Malawian ‘ghost voters arrested in Zambia

Zambian authorities on Monday arrested 17 Malawians in Nakonde district which borders Chitipa district in Malawi after they were found with fake national registration cards.

Zambians were Tuesday voting in what is expected to be one of the country’s most fiercely contested polls.

According to a Zambian website Tumfweko, the Malawians were arrested at a Lodge owned by one ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) parliamentary candidate.

The website does not name the 17 Malawians or the Lodge owner but said another group of Malawians also fled into the bust after they leant of the arrest of their kinsmen.

Zambia Presidential rivals: Rupiah Banda (L) and Micheal Sata. Photo: AFP

"The fake voters are said to have confessed in front of cameras and before police and immigration officers saying they were not the only ones but part of a large group that has been trained and paid to cast their votes from multiple polling stations around the country" the website said.

President Rupiah Banda is expected to face his strongest challenge from Michael Sata. Eight other candidates are contesting the presidency.

Sata’s the Patriotic Front (PF) accused Banda’s party of preparing fraud and alleged that the MMD had tried to bus in people from neighbouring Malawi to vote.

The PF said it had blocked the bus from entering Zambia but the MMD denied it had been involved in any attempt to rig the elections.

Voters are also electing 150 members of parliament and more more than 1,000 local councillors.

Nyasa Times 20 Sep, 2011

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Source: http://www.nyasatimes.com/blog/2011/09/20/malawian-%e2%80%98ghost-voters-arrested-in-zambia/
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