Kateka insists on fair representation of political parties in Zambia’s electoral commission

The New Heritage Party (NHP) says it is saddened by the careless and condescending manner the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) has responded to its proposal for critical electoral reforms in Zambia.

Party President, Chishala Kateka , said the proposal was a result of a well-researched assessment of what is currently wrong in the electoral regime and the reforms should start with the democratization of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ).

Kateka said this in a statement issued in Lusaka on Friday.

She was responding to UPND Spokesperson, Cornelius Mweetwa, who said Ms. Kateka’s suggestion that opposition political parties should be allowed to nominate their own members to form part of the ECZ in order to promote fairness in the electoral process is flawed.

She said among the several weaknesses the party has observed in the electoral system was the unfair manner of constituting the governing body of the ECZ, through presidential appointments by the sitting Head of State who is also a member of a political party and therefore has vested interest in the affairs of the Commission.

“Political parties including the UPND, who are the major stake holders in elections, be represented equitably on the ECZ governing body; as one of the many confidence building measures that are urgently needed to be undertaken before the next general elections in 2026,” Kateka said.

She said it is shocking for UPND Spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa who is a lawyer by profession to display ignorance on the structure of government.

“It is this in-built unfairness whereby, one of the participants in an election also gets to choose which people will be the referees in a process, that we are trying to cure,” Kateka said.

She claims that ECZ is compromised because of the manner in which it has been constituted and which is, to all intents and purposes, undemocratic.

Kateka said proposing that registered political parties be the ones to nominate their members to sit as Commissioners at ECZ, is aimed at enhancing impartiality in the Commission’s operations thus building confidence in all other players.

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