Chipenzi, the odd one out in ECZ appointments, says Citizens First

THE Citizens First Party has described the appointment of GEARS executive director, McDonald Chipenzi as a commissioner in the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) as misplaced because he was politically charged.

Citizens First president, Harry Kalaba made the observation in an interview. He said in as much as the President had a constitutional right to appoint anyone to any position, the ECZ was the last institution that one would imagine that Mr. Chipenzi would be appointed to. He therefore could not imagine how stakeholders would trust the decisions by the commission which would have a highly charged individual who has failed to show his impartiality despite having a civil organisation.

Mr. Kalaba wondered why the President would appoint a person who had once applied to stand as a parliamentary candidate under the UPND. He said that this was enough indication that the man was politically inclined. He said that people would therefore have a difficult time to avoid alleging political interference in the operations of the ECZ.

Mr. Kalaba however noted that the appointment of Mwangala Zaloumis and Mr Ali Simwinga as Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Commission respectively is unquestionable as both had the requisite experience and qualifications.

He therefore hoped that the two would bring a lot of maturity and integrity to the electoral body. He insisted that the two would bring a lot of experience and leadership to the Commission and hoped that they would not be swayed into becoming politically biased.

And Green Party president, Peter Sinkamba observed that the president had a constitutional right to appoint any person to any position as long as he saw fit to do so. He therefore noted that people must not be quick to make allegations and assumptions before the appointees start performing their duties.

He said that despite the accusations of one appointee being politically biased, people must still wait to see how they will perform.

Mr. Sinkamba was happy that Zambians had matured to a level where they would not shy away from calling out any wrongs by the ECZ. He therefore advised anyone with negative perceptions to allow the process to take its course and judge people against their performance.