New Nomination Fees Totally Unacceptable - HH

UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has called the new nomination fees for candidates wishing to stand for public office ‘totally unacceptable’ and an affront to the principles of constitutional democracy. 

Mr Hichilema’s comments follow the news that the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has announced plans to increase nomination fees for candidates wishing to participate in the 2021 general elections.

Male presidential candidates will have to pay K150,000, up from K60,000. Meanwhile male parliamentary candidates will have to pay K25,000 to stand, up from K7,500. Some concessions have been made for women, youths and candidates with disabilities, however the fees will still set prospective MPs back K20,000. 

The opposition leader said the increased fees were unaffordable and clearly constituted an attempt by the establishment to maintain the status quo in Zambia by excluding youths, women and other disadvantaged groups. Women and youth candidates notably struggled to raise nomination fees to take part in the 2016 elections. 

Mr Hichilema went on to argue that politics should not be the sole preserve of the rich, but rather that any citizen with the vision and capacity to contribute to the wellbeing of Zambia should be allowed to stand. 

He demanded that the ECZ immediately reduce the fees to ‘sensible levels’ in order to even the playing field. 

Other prominent figures have joined Mr Hichilema in condemning the price hike, including executive director of the GEARS initiative, McDonal Chipenzi. Mr Chipenzi said the fee increase would skew elections in favour of the wealthy. 

“We are now merchandising elections in Zambia which may lead to poor service delivery to and representation of the people in wards, districts and constituencies including at national level as those that will manage will first work to lootback their money,” he said.