Zambia: Electoral Commission of Zambia

Updated January 2011

The Electoral Commission of Zambia is established as an autonomous body (Constitution 1996, Article 76).

Composition

The Electoral Commission consists of a Chair and not more than four other members appointed by the President of the Republic, subject to ratification by the National Assembly (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 4(2),(3)). Commissioners may be removed by the President if they are declared insane or bankrupt (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 5(3)).

Voters queuing to vote on election day, 27 December 2001

Terms of Office

Commissioners are appointed for a term of office not exceeding seven years. Their terms may be renewed, but renewals require the ratification of the National Assembly (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 5(1)).

Functions

The ECZ has been allocated the following functions (Constitution 1996, 76(1)):

To supervise voter registration.
To conduct parliamentary and presidential elections.
To delimit constituencies.

Further duties allocated by legislation are (Referendum Act 1967, 4; Local Government Act 1991, 3):

To supervise referenda.
To conduct and supervise the local government elections.

Members

The following are members of the ECZ:

The office of Chairperson vacant
Grace M Mulapesi
Joseph I Jalasi
Minerva K Tembo
Judge Esau E Chulu

The Directorate

The Director is appointed by the ECZ and acts as its executive arm. The current director is Dan N Kalale. The Directorate is tasked with the management and administration of the ECZ and implementation of its decisions (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 12).

Funding

The ECZ is funded by parliamentary appropriations and donations (Electoral Commission Act 1996, 13(1)).

References

CONSTITUTION OF ZAMBIA 1996, [www] http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/ZM/Constitution%20of%20Zambia%201996.pdf/at_download/file [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 9 Mar 2010).

ELECTORAL COMMISSION ACT 1996, [www] http://aceproject.org/regions-en/eisa/ZM/Electoral%20Commissions%20Act%201996.pdf [opens new window] (accessed 9 Mar 2010).

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT (Chapter 282), [www] http://www.elections.org.zm/local_gov_act/local_gov_act.html [opens new window] (accessed 9 mar 2010).

REFERENDUM ACT (Chapter 14), [www] http://aceproject.org/regions-en/eisa/ZM/Referendum%20Act%20Cap14.pdf [opens new window] (accessed 9 Mar 2010).

Official web site

Zambian Electoral Commission: [www] http://www.elections.org.zm [opens new window] (accessed 25 Feb 2010).