Governance, Elections, Advocacy, Research Services (GEARS) Initiative Zambia says Zambia can draw many valued lessons from the just ended United States (US) elections ahead of the country’s 2021 general elections.
GEARS Initiative Chief Executive Officer McDonald Chipenzi said that the country should learn from the US elections as topics such as refusal by the incumbent to concede defeat alleging electoral irregularities and fraud are issues that have affected Zambia’s electoral process for years.
Mr. Chipenzi said these issues have long affected the country’s electoral process including the 2016 general election and has since warned that this may be so in next year’s general elections if not attended to.
These electoral glitches must be avoided in order to achieve integrity and credibility in the process,
he said.
He added that the 2020 US elections are more or less a replica of Zambia’s 2016 elections which ended with a dispute leading to an election petition and non-recognition of the declared winner.
Mr. Chipenzi has warned that if these glitches are not properly dealt with before the 2021 general elections, a result that echoes the 2020 US elections may be inevitable for Zambia.
For instance, dissatisfaction and controversies in the issuance of NRCs, registration of voters, introduction of prison vote at gunpoint and general management of the electoral process so far, has potential to result in the US 2020 electoral conclusion if interventions are not deployed now,
Mr. Chipenzi said.
Mr. Chipenzi has since advised that Zambia must avoid these electoral pitfalls by doing things with credibility.