Maravi

Continuous voter registration to commence this year

Continuous voter registration to commence this year
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe
Monday, January 26, 2009 5:07:59 AM

ELECTORAL Commission of Zambia (ECZ) chairperson justice Florence Mumba has disclosed that the continuous voters registration exercise will commence this year once plans are completed.

And justice Mumba has supported calls by United Nations Special Envoy on AIDS in Africa Elizabeth Mataka to give life sentences to defilers.

In an interview, justice Mumba said the ECZ had plans to carry out the voters registration exercise.

"We do not yet know how much money has been given by who. We know that the government itself is putting in a lot of money and of course the donor community is supporting the budget for ECZ but we are working on the ground so that we start this year," Justice Mumba said.

Women for Change (WfC) executive director Emily Sikazwe said the civil society had been calling for continuous voter registration and was glad that this time around it would take off.

Sikazwe called on all political parties to encourage their supporters to register as voters so that issues of disfranchising do not occur in 2011.

"But if people feel strongly about voter apathy, they must ensure that all their cadres and all those who support them are getting to stations where voter registration is going to take place. And to also mount a campaign that once they register, they should not lose their voters cards because this is an issue that is very important for the democratisation process and not to cry foul at the end of the day when the supporters are not registered. There is continuous voter registration, let political parties mobilise so that our women, men and youth are registered in readiness for 2011," Sikazwe said.

And justice Mumba said there was need to keep dangerous people away from children.

She also called on people to look at the root causes of defilement.

"I would support the life sentence because I am aware that our prisons are going through a reform because when we talk of a life sentence, our aim should be to reform people and then the President still has powers to commute that life sentence once that person is sufficiently reformed," she said. "That's what we are working towards so the life sentence is okay because you see, it's no use the way it is. What happens now the children are not there in prisons, the offender doesn't have the opportunity to defile so it's no use to say he has behaved well when the opportunities are not there in prisons, it's a matter of counseling and guiding and making sure the person understands that what he did was wrong."

Justice Mumba said a life sentence for defilers was appropriate because a child's life is literally destroyed once they are defiled.

Justice Mumba said prisons should also ensure that defilers were corrected before they are released.

Labels: ELECTIONS

posted by MrK @ 5:07 AM