Kakoma blames voter registration apathy on govt

Kakoma blames voter registration apathy on govt
By Agness Changala
Wed 17 Nov. 2010, 04:01 CAT

UPND spokesperson Charles Kakoma says the government is to blame for the apathy surrounding the voter registration exercise.

In an interview following assertions that political parties were partly to blame for people’s indifference towards the ongoing voters registration exercise, Kakoma said political parties could not be held accountable for the apathy because they did not issue National Registration Cards (NRCs).

He said it was difficult for parties to mobilise people without NRCs to register as voters.

“It is difficult to even assist the Electoral Commission of Zambia because home affairs ministry in charge of issuing NRCs to eligible voters is not doing so effectively,” Kakoma said. “You find that people from ECZ are there to register voters but most of them have no NRCs.”

Kakoma said in rural areas, people were asked to collect their NRCs from the Boma and they had to cover a distance of two to three days on foot.

He said the requirement of a police report, for those who had lost their voters cards, also contributed to the apathy.

Kakoma said politicians were organising people to vote but were constrained by other factors such as poor publicity of the exercise.

He said in rural areas, people were not keen on voting because the farming season had begun.

Kakoma appealed to the government to provide more resources and manpower to boost the issuance of NRCs and enable people register as voters.
But MMD chairman for elections Mike Mulongoti said people should not be persuaded to register as voters.

He said those who did not want to vote would deny themselves an opportunity to make decisions.

“If you boycott, you are punishing yourself because if you don’t participate, you will not be part of the people that will make decisions but you will allow other people to agree and disagree on your behalf,” Mulongoti said.

However, he urged people to register as voters.

Mulongoti said the Ministry of Home Affairs was actively resolving the problem of NRCs.

The voters registration exercise closes on November 30, 2010.