WE support observations made by Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) to have ballot papers printed in Zambia because of the huge benefits to the local printing companies.
Printing of ballot papers locally will indeed help reduce huge costs Government incurs when printing abroad, especially that at some point it needs to ferry political parties to go and inspect the ballot papers.
Additionally, even costs that come with paying for these political representatives’ accommodating and accompanying needs will be eliminated.
It is high time Zambia started printing ballot papers locally, as we have companies that can do a good job and thereby creating jobs and business opportunities for many Zambians.
We have many printing companies that have done commendable jobs and we feel given the opportunity, they can print ballot papers.
As FODEP observed, there is need to make every effort and move away from the trend of printing ballot papers outside the country and identify the capacity of Government Printers and indeed, any other local printers to carry out the job.
Giving such important jobs and business opportunities to other countries defeats the purpose of fundamentals of patriotism, especially that Zambians need these the most.
The Electoral Act gives the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) mandate to select which company should print the ballot papers and it is high time the commission started to assess and see if local printers were ready to do the job.
Moreover, the Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) Act allows Government to give jobs to its agencies because money is allowed to circulate within its systems.
Doing so would give institutions like the Times Printpak Zambia Limited and Zambia Printing Company, who face financial challenges a sigh of relief in terms of income generating ventures.
Of course, some stakeholders have expressed concern with regard to transparency, but we feel that this should not be a problem as all political parties could be allowed to monitor the exercise as has been the case when printing is done in South Africa.
Moreover, workers at these companies belong to various political parties which can even make it easy to monitor and ensure there is transparency.
Having confidence in our local companies is the way to go, who knows, when we start printing ballot papers locally, we will attract other countries who will be bringing business to Zambia thereby empowering our industries.