Ndola. 26.02.2018.
The National Democratic Congress NDC has noticed with dismay the grave attempts by the PF Government to manipulate the country’s electoral process.
The NDC will and does not support pronouncements that ballot papers for the 2021 general polls be printed locally.
Attempts to print ballots locally are a clear indication that the PF has plans to engage in fraud and manipulate the electoral process in their favour.
President Edgar Lungu is desperate to perpetuate his stay in political office and will therefore do anything to rig the polls.
If Mr Lungu can openly support corruption, what then will stop him from manipulating the electoral process?
The aspect of cost that the pf regime is citing to print ballots locally doesn’t make sense at all.
As NDC, we are aware of the fact that key stakeholders such as the United Nations Development Program UNDP have in previous polls been assisting and availing counterpart funding to the Electoral Commission of Zambia ECZ.
Therefore, the notion that the pf wants to save resources does not hold water.
Why should this regime hide under the veil of saving funds when it is an open secret that this regime is a spendthrift?
Certainly, there’s something fishy about this desperate talk and attempts to print ballots locally.
The PF has made this blanket proposal without listening to the views and concerns of other political groupings and stakeholders.
Therefore, attempts to rig the 2021 polls by the PF will be meet with resistance.
When did Edgar Lungu start caring about saving the country’s resources? This is a man who is involved in all sorts of illicit financial activities and it is nauseating that Lungu wants to save resources through printing ballots locally. It doesn’t make sense at all.
Currently, the Government printers does not have the necessary salient security features and requirements including machinery to allow the printing of ballots in Zambia.
This tyranny and dictatorship being exhibited by the Lungu regime to perpetuate their illegal stay in office after 2021 will and should never be accepted.
This attempt to muzzle and manipulate the electoral process is a recipe for anarchy.
The Lungu administration should preoccupy its self delivering on their electoral promises instead of engaging in unproductive discourse.
We are further dismayed with reasons, justifications and examples being given by this desperate unpopular regime as regards the printing of ballots for 2021 locally.
PF Deputy Media Director Antonio Mwanza claims ballot’s that ousted Kenneth Kaunda in 1991 were printed locally.
Mwanza has stopped thinking and that is what money can do when the mind is corrupted.
The dynamics of politics has changed. Dictator’s have now become more cunning and sophisticated. The best Mwanza can do is to keep quite and eat the spoils from his desepate master’s.
Mwanza has stopped thinking and is behaving like an empty tin singing Praise’s on literally anything because of poverty. Mwanza has thrown his principles if at all he had any to the wind.
As NDC we maintain that we can trust criminals to print ballots locally.
The minions in this regime are too desperate to perpetuate their stay in office. They can even same their lives to the devil to be in office for ever.
But the people of Zambia will never allow this.
What the NDC needs and demands for is free and fair polls nothing more.
Free and fair polls, held and organized in a transparent manner. We demand consensus on the printing of the 2021 ballots.
President Lungu should therefore stop interfering in the work of the ECZ.
ECZ is an autonomous body that should be allowed to operate freely and independently.
These attempts to rig the 2021 elections should not be taken lightly.
The international community should generate serious interest on these maneuver’s to rape the electoral process by this regime.
Issued by: Ackson Simwizya. National Chairperson Elections.