By Dr Charles Ngoma

At the time that one takes his or her ballot paper and enters the booth to choose their candidate, they are alone with their choice. There is no gun to their head to coerce them and they are not under any obligation whatsoever to mark an ‘X’ against the name of the person they did not want by their own volition. I did this many years ago, when I voted ‘No.’ I felt good, that I had done so. Before I had gone to vote, someone told me that the government of that day ‘would know who had voted ‘NO.’ I did it anyway, because I wanted to prove it. From that day on, I kept ‘watching my back’ and I supposed that one reason why I was sidelined for promotion was because of that ‘No’ vote. Well, I still lived to tell the tale. The threat, whether real or imagined, could have influenced my vote.

Other methods of rigging involve changing constituency boundaries, so that certain people are grouped together to enhance a particular vote. Constituency boundaries are very important. Take for example, in the 2006 elections; there were 81,000 registered voters in Lusaka’s Munali constituency and 48,000 in Lusaka Central. Dr Guy Scott (PF) won election to parliament, while elected by 18,000 people while Capt Austin Chewe (MMD) voted for by 22,000 people lost. In Luangwa, the MMD candidate is in Parliament on a mere 3,000 out of 8,000 votes! Since the electoral constituencies do not have equal numbers of constituents, there is great potential for rigging. What could prevent the powers that be from ‘transferring’ voters from one constituency to another over the 5 year period to make up for the deficit at the next election? This can easily be done by changing population dynamics though housing and land allocation as well as job availability. Luanshya constituency will be interesting in 2011. The incumbent MP had a majority of less than 100 in 2006. Bringing back jobs into Luanshya with predominantly MMD supporters would easily overturn that majority. The minority MP in Luanshya will have a mountain to climb! Some opposition political parties want to reduce the number of members of Parliament. This could be a very good way of rigging by merging smaller constituencies where a party is unpopular, with a larger one where it is popular.

Another way of vote rigging could come out of NRC issuance. How many Zambians have proof of age? It is therefore possible to push more under 16s to register for NRCs at the time close to elections and thus skew the statistics in any way. A subset of this registration process as means of rigging is the voter registration process itself, in that it requires the voter to cast his vote within the constituency in which they were registered! Now, this is an obviously very serious issue. Suppose a PF supporter lives in a constituency where there is strong MMD support. It is obvious that his vote here will not affect the outcome. He could go and register in another constituency, where a PF candidate has a good chance of wrestling the post from an incumbent with a slender majority.

The use of special ‘ink’ should prevent people from voting more than once, but how does one prove that the ‘ink’ at a particular table is the official ink and it is indelible? What if a certain chemical that only the vote riggers are aware of can clear the ink?

In this age of computerisation, another factor has been thrown into the equation; bugs! Yes, software bugs can be used to change an electoral result in a most profound way.

Pre-election violence should be condemned because it prevents candidates from meeting voters. In Mufumbwe, for example, there were 20,000 voters in 2006. This would be approximately 2 to 4000 households. In the 90 days of campaigning, a candidate with 100 electoral agents could visit every household without any need for the mass rallies. Mass rallies are breeding grounds for violence, because of mob psychology

The so called ‘advantage of incumbency’ constitutes malpractice. There is no limit to how far one can go here to skew the electoral process in their favour. There is no doubt that the government must continue in office until the next winner is declared and there should be no power vacuum. However, the law is silent here as to what exactly constitutes unfair advantage from those who are in power. Government resources are still at their disposal. Besides this, it is the government that appoints the officials that conduct the elections! There is an old adage: ‘He that pays the piper calls the tune.’

There are however, some pre-election practices that make news as electoral malpractice which I personally find laughable. If a candidate gives me a gift or promises that if voted into power he will do this and that for me, how is that malpractice? I could still get his ‘gift’ and go and vote against him! If a political party distribute sugar or meat to the electorate, why is that a problem? Call it vote buying or whatever, when distilled to the lowest common denominator, every manifesto is vote buying. Every voter votes in order to gain something from their candidate. A candidate would be unwise to ignore the desires and needs of the constituents and he must solicit for their vote by promising to meet those needs or demands.

So, then, what can be done to make our electoral process free and fair? In the first place we must understand that there is no electoral process anywhere in the world that is perfect. But we must have an electoral process that perfectly or almost perfectly represents the wishes of the majority of the people.. In order to do this, there must be agreement about the rules! This is crucial. All stakeholders must agree as to what constitutes free and fair elections. At this table of negotiations, those representing the ruling party should come as equals to the rest. Once agreed, as to how elections will be conducted, there must be strong sanctions against those that break the rules. The underlying factor here must be consensus. If nations can come agree on how to conduct wars (rules of engagement) how can a nation’s citizens fail to come up with an accepted conduct of the electoral process? Please, politicians come together and agree once and for all and put an end to this never ending cycle of violence and mistrust. Yes, you can!

Opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) spokesperson Charles Kakoma has accused the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) of perpetrating violence in Mufumbwe constituency.

This follows his attack by alleged MMD cadres during campaigns for the April 29 by-election.
On Saturday April 24, 2010, suspected MMD cadres broke into Mr. Kakoma’s hotel room and beat him before he was paraded half naked in Mufumbwe.

Addressing a news conference in Lusaka, Mr. Kakoma accused the MMD of attempting to
kill him.                                                                                                               And Mr. Kakoma has with immediate effect resigned as Secretary of the North-Western Parliamentarians’ Consultative Forum following his beating by the alleged cadres. He said his resignation has been prompted by the violence in Mufumbwe which he said was instigated by some parliamentarians from North-Western Province.

The Forum is chaired by Kasempa MMD Member of Parliament Kabinga Pande who is also Foreign Affairs Minister.
[MUVI TV]

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has directed the Zambia Police Service to be firm and vigilant to avoid further acts of violence.

Speaking in light of the violence that took place in Mufumbwe District ahead of the parliamentary by-election taking place on Thursday, President Banda said as a leader of the ruling MMD, he would never support violence because if not stopped it could destabilise the nation.

In an interview at Lusaka’s City Airport before his departure for Mwinilunga yesterday, Mr Banda said he would continue to advocate for peace among Zambians and challenged other political parties to do the same for the sake of unity in the country.

“I wish to condemn in the strongest terms the reports of violence in Mufumbwe because this is uncalled for and we don’t want that.

“I want the police to be vigilant and be firm in handling perpetrators of such crime to avoid leading this country into unnecessary chaos,” he said.

Mr Banda said the police should act decisively to prevent violent acts from taking root in the country.

He appealed to political leaders to be tolerant and accommodate each other’s views.
“It is important that we, the politicians be in the forefront to condemn violent acts and perpetrators of such acts should be brought to book.

“On the other hand, the police should be firm in handling such acts because if they are unable to deal with such crimes in two by-elections what will happen when we hold the general elections next year?” he asked.

The president refuted reports the MMD was perpetuating the violence, saying he had taken it upon himself to continue preaching peace among Zambians because he wanted to see continued development.

He said politicians should be seen to be in the forefront in promoting peace and not to preach hatred, adding that Zambia would only be able to attract investment if peace was assured to both local and foreign investment.

He said political leaders should be sober in their language and should stop making inflammatory statements that undermines the rule of law.

“We don’t need violence and as leaders, including myself, we should stop and condemn the violence.

“What we need is to tell the electorate what we are going to do for them and not violence. I am personally against violence and so is my party,” he said.

He said the Zambian people should be allowed to elect their leaders without interference and leaders should not be imposed on them.

President Banda, who left aboard a Zambia Air Force plane around 08:30 hours, was seen off by Defence Minister Kalombo Mwansa, Secretary to the Cabinet Joshua Kanganja, Lusaka Province Minister Charles Shawa, senior Government and MMD officials.

He is accompanied to North-Western Province by Works and Supply Minister Mike Mulongoti, Lands Deputy Minister Michael Mabenga, and others.

Meanwhile, Mr Mulongoti, who is MMD chairperson for elections, has accused United Party for National Development leader Hakainde Hichilema of causing confusion in Mufumbwe.

Mr Mulongoti in an interview questioned why Mr Hichilema had camped in the district even when he was not a candidate.

[Times of Zambia]

PATROTIC Front (PF) leader Michael Sata yesterday surprised Chimbundire Parish priest Lazarus Nyirenda and other parishioners when he started campaigning for the PF-UPND Pact candidate Albert Banda in church when he attended mass at St Rosaria outstation in Milanzi Constituency.

And Mr Sata has said he has not been receiving the Eucharist in the Catholic Church because of his busy schedule.

Mr Sata, who was accompanied by PF officials among them Eastern Province chairperson Solomoni Mbuzi, Milanzi Constituency campaign manager Charles Banda, Katete District chairperson Atlas Mvula and other party officials surprised people when he took advantage of the introduction session and started campaigning for Mr Banda ahead of the April 29 Milanzi parliamentary polls.

Mr Sata started addressing the congregants in church after an introduction by Chimbundire Catholic outstation parish chairperson to introduce his entourage in church during service.

Before Mr Sata could introduce Mr Banda to the congregation, the PF leader started by chanting a campaign slogan in Chewa “Galu akati kope Wataya Nyama”, (literally meaning that if a hunting dog blinks, it loses the sight of the animal).

He urged the congregation not to lose sight but to vote for Mr Banda on Thursday.
Mr Sata said even when the disciples of Jesus were called to serve the people; they left everything they had to follow Jesus.

Mr Sata said this in apparent reference to the PF-UPND candidate who works for Zamtel in Lusaka.

He said the PF-UPND candidate in the Milanzi parliamentary by-election left all he had in Lusaka to serve the people of Milanzi Constituency.

Mr Sata advised Mr Banda to work closely with the people when he wins the Milanzi Constituency seat on Thursday.

He said the Church has spread to so many parts of the country where the Government has not reached and advised Mr Banda who is also a Catholic and congregates at Regiment Parish in Lusaka to always work with the church.

The PF leader said he served as a Member of Parliament for15 years because he has been listening to the voices of the people he has been serving.

Father Nyirenda said he was surprised that Mr Sata took advantage of the introduction session to start campaigning for the PF-UPND candidate ahead of the Milanzi polls.

He said he did not know that Mr Sata would congregate with him at Chimbundire. He said there was no harm in introducing any new member in church but he was not consulted that Mr Sata would speak to the congregation in church.

“I was not consulted on whether Mr Sata would say something during introduction session. I know it’s our culture in the Catholic Church to introduce newcomers or visitors, but I didn’t expect him to speak at length,” Fr Nyirenda said.

He said he was initially informed that Mr Sata would be attending mass at St Johns Parish in Katete but was surprised to see him in Chimbundire.

Meanwhile, Fr Nyirenda has advised the people of Milanzi to turn up in large numbers on Thursday and elect the leader of their choice.

Speaking during mass, Fr Nyirenda thanked all the people of Milanzi for not engaging in violence during the campaign trail.

And Mr Sata said he had not been receiving the Eucharist in the Catholic Church because of the campaigns he had been conducting of late.

Mr Sata said he was a staunch Catholic who followed the church’s doctrine to the latter.

He said he was not receiving the Eucharist because he had not been going for confession, which is mandatory before any Catholic could receive the body of Christ.

Mr Sata said he could not find time to go for confession of late because of the series of meetings he is addressing in Milanzi.

Mr Sata said there was no pressure for him not to receive the Eucharist from anyone, but that the idea to block him was coming from second Republican president Frederick Chiluba.

[Times of Zambia]

President Banda yesterday assured the people of North-Western Province the Government was determined to continue with development projects that have been initiated in the area.

Speaking at a rally in Mwinilunga at Freedom Square, the president said the MMD Government would build a road to Chavuma and money was already available for the project.

He said Government would go ahead with plans to build a hydro-power station in the district and generators for the hospital had been bought while in the Budget, money had been set aside for the rehabilitation of Mwinilunga Farming Institute.

The Government was also going ahead to reopen Kalene School of Nursing.
He told the crowd that Government had allocated K9.4 billion for the expansion of Mwinilunga Trades Training Institute and was building more boarding and day schools.

He told the people that the developments were not because of elections as the polls would only be held next year.

The projects, which include attracting investors to rebuild the pineapple factory, were part of prudent planning by the Government.
He appealed for unity and condemned any form of violence including violence perpetrated by MMD members.

Earlier, President Banda attended the funeral of Senior Chief Sailung’a-Ikunda of the Lunda people in Mwinilunga with a call for people to emulate the late chief’s leadership qualities.

Mr Banda said Chief Sailung’a, who died at his palace last week, did a lot to unite the people of Mwinilunga.

Speaking at the palace, President Banda said he was honoured to have been allowed to attend the funeral of the chief who was put to rest on Saturday, a few metres from the palace.

“I would like to show my appreciation to the royal establishment for allowing me to mourn with you after the death of our father who we looked up to for guidance and advice,” he said.

He said that the opportunity to mourn with the Lunda people was something he would never forget.

He said that traditional rulers were important in the governance of the country as they were the ones who lived with the people.

Responding to a welcome speech delivered by Tommy Kamalata on behalf of the Nyawunda royal establishment, Mr Banda said that Government’s desire was to develop Mwinilunga at a faster pace.

“I want to pledge that although you are thanking us for what we are doing in your area, we are not satisfied, we want to do more.

“We want to allocate more resources to this area for the people to begin to appreciate what the Government is doing for them,” he said.

Earlier, Mr Kamalata thanked the president for sparing time to mourn with the Lunda people.

He said from the time the late chief fell ill, the Government had done everything possible to ensure that he recovered.
[ Times of Zambia ]

MMD deputy national treasurer Mwansa Mbulakulima has said Change Life Zambia director Frank Bwalya is seeking to contest the position of Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwacha Constituency in Kitwe in next year’s tripartite elections.

Mr Mbulakulima said he had information the Catholic priest was interested in running for the Kwacha Constituency seat and had decided to start his campaign by insulting the Government of President Rupiah Banda in the media so that he could get support from some opposition politicians who were in the habit of insulting.

He was speaking at the weekend in Kitwe when he met youths during the launch of the MMD talent identification programme in Kwacha Township.
But when contacted, Fr Bwalya said he had no comment to make on the matter.

Among the people who attended the meeting were Copperbelt MMD taskforce chairperson Joe Malanji, party provincial chairperson Joseph Chilambwe, district chairperson George Lungu, and other MMD members.

Mr Mbulakulima said it was sad that Fr Bwalya had decided to ditch the pulpit and join the political platform in the pretext of speaking for the vulnerable people in various parts of the country when in actual fact he just wanted to use the people for his personal ambitions.

“Father Bwalya is trying to ride on the backs of Zambians by telling lies that he is speaking for the voiceless or the vulnerable, but in actual fact his interest is to contest the Kwacha Constituency seat in next year’s elections.

“He has started his campaign by insulting the MMD Government so that he can win the support of some opposition politicians. I just wanted to inform you about the plans of the former priest so that you know and make your own decisions,” he said.

Mr Mbulakulima said the MMD was not scared of anybody since its primary interest was to serve the people of Zambia.

He thanked the Catholic Church for making it clear that the views of individual priests should not be taken as representing the entire church.

He said the statement by the church leadership had cleared a number of things because some individual priests, who were against the MMD Government, were using the Church to fight personal battles.

He said the Government perceived the Catholic Church as a partner in development and so it was irresponsible, unfair and unrealistic for any individual to try and create friction between the two institutions because of personal interests.

However, when contacted for comment, Fr Bwalya said he had nothing to say on the matter.

Meanwhile, the Forum for Progressive Politics (FPP) has advised Roman Catholic Church priests to differentiate their personal views from those of the Church.

FPP interim chairperson Edwin Sakala said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that Vatican ambassador to Zambia Nicola Girasoli had made it clear that comments from some priests did not represent the views of the whole church.

Mr Sakala said priests engaging the church into politics should resign and become politicians so that they could spare the church from political assaults.
[ Times of Zambia ]

The group cycled the 874 miles on stationary bikes positioned around town to raise funds for this year’s Project Zambia, an ambitious initiative launched last year.

The £560 raised from this event will go towards the project set up in 2009 by a group of dedicated students and staff from the University of St Andrews.

Students are recruited from two sections of the University’s student body: top performance athletes are chosen for their commitment to sport, while students who have shown commitment to pastoral volunteering, aiding their fellow students, are chosen to extend their experience in the caring professions.

The students, and staff seeking professional development, travel to Zambia to live and work in the communities, schools and orphanages for the summer months in conjunction with Sport in Action.

For further information on Project Zambia visit: www.st-andrews.ac.uk/projectzambia.

To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/projectzambiadonate.

[Media-Newswire.com]

Patriotic front vice president Dr. Guy Scott says the political violence exhibited by the MMD during by-elections has blessings from president Rupiah Banda.

Featuring on the MISA sponsored Livewire program on Radio Mazabuka on Saturday, Dr. Scott said reports of violence from Mufumbwe were steered by the MMD and that the opposition were just reacting in defense. Dr. Scott alleged that the ruling party was ferrying its cadres to Mufumbwe to go and scare the electorate and disclosed that one Marcopollo bus registration number ABM 5108 believed to belong to a named tertiary learning institution of Lusaka was on Friday night impounded with about 70 cadres armed with machetes heading to Mufumbwe.

Dr Scott said recent reports of violence from Mufumbwe were not the first ones saying different sectors have been complaining about violence by the MMD. He said the people of Mufumbwe especially those in opposition are defenseless and that they have no one to defend them because the police are partisan adding that they are left alone to defend themselves.

He said the president was day-dreaming to publicly allege that the PF councilors had pocketed the money meant for community services in the PF run councils. He explained that it was disappointing to have a president who never understood the operation of the council saying it was not easy for councilors to pocket council funds because they had no access to it.

Dr. Scott added that councilors and MP’s are policy makers and are not in the administration of the councils for them to sign cheques and pocket the money. Dr. Scott said even the insults that have purportedly been complained by the president were started by him.

[pullquote]Mr. Mumba also accused the inspector of police, Francis Kabonde of being compromised and failing to deliver despite making numerous deployments of officers to Mufumbwe.[/pullquote]

He said President Banda was always cheating people that he was not reacting to comments from the opposition when he was always attacking the two leaders during his addresses.

Meanwhile, New revolution party NRP president, Cosmo Mumba has challenged republican president to explain the uncertainties surrounding the recent violent attack of the United Party for National Development (UPND) spokesperson, Charles kakoma by the ruling movement for multi party democracy MMD cadres.

Mr. Mumba also accused the inspector of police, Francis Kabonde of being compromised and failing to deliver despite making numerous deployments of officers to Mufumbwe.

This is a constituency that has recorded some of the highest political violent cases ahead of the by elections slated for April 29th. He told QFM in an interview that the violence in Mufumbwe is unfortunate because it clearly seems to be having the backing of the highest office.

He says that the fact that the president and his government have remained adamant on the violent attack that was made on Mr. kakoma yesterday in the early hours of the morning by MMD cadres who forced their way into his room armed with all sorts of weapons.

[pullquote]Mr. Mumba also described it as nonsensical for the entire police force in this country to fail to find a mob of cadres who would have allegedly murdered a senior opposition leader such as Mr. Kakoma just to instill fear in all those who would want to support UPND during the by-election.[/pullquote]

Mr. Mumba also described it as nonsensical for the entire police force in this country to fail to find a mob of cadres who would have allegedly murdered a senior opposition leader such as Mr. Kakoma just to instill fear in all those who would want to support UPND during the by-election.

He stated that it is injustice for the police to take such a long time to identify the people responsible for yesterday’s attack when that would have not been the same case, had the opposition cadres been in wrong.

Patriotic Front (PF) Member of parliament (MP) from Luapula Province Peter Machungwa has charged that he is still a member of the party.

Dr. Machungwa dismissed assertions that he is an MMD sympathizer saying that the insinuations were just a political witch-hunt.

He said that he would never resolve the problems with the PF president Michael Sata until he accepted that he was wrong.

Dr Machungwa noted that he could only reconcile with his party if they are willing to reconcile with him.

He added that the seat in his constituency was given to him by the people of Luapula charging that he is the only one who can deliver development to that area.

Dr Machungwa said that no person could beat him in an elections whether in the PFor other parties.
He further directed QFM reporter to ask the PF leadership about his future with the PF.

He is among the PF MPs that are called fail out of favour with Sata for their accepting to participate in the constitution making process which is expected to be concluded this year.
[ QFM ]