THE Tonse Youth Network has called on the Electoral Commission of Zambia to increase the time frame for accreditation of monitors by an additional five days.

The organisations, Operation Young Vote (OYV), Action Governance Forum (AGF), Continental Leadership Research Institute (CLRI), Common Causes Zambia (CCZ), Sport-Aid Development Trust and Youth in Action for Disability Inclusion Zambia (YADIZ) stated that they recognise the importance of having independent monitors and observers during the 2021 general elections.

Network acting chairperson Mundia Paul Hakoola said election observers and monitors were important in the electoral process as they work towards improving the quality of elections and also build public confidence in the electoral processes.

Hakoola noted that statement by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) on the extension of accreditation of monitors to today, August 2.

The network called on the ECZ to increase the time frame for accreditation of monitors by an additional five days because the process had not been decentralized, making it difficult for members of the public and interest organisations to get accreditation.

“The network proposes that the ECZ should decentralise the process to constituencies so that the process is faster and also ensure that COVID-19 rules are enforced. The current state of affairs leaves not much to be desired,” he said.

He said ECZ should deploy more human resources to ensure that the processes was effective and efficient as the current puts staff under pressure to deal with long queues.

Hakoola said citizens need to have access to accreditation centres and failure to decentralise the centres reduces active citizen participation in the process due lack of logistical support for some citizens.

“In view of the above, the Network calls on ECZ to increase the days of accreditation by five days to accommodate more citizens to have access to process; we are of the view that the process of monitoring and observing protects the rights of all participating stakeholders, promotes transparency on the voting and counting process and provides legitimacy for results to be acceptable by participating stakeholders and citizens,” said Hakoola.