Maravi

Ballot papers and vehicles set ablaze

Ballot papers and vehicles set ablaze
By Bright Mukwasa, Masuzyo Chakwe, Chibaula Silwamba and Maluba
Wed 21 Sep. 2011, 14:30 CAT

LUSAKA residents yesterday rioted after getting agitated due to the delayed opening of some polling stations and suspicion of attempted manipulation of the vote. And irate Kanyama residents yesterday beat up an ICT specialist from the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) who was carrying a box of ballot papers that were allegedly pre-marked on the presidential candidate.

In Lilanda compound, residents rioted after the ECZ delayed to open Lilanda East polling station.

Around 11:00 hours, Kanyama residents in Lusaka ran amok and fought running battles with the police after intercepting a Canter truck ferrying ballot boxes destined for other polling stations outside Lusaka.

The residents got agitated after allegedly ‘impounding' the vehicle carrying ballot boxes headed to Twashuka Basic School polling station, which the police attempted to rescue.

It was at that point that the residents began to riot.

The driver of the vehicle fled the scene but the residents said when they asked him why he was carrying such ballot boxes with wrong markings, he told them ECZ had a shortage of ballot boxes.

They threw stones and all sort of objects at the panicking police officers and set alight vehicles parked within Kanyama police premises.

The police, who were initially overpowered by the residents, retreated into the station until they called in reinforcements. But the situation degenerated around 11:00 hours.

When more police arrived in trucks, one of the officers fell to the ground after he attempted to jump off the truck much to the delight of the residents who threw more ‘missiles' at the policemen.

The police were forced to fire teargas canisters in people's houses just to disperse the rioting residents who had at the time started, chanting the, ‘we want change' slogan. The residents dispersed but stood in pockets still daring the police.

About seven youths were arrested and detained at the police station. A column of smoke emanating from a minibus and DAF truck torched by the residents could be seen from afar.

Other vehicles including a Toyota Corolla GRZ 22BL had their windscreens smashed.

However, in the other part of the compound, voting continued normally at Twashuka polling station.

"The confusion here started around 08:30 hours but by 11:00 hours had gotten worse," Godfrey Mwiinga, an eyewitness said.

"These people had put what they have been calling a ballot check point so they held a truck carrying ballot boxes with markings such as Kasaba Bay and Kasama.

So when the police came to rescue the driver, that's what seemed to have annoyed them."

Another resident only identified as Chiluba, said residents had formed a barricade because they wanted to ensure the ballots that were being ferried to Twashuka were ‘correct'.

"We just want to make sure everything is okay. We want a free election," said Chiluba while gasping for breath after running away from the police.

A check at Old Kanyama Mutandabantu found voting had continued after the commotion subsided.

Presidential ballot papers suspected to have been pre-marked were strewn all over the road.

"There was confusion here at some point but people continued voting as you can see," Charles Tembo said.

In Lilanda, residents threw stones after delays to open the polling station.

A Law Association of Zambia monitor Dumisani Tembo, who also had his vehicle stoned, said: "We arrived around six in the morning but while other places seemed ready for the poll, Lilanda East looked very far. There was literally nothing, no polling booths, no ballot boxes, there were only lids for ballot boxes. No voters' register, no presiding officer and no posters to indicate what stream this is. That's what started to cause the anxiety."

Tembo said when confusion started, he heard police fire gunshots to disperse the irate residents. He said in the process, some residents grabbed some electoral materials from a truck which they burnt within the voting grounds.
Some vehicles were smashed in the fray. Police officers on horseback were seen keeping vigil after voting had normalised by 9:30 hours.

Lusaka Province police commanding officer Mlakeni Zulu said the confusion was started by a group of people who were not even within the polling station and that police had apprehended four people allegedly involved in the confusion.

PF Matero parliamentary aspiring candidate Miles Sampa, who rushed to the scene, said he was worried that people who were supposed to vote had been terrified by the police's decision to move in the areas as they would be scared of the horses and guns.

"Around 04:00 hours when residents of Lilanda came to check on the polling station Lilanda Basic School, they found one classroom full of policemen and ECZ officials with the ballot papers and ballot boxes and all the voting material in one classroom. When they went to a farther classroom, they found that room had ballot boxes and voting material as well and there was no human being," Sampa said. "They were not guarded or attended to...so they suspected that those things were put in there for the purposes of foul play. That's when the problem started. The residents took those things and those are the things they burnt there."

At Kanyama, irate residents who blocked the road stoned President Rupiah Banda's billboard near the police station until they pulled it down as police officers watched helplessly.

According to an eyewitness, a light truck registration number ABZ 3864 arrived at Twashuka Basic School carrying one box of ballot papers.

The particulars on the identity card of the man carrying the ballot box showed his names as Abel Muwowo of national registration number 795790/11/1, ARO- IT from ECZ. The serial number of the ballot box was 0154860.

"When we saw the Canter, we approached them. There were two people and we asked what was in the box and the same Muwowo said there was nothing. But the box is transparent and we were able to see what was in there," the resident said.

The residents said they decided to forcefully open the box and discovered that there were presidential, parliamentary and local government ballot papers in one box.

They said some of the presidential ballot papers were marked and this angered the residents who started beating Muwowo and burnt the marked ballot papers.

Some concerned residents rescued Muwowo from the angry mob and took him to Kanyama police station where by press time he was still detained pending investigations.

And the visibly-shaken Muwowo said the ballot papers in the box found in his vehicle were not marked. He said he was delivering the ballot box to the presiding officer who was missing one box.

"I have been beaten as you can see. The ballot papers (for both the presidential, parliamentary and local government) were put in one box. They are not marked," Muwowo said.

Asked why he refused to show the residents the contents of the box, Muwowo said: "It was not me with the powers to speak like that. They are the ones who opened to check what was there. We were delivering them because we were taking them to the right places, to the owners at Nakatindi Hall. The owners were there. We were not accompanied by the police because what happened we were at New Kanyama and then the other officer, it was around 04:00 hours. He remained there and then we took the tables and other things as we were coming because the presiding officer was calling to say ‘I am missing one of the ballot boxes here'. It was the presiding officer who had put them there, it was not me."

Later in the day, voters in Nakatindi area in Kanyama burnt presidential, parliamentary and local government ballot papers, according to eyewitnesses.

The eyewitnesses said the voters burnt the electoral materials in protest against the delay in opening the polling stations. They said the polling station did not open up to about 13:00 hours, thereby angering the electorate that had waited outside the centre long before 06:00 hours, the stipulated time of starting the voting process.

Meanwhile, PF vice-president Dr Guy Scott yesterday said Lusaka residents were frustrated and provoked, leading to the fracas in Lilanda and Kanyama compounds.

Speaking at David Kaunda National Technical High School in Lusaka Central constituency where he is also a PF parliamentary candidate, Dr Scott said it was surprising that the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and the Lusaka City Council had badly organised the electoral process.

"There are lots of late deliveries of materials which have contributed to these disturbances. What we are wondering is whether this is a deliberate attempt to bring down the PF vote in Lusaka because it's the major contributor to the national score or whether it's just incompetence," Dr Scott said.

"There has been dirty play. The disturbances are due to frustration. People have been waiting for weeks to cast their vote, they arrived at 02:00, 03:00 hours in the morning, itching to cast their vote and then they are told, 'no, sorry the polling station is not opening'. The looting that follows can either be spontaneous or it can even be provoked. It's very easy to provoke people who are very frustrated into that sort of behaviour."

And the European Union (EU) elections observation mission chief observer Maria Muniz De Urquiza took note of the violence that took place in Lusaka due to delays in opening polling stations.

"But it seems these problems have been solved and polling stations have been opened and people have been allowed to vote. The impression we have is that everything is going mostly well and in a peaceful manner," she said.

Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS, VOTERIGGING

posted by MrK @ 12:38 AM