Establishment

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) is the autonomous electoral management body for the Republic of Zambia. The ECZ was established in 1996 under article 76 of the Constitution of Zambia.
 

Composition

Electoral Commission Act 24 of 1996 provides for the composition of Electoral Commission and its operations. The Commission consist of a Chairperson and not more than four other members appointed by the President, subject to ratification by the National Assembly (Section 4 (1) (b)), for a term not exceeding Seven years. In addition, it sets out the circumstances under which the President may remove a member of the Commission.

The Chairperson of the Commission shall be a person who has held, or qualified to hold high judicial office or any other suitably qualified person.

Where as the Chairman and members of the Commission constitute the policy making body, the Electoral Commission Act 24 provides for the Commission to appoint a Director who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission and is responsible for:

The Director is assisted by such staff as the Commission appoints by statutory instrument on such terms and conditions as the Commission determines.
 

Current Composition

Hon. Madam Justice Irene C. Mambilima - Chairperson

Before her appointment as chair of the Electoral Commission of Zambia, Hon. Madam Irene C. Mambilima was the deputy chief justice of Zambia.
She has served as the Supreme Court judge (sessional) of Zambia. She seats on a number of boards among them the Editorial board council of law reporting, council of the institution of Advanced Legal Education, Zambia Association of Women Judges, Child Funf (Zambia) and Women in Law, Southern Africa.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) (merit) from the University of Zambia and a Masters Degree from the school of Oriental and African studies, University of London. She was admitted to the bar in 1977 and was appointed State Advocate, Attorney General’s Chambers in 1977 where she rose through the ranks to the position of high court judge in 1989.Between 1994 and 1996; she served as a member of the Electoral Commission of Zambia and was appointed judge of the Supreme Court. In 2005, justice Mambilima was appointed the chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia and oversaw the holding of the 2006 elections. She left the Commission to take up the position of Deputy Chief Justice of Zambia, a position she held until her reappointment as the Chair of the Electoral Commission of Zambia.

The other members of the Commission are:

Grace M. Mulapesi - Commissioner

Commissioner Grace M. Mulapesi was appointed commissioner at the ECZ in August 2005. Before she joined the commission, she worked as permanent secretary in various ministries in the Zambian government. With the commission, she chairs the sub- committee of publicity training and voter education. She has a vast experience in elections and has the privilege of monitoring elections in the SADC sub region. Commissioner Grace M.Mulapesi holds a BA degree obtained from the University of Zambia and a master’s degree from the University of Manchester.

Joseph I. Jalasi - Commissioner

Commissioner Joseph I. Jalasi joined the judicial department in 1960. He worked as general secretary for the magistrate and Judges Association of Zambia from 1979 -1987. He has been chairman of the civil servant to union of Zambia from 1982 -1988. He has also been secretary to the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) from 1987 -2004.
In 2005, the president of the republic of Zambia honoured him with the Grand Companion of Order of Distinguished Service Division 1. In the same year, he was appointed Commissioner at the Electoral Commission of Zambia.

Minerva K. Tembo - Commissioner

Commissioner Minerva Kalwa Tembo is qualified both as a teacher and Professional counsellor. She has been trained to assist people resolve issues in every aspect of human need. Before she was appointed commissioner at the Electoral Commission of Zambia in 2009, she worked as the Acting deputy Dean of students (1995 -1996), Deputy Dean of students (1994 -1995) and Acting Dean of Students (1991 -1993) at the University of Zambia. She is a member of many associations to name but a few; she is a founder member of the Association of Women Graduates, Member of the Zambia Association for Research and Development and Member of the Zambia Young Women’s Christian Association. (YWCA)
She holds an Associate Degree in Arts obtained from state island community college in New York, an Associate certificate in education and a Master of Education all obtained from the University of Zambia.

Hon. Justice Mr. Esau E. Chulu – Commissioner

Justice Esau Elliot Chulu was appointed Commissioner at the Electoral Commission of Zambia in December 2009.
Before he was appointed Commissioner, he was an Advocate of the High Court and Supreme Court of Zambia and held various positions namely; he was judge in charge of both commercial and general lists- high court, Lusaka; member of the editorial board of council of law reporting; he was chairperson of the Bar/Bench committee, chairperson of the Legal Aid Board; former chief Legal Counsel- Zambian Consolidated Copper Mines Limited (ZCCM). Justice Chulu is also a former lecturer- professional conduct and ethics at Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education (ZIALE).
He is a member of the commonwealth magistrates and judges Association (CMJA).
He holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) obtained from the University of Zambia- UNZA. And a Masters in Law (LLM) obtained from the London school of economics and political science (LSE) United Kingdom (UK).


MANAGEMENT TEAM

Priscilla Mulenga Isaac - Director

Mrs. Priscilla Mulenga Isaac joined the Commission in 2000 as Public Relation Officer and rose to the position of Deputy Director Elections and Voter Education in 2002. She held the position until December 2010 when she began acting as Director. She was appointed Director of Elections on 1st April 2011.
Mrs Isaac has a vast experience in election management having participated in the 2001 and 2006 tripartite elections as well as the 2008 Presidential Elections. She has also had the privilege to observe many elections in the SADC region and beyond.
She holds a Bachelor of Psychology and Public Administration and a Degree in Law.

Brown Kasaro – Deputy Director, Information Technology

Mr Brown Kasaro joined the ECZ in 2006 and now heads the Information Technology Department of the ECZ. Besides managing the Commissions’ ICT infrastructure, he is also in charge of Voter Registration, and Boundary Delimitation. Mr. Kasaro is an IT professional with over 10 years experience and holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunications from the University of Zambia. He has vast experience in election results management, candidate registration and biometric based digital voter registration as well as optical mark recognition (OMR) based solutions in the management of the electoral process.

Joseline Mubita - Deputy Director, Voter Education

Mrs Joseline Mubita joined the ECZ in July 2005 as manager election and voter education. She held the position till mid April 2011 when the commission decided to make voter education a department on its own as it was under the elections department and appointed her deputy director of voter education. Her department plans and develops the actual implementation and monitoring of voter education activities throughout the country. She ensures that electorate are educated adequately for them to be able to participate in elections. Mrs Mubita is involved in the training of election officers and is also in charge of the conduct of voter education. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in education obtained from the University of Zambia and is an accredited BRIDGE (building resources in democracy governance and elections) facilitator.

Humphrey Himwaaba -Deputy Director, Finance

Mr Humphrey Himwaaba joined the Electoral Commission of Zambia on 1st march 2011 as Deputy Director of Finance and heads the Finance Department at the Commission.
Before he joined the Commission, he worked for the Action Aid Zambia where he was head of finance. He also worked as head of finance and accounting at Energy Regulation Board and Audit Senior at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).
He holds a Bachelor Degree of Accountancy obtained from the Copperbelt University of Zambia and is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) and the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountant (ZICA).

Eric Kamwi - Commission Secretary

Mr Eric Kamwi joined the ECZ in June 2001 just before that year’s tripartite election. He was appointed assistant legal counsel, a position he held for a while and was later appointed legal counsel in 2002. He was legal counsel till 2010 when he was appointed commission secretary. As Commission secretary, he heads the legal department and is in charge of the legal and secretary matters of the Commission. Mr Kamwi holds a Bachelor Degree in Law obtained from the University of Zambia and an MBA from Edith Cowan University of Australia.