Prison Care and Counselling Association (PRISCA) has expressed delight at the number of inmates that have registered to vote in the forthcoming general elections.
PRISCA Executive Director Geoffrey Malembeka said over 14 thousand inmates registered as voters from 30 major correctional facilities last year.
As PRISCA we are impressed with the number of inmates that registered to vote as they have been yearning and waiting to exercise their constitutional right,Â
Mr. Malembeka.
He added that Zambia has recorded a landmark in the number of inmates registered as voters among other African countries.
The country has recorded the highest number of inmate voters in the region because of the transparent, inclusive and representative nature of our electoral commission,
Mr. Malembeka
Meanwhile, Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) Corporate Affairs Manager Patricia Luhanga said the commission through a technical committee spearheaded the ope-rationalization of the Constitutional Court Judgment regarding voting by persons in lawful custody in February last year.
Out of 16,000 eligible persons in lawful custody, a total of 14,963 were captured as registered voters and the technical committee is finalising modalities on inmate voting for the general elections this year, Luhanga.Â
Ms. Luhanga
She said the technical team engaged stakeholders such as PRISCA, the Ministry of Justice, the Human Rights Commission and the Zambia Correctional Service among others on the findings and recommendations and have their input.
The commission received submissions and once reviews are concluded, a report and roadmap will be presented to the stakeholders for validation, Luhanga.
Ms. Luhanga
The Zambia Law Development Commission is leading the process and it has conducted a desk review, mapping of correctional facilities and bench-marking with countries where this has been actualised.