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The Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG) has expressed concern over the limited accessibility for persons with disabilities and restricted access to voter registration data, saying these gaps undermine full transparency and inclusiveness in the ongoing registration exercise.
CCMG Programmes Director, Peter Mwanangombe, said observers reported general adherence to the inclusion of special interest groups, noting that at 98 percent of registration centres, officials recorded the type of disability for registrants with disabilities.
In a statement issued in Lusaka on Thursday, Mwanangombe added that at 94 percent of the registration centres, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, and nursing mothers were allowed to move to the front of the queue.
However, he expressed concern that at 68 percent of the centres, people were required to use steps or stairs to access registration desks.
“To this end, CCMG calls on the ECZ to enhance access to registration centres for persons with disabilities by providing ramps and making reasonable accommodations in line with Section 51 of the Persons with Disabilities Act,” he said.
Mwanangombe further stated that at 10 percent of the registration centres, CCMG observers were not provided with voter registration statistics at the close of each day.
He reiterated that the lack of access to critical information undermines transparency and accountability, contrary to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
Mwanangombe also expressed grave concern over the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s (ECZ) directive instructing registration officers not to share daily registration statistics with observers.
“CCMG acknowledges that registration figures at centres are provisional and subject to post-registration processes, including deduplication, inspection, and certification. However, providing such data allows observers to identify gaps and offer timely, evidence-based recommendations,” he said.
He reiterated CCMG’s call on the ECZ to share daily registration statistics with observers and to publish, in a regular manner, registration figures by province, district, and constituency.
Mwanangombe said CCMG’s sample covered 167 registration centres in Phase 3 and another 167 in Phase 4, adding that accreditation of observers remained challenging during both phases.
He, however, noted improvements, with 298 observers fully accredited by the end of Phase 4, while 33 received partial authorization pending full accreditation, and five remained unaccredited.
According to CCMG’s observer reports, the failure to accredit some observers was primarily due to dysfunctional accreditation kits and missing materials, including forms.
“CCMG recommends that the ECZ adopt best practices on accreditation, such as issuing institutional accreditation certificates and phasing out accreditation by individuals, which has proved problematic in past and current voter registration exercises,” he said.
Mwanangombe urged the ECZ to engage with civil society to develop new guidelines on accreditation well in advance of the 2026 general elections.
He called on the ECZ to strengthen coordination with district structures, standardize accreditation procedures through institutional accreditation, and publish disaggregated registration data by province, district, and constituency.
Additionally, he said, the timely release of daily registration statistics to all stakeholders would enhance transparency and public confidence in the electoral process.
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