Lusaka District accredits 4,285 election observers and…

Lusaka District has so far accredited about 4,285 election observers and monitors ahead of Thursday’s general elections. Lusaka District Assistant Electoral Officer Victor Kagoli said the figure was recorded by Saturday and represented observers and monitors issued with accreditation cards across the district’s 10 constituencies. Speaking in an interview with the media, Mr Kagoli said Lusaka has 1,246 polling stations, with at least three observers and monitors expected to cover each polling station.

Mr Kagoli said the number of people seeking accreditation has continued to rise as the accreditation exercise approaches its conclusion. He noted that the district initially started the accreditation exercise with 10 kits but has since received additional 10 kits from the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to respond to the increasing demand. Mr Kagoli added that the district was currently operating with 16 kits and expected to have all the kits in use as the number of applicants continued to increase.

“Stakeholder engagement in the electoral process has also been quite high, with political parties showing keen interest in the preparations for the elections,” he said. Mr Kagoli further revealed that the district had already conducted a briefing for poll agents representing all political parties, while police officers are scheduled to be briefed tomorrow. He said the high level of stakeholder participation was a positive indication of citizens’ interest in ensuring a transparent electoral process. Meanwhile, Mr Kagoli noted that 40 pallets of ballot papers had already been delivered to the facility and would tomorrow be inspected by stakeholders before being distributed to the respective constituencies.