Health, ECZ to draw up roadmap on Aug polls amidst Covid
THE Ministry of Health and Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) have agreed to set up a technical committee to work out on how the August 12, 2021 elections will be conducted.
Officials from ECZ and the ministry met yesterday to discuss the way forward regarding how the 2021 general election will be held amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
The meeting resolved that
ECZ should urgently constitutes a technical committee that would bring together different players who would come up with plans on how the elections would be conducted.
Health Minister, Jonas Chanda said the committee should be above politics and focus on the health of the people.
Dr. Chanda said once the committee was constituted, there would be need for frequent updates to the public on the safety of Zambians before, during and after elections.
And ECZ chief executive officer, Kryticous Nshindano said the engagement was timely as it would give a road map on how political activities will be conducted.
Meanwhile, Zambia has recorded 524 new cases of Covid-19 and 11 related deaths, in the last 24 hours.
Dr. Chanda has announced the latest numbers in a statement on Covid-19 updates.
He said the new cases bring to 75, 027 the cumulative number of recorded cases. Cumulative number of deaths is now at 1, 031.
Dr. Chanda has encouraged the public to continue adhering to Covid-19 guidelines. - ZNBC.
CIVIL society organisations should stop abusing the cyber space by spreading lies on serious national matters in their efforts to champion hidden agendas for the opposition, the Zambian DNA has said.
This follows demands by a consortium of seven civil society organisations that the cyber security and cybercrimes bill be withdrawn from parliament on the pretext that it was unjustifiable.
Zambian DNA spokesperson, Spuki Mulemwa said such lies were alarming and risked plunging the nation into chaos.
“This is abuse of the cyber space which should be stopped immediately. This is treachery to the country because there is no truth in these falsehoods which are aimed at driving hidden agendas of the opposition,” Mr Mulemwa said.
And Justice Minister Given Lubinda has advised the non governmental organisations accusing the government of trying to use cyber security laws to shut the internet during elections later this year to read the bill properly.
Mr Lubinda said the assertions are far from the truth as the government has no such intentions of shutting the internet prior to, during or after the elections.
Gears Initiative Zambia Executive Director McDonald Chipenzi who spoke for the CSOs said the bill only seems to be a trap set for targeting cyber users ahead of the August 12, 2021 general elections thereby shrinking the electoral, media, civic and political space.
Mr. Chipenzi said there were many laws that could be used to deal with cyber bullying and abuses as evidenced by the arrests and convictions of people using social media to defame and injure others.
The consortium consist of Action-Aid Zambia, Alliance for Community Action, Chapter One Foundation and Council of Christian Churches in Zambia.
Others are Gears Initiative Zambia, Transparency International Zambia and Zambia Council for Social Development.
Last week, Cabinet approved the introduction and publication of a bill to introduce a law on cyber security and cybercrimes.
THE looming high demand of hydroelectricity power in the SADC region is an opportunity for Zambia to earn more forex through exporting the excess power once the 2400 megawatts Batoka gorge power project is realised, says energy expert Victor Hazemba.
Mr Hazemba said the Batoka gorge hydroelectric scheme (BGHES) will be a game change when completed and commissioned.
The scheme, he said, would help Government end power deficit and also earn the country the much needed forex from export of excess power to the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP).
Mr Hazemba said following the discovery of Covid-19 vaccines, it was hoped that many countries would be resuming normal economic activities which will spur demand for electricity.
“As a country we should now start positioning ourselves to produce more electricity for our own consumption and export to the regional market,” he said.
Mr Hazemba said apart from hydroelectricity, Zambia was well positioned to produce solar power for domestic use owing to the abundant sunlight the country was blessed with.
He said the Batoka gorge hydroelectric power project which was expected to gobble about $5 billion has come at the right time when the country was struggling to meet power demand estimated at over 2000MW.
Mr Hazemba said already countries like South Africa had started hiking electricity tariffs, which was good for business as it will allow those with excess power to make a profit from exports.
He said once completed, the Batoka Gorge hydro-electric scheme is expected to generate over US$750 million per annum.
Zambia and Zimbabwe, through the
Zambezi River Authority are spearheading the project and has engaged a consortium of Power China and General Electric to develop the BGHES project, which is estimated to cost up to US$5 billion.