The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) says it will continue the voter registration process from the capital Lusaka because it does not have the resources to decentralize the process.
Addressing a workshop for government officials in Lusaka on Monday, ECZ Chairperson Florence Mumba said registering voters for an election was a very costly exercise and currently the ECZ did not have the capacity to allow various regions of the country to have their own electoral rolls.
The ECZ currently sends out officers to various regions of the country to register voters but the final electoral roll is finalized from Lusaka.
The ECZ has been under pressure to decentralize the voter registration process as a way of promoting transparency and allowing voter confidence.
She said the ECZ was preparing to begin the voter registration process in readiness for presidential and parliamentary elections in 2011
The government has allocated K70 billion (14.8 million US dollars) in the 2010 national budget for the ECZ for the voter registration process.
Justice Mumba said although the figure sounded astronomical, it was insufficient, but that the ECZ would have to make do with the amount.
Source African Press Agency
