By CHILA NAMAIKO –

. LUNGU

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has assured that the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) is working on most of the concerns raised against it by various stakeholders ahead of the August 11 general elections.
Mr Lungu has since met with ECZ officials to discuss, among other matters, holding of the referendum alongside the general elections and the cost of nomination fees for aspiring candidates.
“So I have spoken with ECZ. I told them about concerns from people on the referendum, the verification of grade 12 certificates, whether they should be done in provinces or people should come to Lusaka,” he said.
The President was speaking in an interview with journalists at City Airport in Lusaka on Sunday evening upon arrival from Chipata.
Mr Lungu said he had heard the cries from members of the public about the high cost of nomination fees as recently announced by the ECZ.
He said that ECZ officials would, however, give a feedback over the matters he raised.
“They will get back to us. We talked about the certificate qualification, and ECZ is independent and believe you me, they are very independent,” President Lungu said.
He lashed out at some sections of society claiming that the electoral body was under pressure from him to print the ballot papers in Dubai.
Contrary to the assertions, he said, there was no influence on ECZ’s operations as it is an autonomous institution making its own decisions.
“I don’t even know how the ballot papers will look like and I get dismayed when I hear some people say Lungu is doing this and that, but they don’t know that ECZ is very independent,” Mr Lungu said.
He said ECZ would make its own decision on the printing of the ballot papers by following all procedures through the Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA) because the electoral body was answerable to Zambians.
The Head of State was concerned with unwarranted statements from some critics over ECZ, and assured that he would allow democracy to thrive.
On the spate of ritual killings in Lusaka, President Lungu praised the police for apprehending four people in connection with the murders.
He, however, condemned those attacking police efforts to curb criminal activities, citing some people damaging police posts to express their anger over the ritual killings.
Mr Lungu said police officers should be allowed to operate in accordance with their mandate instead of some people mounting unnecessary pressure on them.