CHOMBA MUSIKA, Lusaka
ZAMBIA Correctional Service Commissioner General Percy Chato has welcomed the Constitutional Court’s decision to allow remandees to vote because people in incarceration have the right to participate in elections.

Mr Chato said in an interview that inmates too have human rights, including that of voting.
“We welcome the court’s decision [to allow inmates to vote] and the inmates surely deserve to vote. We will study that decision and put in place regulations and benchmarks,” Mr Chato said.
Recently, Constitutional Court judge Enoch Mulembe ruled that remandees and other people in incarceration who have appealed against their cases be allowed to vote during elections.
Judge Mulembe ordered that persons in lawful custody and those whose freedom of movement is restricted under the law be allowed to vote in future elections.
This was after Prison Care and Counselling Association executive director Godfrey Malembeka petitioned the Electoral Commission of Zambia and the Attorney General in the Constitutional Court over the matter.
Mr Malembeka wanted a declaration that all remandees and convicts who have appealed against their cases and are unable to secure bail be allowed to vote.