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The Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG) has called on the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to expedite the recruitment process of the Chief Electoral Officer.
CCMG Steering Committee Spokesperson, Alex Muyebe, is concerned about the prolonged vacancy in the position of the Chief Electoral Officer at the Commission.
Muyebe made the call in a statement issued in Lusaka on Monday.
“We strongly urge the ECZ to expedite the recruitment process for this vital role, which has been vacant for over 15 months since the departure of Patrick Nshindano on August 7, 2022,” he said.
Muyebe said while the operations of the Commission had continued, the absence of a substantive Chief Electoral Officer hindered its ability to function properly, including stakeholder communication, direction, and engagement.
“CCMG believes that the delay in appointing a Chief Electoral Officer adversely impacts electoral processes. Therefore, the prolonged vacancy in the ECZ’s Chief Electoral Officer position is a growing and serious concern,” he said.
Muyebe further called on the Commission to engage stakeholders on the electoral cycle calendar presented in February 2022.
He noted that there had been no further communication or engagement on the roadmap since the February 2022 meeting.
“CCMG reiterates the importance of ECZ facilitating these stakeholder engagements to provide detailed updates on what has been implemented and what is yet to be implemented and provide new updates based on any changes to the initial plan,” Muyebe said.
He added that transparency and accountability were essential to ensuring the integrity and credibility of the electoral process, in line with the values and mandate of ECZ.
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