“It’s disheartening”: Zambia’s Church Leaders on 2019 Boundary Delimitation Report Secrecy

Zambia’s Electoral Commission conducted a delimitation exercise to realign some of the polling district boundaries and make them convenient for the electorate in December 2019. The delimitation exercise was conducted in preparation for the 2021 general elections. 

In February 2020, the delimitation report was handed over to former President of the Southern African nation, Edgar Chagwa Lungu. 

In the statement shared with ACI Africa March 30 that was also signed by representatives of the  Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ), and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ), the church leaders say the document needs to be released to the public as it is “critical to planning for both state and non-state actors.”

They add that it “must be in the interest of the President to release such reports to the public for their effective participation.” 

“CCMG believes that the government’s continued holding on to the report undermines the principle of transparency on the part of the government, which consequently has a bearing on the independence of the ECZ and its ability to fulfill its mandate without influence from the Executive,” CCMG officials say. 

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They further call for “expeditious constitutional and electoral reform to give the Electoral Commission of Zambia full independence so that it fulfills its mandate independent of any political influence.”

ECZ officials have called on the Zambian government to introduce constitutional amendments that grant the commission authority to bar politicians and political parties whose supporters are involved in government from participating in elections. 

Founded in 2015, CCMG is an independent and nonpartisan election observer in the Southern African nation comprising four Christian forums: ZCCB, CCZ, EFZ, and JCTR.

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.