VICE-PRESIDENT DEFENDS USE OF OUTDATED BALLOT PAPERS 

By NAMO PHIRI

VICE-PRESIDENT Mutale Nalumango has defended the use of ballot papers bearing the wrong date in the Kwacha and Kabushi parliamentary by-elections held yesterday.

The ballot papers for the two by-elections were dated September 15, 2022 but the by-elections were conducted yesterday, October 20, 2022.

Responding to a question from PF Lunte Member of Parliament Mutotwe Kafwaya who wanted to know why the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) used old ballot papers for the two elections, Ms. Nalumango said the court battles that surrounded the two elections put the commission in an awkward position to make corrections.

Ms. Nalumango also dismissed allegations that the use of old ballot papers was a ploy to bar former Kabushi MP Bowman Lusambo and former Kwacha MP Joseph Malanji from taking part in the polls. 

And Ms. Nalumango said the UPND administration has continued to respect the tenets of democracy owing to records both locally and on the international scene.

Ms. Nalumango was responding to a question from leader of the opposition in parliament Brian Mundubile who wanted to know why the UPND had obliterated all institutions of governance such as the ECZ.

Mr Mundubile said the authority of the majority is limited by legal and institutional means so that the rights of individuals and minorities are protected in a constitutional democracy.

Mr Mundubile wanted to know what interventions the UPND administration was putting in place to salvage the image of the government in the face of Zambians and the international community.