FODEP trains 105 citizen election monitors
Published On July 1, 2016 » 1375 Views» By Davies M.M Chanda » Latest News
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By JAMES KUNDA –
THE Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) has trained 105 people in six of the country’s 10 provinces as citizen election monitors ahead of the August 11 general elections.
FODEP acting executive director Chimfwembe Mweenge said in a statement yesterday that participants in the training of trainers programme were drawn from districts and constituencies countrywide, with the exercise already concluded in Lusaka, Western, Central, Muchinga, Eastern and Luapula Provinces.
“FODEP firmly believes that a free, fair and credible election is indispensable to any democracy. In preparation for the general elections, FODEP has been conducting training of trainers of citizen election monitors in all the 10 provinces and, so far, has trained 105 trainers across six provinces in Zambia,” Mr Mweenge said.
He said FODEP planned to deploy 5,000 citizen election monitors in 96 constituencies countrywide during the elections which would be held simultaneously with the referendum on the Bill of rights.
He said he was confident that the monitors would be adequately equipped to watch the polls as the training programme had been intensive.
Among the core themes the training programme covered were democracy, elections and the electoral cycle, the foundation of an electoral process, free and fair elections, and benchmarks or standards for democratic elections.
Other topics included constitutional, legal and institutional frameworks for general elections, Constitutional referendum in Zambia, code of conduct for non-partisan citizen observers, and introduction to the theory and practice of election observation.
Mr Mweenge said he was also confident that FODEP’s presence at polling stations could address concerns of electoral malpractices and ensure everyone engaged in the process operated in accordance with the law.
This, he said, was cardinal to safeguarding the will of the people and ensuring that the outcome of the election was acceptable to all stakeholders.

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