Ahead of the tightly contested Zambian 12th August multi-tier elections, the head of the African Union (AU) Elections Observation Mission, former President Ernest Bai Koroma, along with the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS), Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, has today hosted a debriefing session with the heads and core staff of other elections observation missions including the European Union (EU), the Commonwealth, the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and COMESA. All the Missions confirmed the deployment of their observers to all of Zambia’s ten provinces.
The leadership agreed to coordinate their activities given the common objective of a peaceful, credible and acceptable outcome of the polls.
Interaction with the Attorney and Minister of Justice, Mr. Likando Kalaluka. They discussed the legal frameworks on the conduct of elections, dispute resolution and the role of the justice ministry in the event that the outcome of the election becomes a matter for the courts to arbitrate. In particular, the interpretation/ enforcement of the Public Order Act, the 14 days timeframe for arbitration of petitions of the elections results stood out.
