Mpongwe voting witnessed by ECZ Commissioners

Mpongwe voting witnessed by ECZ Commissioners

Mpongwe, February 28, ZANIS ——— Voting in the Mpongwe by election has started with the first vote been cast in the ballot box by 06.03 hours.

At Saint Thresa Basic School the polling centre was officially opened by Presiding Officer Chela Nkonde at exactly 06.00 in the presence of voters and observers who had come as early as 05.00hours.

Those in attendance to witness the opening included two Electoral Commission of Zambia Commissioners, Judges Christopher Mushabati and Esau Elliot Chulu.

 A ZANIS news crew at the centre found two queues of both men and women who had lined up early waiting for voting to start.

Bwalya Katongo was the first voter to cast his ballot paper by 06.02.

The polling station has three streams with a total of 2459 registered voters.

A check at Mpongwe Farming Training Institute polling centre whose number of registered voters’ totals 3418, only 148 people had cast their votes by 07.00 this morning and the station has four streams.

Presiding officer Sparkman Chilyabanyama described the turnout as low compared to past elections.

He however expressed optimism that the turnout would increase as the day progresses.

Meanwhile District Electoral Officer Winstone Kasonkomona said a helicopter was already in place to enable move the ballot boxes from far flung and hard to reach areas.

He said the chopper provided by ECZ was used to transport officers and election materials yesterday.

Mr Kasonkomona also said all election materials and personnel were in the centers and no problems have so far been encountered.