Church commends ECZ
By KANYANTA KATONGO
THE church has commended the Electoral Commission of Zambia for exhibiting high levels of transparency and flexibility during and after the October 30 presidential election.And the church has condemned the use of abusive language by some opposition leaders aspiring to rule Zambia.
United Church of Zambia (UCZ) general secretary, Reverend Crispin Mbalazi said ECZ was competent, non-partisan and transparent.
“The presidential election was largely free, fair and credible countrywide. This is according to a report our church members brought from the 98 polling stations monitored during the election and counting days,” Rev. Mbalazi said.
He was speaking at a press briefing during which he released a monitoring report for the October 30 presidential election.
Rev. Mbalazi said the UCZ had, during this year’s presidential polls, sent 114 church members to participate in monitoring the election countrywide.
He said the church was offered K35 million to help it monitor elections.
“The Lusaka Presbytery of the United Church of Zambia is grateful to DFID for this assistance which enabled the church carry out training for the monitors and also to provide them with some money on the day of the election,” Rev. Mbalazi said.
He said monitoring elections was one way in which the church could participate, as a non-partisan institution, in promoting free, fair and transparent elections.
“Having observers and monitors enables the contenders to be mindful of watching eyes and, therefore, to refrain from engaging in undesirable acts. This contributes to transparency and promotes the tenets of free and fair election,” Rev. Mbalazi said.
He appealed to ECZ to pay attention to the irregularities observed during the just-ended election.
Meanwhile, Rev. Mbalazi said the church was against the use of abusive language publicly.
He said leaders should always remember that Zambia was a Christian nation.
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