UPND Calls On Party Officials To Deploy Efficient Polling Agents

United Party for National Development Secretary General Batuke Imenda has instructed party officials to recruit only efficient polling agents for August’s elections, who will be able to stand up against intimidation from Patriotic Front cadres and correctly fill in the GEN12 form. 

Addressing UPND officials and candidates in Chilanga on Monday, Imenda said the party couldn’t afford to give the PF the chance to rig the upcoming polls.

“Let’s not hear of small boys and illiterates representing UPND in polling stations, no. If we come here and find out that you’ve put your relatives and small boys as agents we are not going to only dismiss you but fire you from the party because you are a saboteur,” he warned party members.

“We are fed up of being in opposition because of the people who fail to protect the vote. I don’t want to be called a secretary general of an opposition party. I want to be called a secretary-general of a ruling party,” he added. 

Mr Imenda also urged supporters not to immediately return home after casting their votes but to stay at polling stations to ensure votes are properly registered. He tasked citizens with ensuring that the ECZ does not get the opportunity to fiddle around with the figures when no-one is there to see.

The Secretary General also dismissed rumours that the ECZ is demanding that polling agents supply negative Covid-19 test certificates before they can work. He said the story was a hoax and that any such requirement would have been formally communicated to his office first.

There are an anticipated 12,152 polling stations for the August 12th elections, each of which will be staffed by at least one polling agent at all times. At present there simply isn’t the testing capacity to certify these agents, with only 3,129 covid tests being carried yesterday. Certifying at least one polling agent per station would require a fourfold increase in the country’s daily testing capacity.