By KETRA KALUNGA
COVID-19 impacted all August 12, 2021 electoral activities of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), the institution has revealed.
And the ECZ has said political violence also challenged the electoral activities of the commission.
ECZ manager legal, Triza Lungu said the activities were impacted because the elections were held during the Covid-19 third wave which has been the most severe so far.
Mrs. Lungu said the accreditation process in readiness for election coverage and monitoring was affected leading to very few people being accredited than usual.
“The elections were being held in the middle of the third wave which was very devastating so ECZ came up with deliberate efforts to come up with standard operating procedures for political players,” she said.
Mrs. Lungu was speaking yesterday in Kabwe during a media training workshop on ethics and professionalism and electoral reporting.
And Mrs. Lungu said escalated levels of electoral violence also impacted the activities of the ECZ.
She said the violence affected not only the ECZ but political parties that were involved in the electoral process and the media.
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