Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG), which is a consortium of faith based organizations to monitor electoral process in Zambia, has urged the National Registration Department to treat issuance of the National Registration Cards (NRCs) with outmost urgency so that the youth can register before the tripartite elections in 2016.
“By Zambia’s electoral laws, in order for one to register as a voter, they need to have a green Zambian National Registration Card (NRC).” CCMG outgoing Chairperson Rev. Pukuta Mwanza said at the dissemination of CCMG’s phase One Voter Registration Monitoring Exercise held Friday, 2nd October, 2015 at Kapingila’s Zambia Episcopal Conference House in Lusaka.
Rev. Mwanza has also urged the Zambian government to allocate more resources to the Department of National Card Registration so that it can carry out registration exercise smoothly.
Flanked by ZEC Secretary General Very Rev Fr. Cleophas Lungu, Caritas Zambia Executive Director Samuel Mulafulafu and Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection (JCTR) Director Fr Leonard Chiti, SJ, Rev. Mwanza further appealed to all political parties to ensure that they reign on their cadres against causing harassment as witnessed in the recent by-elections in some regions.
Rev. Mwanza furthermore called on the Police to ensure law and order for all stakeholders without bias.
The outgoing CCMG chairperson also called on Churches to be nonpartisan and take lead in encouraging members to register as voters saying churches can play a significant role in motivating citizen participation in the Voter Registration process.
Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG) consists of Zambia Episcopal Conference through Caritas Zambia, Council of Churches in Zambia, Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection and Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia.
Its gets support from National Democratic Institute (NDI), USAID DFID, CAFOD and Caritas Norway.
By Mwenya Mukuka Communications Officer ZEC
