting assistant has complied with subsection (1), the presiding officer shall announce the result of the count at the voting station to members of the public, the accredited observers, monitors, election and polling agents present at the polling station.
At this point, the results are in the public domain for tabulation by the members of the public which includes election agents, monitors, etc. This is no longer a secret as results have been announced by the presiding officer who represents the ECZ.
How could the process of tabulation of such results by the interest groups be illegal?
#12 spot on. That is what I think the opposition will do. They’ll tally the results as ECZ announces them. The opposition should also record the results announcements so that in the event of petitioning/ disputing who won the election in the court of law, the recording can be used as evidence.The MMD should know better about this.
Cifre your Boss RB wants international obesrvasers to oversee and observe the election in Zambia.As an observer the following things must be followed
1.That the elections are free and fair
2.There is no malpractice
3.The results that are announced agree to what has been tabulated and agreed upon by parties involved in the election count.
Now if what has been pointed above is what happens during and after the elections what is difficult about having pvt.
Ba Cifre landeni fye ati mulefwaya ukudribbler pamo naba Chiluba naba RB.
Why fear if your hands are clean.
Be mindful that you will reap what you sow.
Bachiluba balanda ati bena christu aba pwililika but imicitile yabo ilanga tebena Lesa iyo.
Ba Chinfine or Nchifire search what PVT means before showing your ignorance to the public.
I have a problem. Since 1996, there is not a single election which has been won by the MMD which has not been refuted with charges of rigging. I could understand if all the members of the opposition who cry foul were never part of MMD and never participated and won elections under MMD. How come now, that they are on the opposite side, they claim that elections are rigged. Did rigging only start AFTER they left, or is there something they know which they are not telling us? Please Zambians, do not let your country go up in flames due to the power hungry, debt riddled politicians. Honour your institutions and do everything you can to strengthen them, but avoid parallel structures.
Imwe naimwe ba reporter some of these chaps like cifine stop writing their fake sponsored stories.Ubuwelewele bwafula muliiyi nsamba,are you the only Zambian to aticulate on all issues?Lets cage some of these useless chaps.Ukutumpa.
This chap will end up like ZMT Zulu. Any one remember him and what befell him after the failed 3rd term.
So sad for Mr chinfine or cifire what ever you are called, we know you are just a full time MMD cadre period. Please stop backing anyhow, mwaliponenwa ne nsala ba mudala !!!!
Gregory Chifire is dull and a drop out of CBU.He stood as COBUSU President he lost lamentably! he also tried to contest as an independent candidate in Lufwanyama District where he also lost. he is a failure who has nothing to offer to the nation. its a pity the president can think so low to be spending taxpayers money on such a dunder heard leaflaff!!
Looking at the blogs here, it clearly shows we all have no trust in the Electrol Commission. PVT will be for all Zambians to take up and not thieves like Chiluba and there croonies
Ba Chifire and RB you have no right to misled the nation, Zambians want PVT why deny them.
Ba Chifire, you are a failure and full no sense. Some of these stupid NGIs must be banned. Instead of the issuing progressive statement they have verbal diarrhoea. Please don’t show your ignorance in public. And we know you Chifire are on the payroll of Maureen and RB
Empty Drums can not see beyond what their eyes see.Ati NGO!These are special groups serving their interests in the name of so called “voice of the voiceless”.It has to take strong leadership not to succumb to their pressure.RB and his government have exhibited such strong leadership.
Viva RB
Quote from Chifire post on facebook, “Gregory Chifire: is praying to study at either Oxford or Havard University next year” sure after getting his dues for elections yapping from his sponsors. But after being untrainable at CBU is the brother going to manage. .
Ba LT what has happened? Have you been bought by MMD like Al Jazeera was bought by the Americans? Too much propaganda from MMD. This Chifire guy is neither a govt official or spokesman fro ECZ, so why waste time on him.