- May 7, 2021
- Posted by: Admin
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The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia Justice, Esau E. Chulu appealed to the Political Party Liaison Committee to adhere to COVID-19 prevention guidelines proposed by the Technical Committee on COVID-19 in the 2021 General Election.
“Let me make a clarion call to all political party stakeholders to seriously coorperate with the Commission on this matter. We would like to remind you that the issue at hand is a matter of life and death and must be approached with utmost caution. Political parties must take full responsiblity of what will transpire as a result of failure to adhere to the guidelines recommended by the Technical Committee. The Commission, Ministry of Health and respective agencies should not be blamed in case of any eventualities” said Judge Chulu.
Judge Chulu who opened the Political Party Liaison Meeting at Mulungushi International Conference Centre on 7th May, 2021 said that the Commission remains committed to ensuring that there was continuous updates on the progress of activities on the electoral calendar leading to the 2021 General Election.
“Today we are briefing you on the works of the Technical Committee working on COVID-19 prevention measures in the electoral activities and preparations for nominations…as you may be aware by now, a Technical Committee on mainstreaming of COVID-19 prevention measures in the 2021 general election calendar was established following a consultative meeting with the Ministry of Health” Said Judge Chulu who added that the Technical Committee tasked to look at modalities of holding the 2021 General Election amid the COVID-19 pandemic had developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) aimed at guiding stakeholders’ conduct in relation to the election calendar.
Judge Chulu informed participants that the SOPs had been developed in due consideration of Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) disaggregated demographic data and how COVID-19 has affected each population segment, Legal frameworks on COVID-19 and the Electoral Process, and Stakeholders and structures that will support the cascading of the SOPs and related information.
Judge Chulu said that according to the Ministry of Health, crowds and public gatherings are among the super spreaders of the virus. “The Technical Committee has identified electoral activities that fall in this category (super-spreaders of COVID-19) and developed the SOPs accordingly” said Judge Chulu.
Present at the meeting was the ECZ Vice Chairperson, Dr. Emily Joy Sikazwe, ECZ Commissioners Ambassador Ali Simwinga, Ambassador Ndiyoi Mutiti, General Mukanda, The Chief Electoral Officer Mr. Kryticous Nshindano, The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Presidents, Secretary Generals and Representatives of Political Parties, Members of the Technical Committee on COVID-19 and Elections and Management and Staff of the Electoral Commission of Zambia.
THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON COVID-19 IN THE ELECTORAL PROCESS
The Technical Committee to work on mainstreaming COVID-19 prevention mechanisms into the 2021 General Election Calendar developed the Standard Operating Procedures against COVID-19 in the Electoral Process following a consultative process.
Membership of the Technical Committee is multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary as follows;
- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting;
- Ministry of General Education;
- Ministry of Health;
- Zambia National Public Health Institute (MOH);
- Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit Office of the Vice President (DMMU-OVP)
- Zambia Centre for Inter Party Dialogue• Ministry of Local Government
- Ministry of Home Affairs/ Zambia Police
- Media Institute for Southern Africa
- WaterAid
- Electoral Commission of Zambia
DOWNLOAD THE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES HERE
Electoral activities for which the SOPs have been developed
- Payment of nomination fees by all aspiring candidates
- Certification of the Register of Voters
- Presidential Preprocessing of supporters
- Nominations
- Campaigns
- Voting
- Post-election reviews