Zambian Electoral Commission propose Parley seat increase

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has written to government on the need to amend the current constitution to facilitate the increase in the number of constituencies in the country from 150 to 235. ECZ chairperson Irene Mambilima says this has been necessitated by the creation of new districts in the country.

Speaking during a special meeting of the political parties liaison Committee on delimitation in Lusaka this morning, Justice Mambilima says challenge to the commission as a result of the creation of the new districts is a situation where a District with one constituency has been demarcated into two. She names the affected districts as Chirundu, Chembe, Sioma, Nkeyema and Ngabwe which demarcated from Siavonga, Mansa, Shangombo, Kapiri Mposhi and Kaoma Districts.

Justice Mambilima says it is for this reason that going forward the commission has suggested the increase in the number of constituencies in the affected new Districts so that each of them should have its own constituency.

Meanwhile, Justice Mambilima says the Commission is not asking for something out of the ordinary by requesting to be granted more powers to enable a leveled electoral playing field in the country.

Justice Mambilima says the commission holds the position that in order to effectively level the electoral playing field it must be given powers to impose more severe sanctions on erring political parties. She has cited the Kenyan Electoral Code of Conduct which contains severe sanctions including fining or banning of political parties from taking part in next elections.

Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201406160348.html

Zimbabwean First Lady calls for rapists to be beheaded

First Lady Grace Mugabe yesterday stunned people attending World Blood Donor Day commemorations in Chinhoyi when she called for rapists to be beheaded saying they were inflicting untold suffering on women.

"Those who commit heinous crime like rape should be immediately sent to the gallows," said Mugabe while officiating at the event. The commemorations come at a time the country is facing a critical shortage of blood. World Health Organisation (WHO) country representative David Okello said it was sad that many mothers were dying during childbirth. Okello said statistics showed that one out of every 38 women died from pregnancy-related complications, particularly relating to bleeding during childbirth.

"No mother should be allowed to die giving birth to life. This is a very sad thing and the most common cause of a mother dying during childbirth is bleeding. In Zimbabwe we are losing too many mothers," he said. Minister of Health and Child Care, David Parirenyatwa also said mothers were losing lives during child birth unnecessarily as blood had become too expensive. He said blood was now out of reach of many ordinary Zimbabweans. A pint of blood costs between US$80 to US$240.

"We are losing 525 women out of every 100 000 pregnant women. That is too much and one of the major reasons is shortage of blood," he said. Parirenyatwa said 15 000 units of blood purchased through Healthy Transfusion Fund were not enough and it was now high time fiscus allocated money towards blood procurement.

Original article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201406150174.html