PF Secretary General Davies Mwila says the party is engaging the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) on the slow pace at which the voter registration process is being conducted.

And Mwila says the ruling party will not adopt any civil servant who does not abide by the directive to resign before November 30, 2020 if they wish to join politics.

During a press briefing, Monday, Mwila urged PF members and sympathisers to prioritize getting registered as voters.

“I would like to inform the general public that we will continue with our stakeholder engagement with the Electoral Commission of Zambia with regards to the voter registration process in order to address the slow pace of the process. Meanwhile, I wish to encourage our members countrywide and sympathisers of the Patriotic Front and the general public to make it their priority to register as voters. Voting is a key ingredient of democratic governance, therefore it is important that all those who are eligible to vote take time to register,” Mwila said.

And Mwila said all civil servants who intend to contest under the PF should ensure they abide by the directive of resigning as the party works to protect the integrity of the civil service.

“The second issue was on civil servants who intend to contest, I wish to inform the general public that following the guidance of the circular given by the government of the Republic of Zambia, all civil servants and public service officers including those serving in foreign missions, quasi government institutions, grant aided institutions and state owned enterprise, who wish to contest in the 2021 general elections must resign from public office not later than 30th November, 2020 as advised. The Patriotic Front will not entertain any civil servant or public officer who will not comply with government directive. This is intended to protect the integrity and impartiality of the public service as it implements government programmes before, during and after elections,” Mwila said.

Meanwhile, Mwila said the party had completed intra-party elections in Western and Southern provinces at district and constituency level and would set a date for the general conference when it was done with Northern and Luapula provinces.

“The third issue that I want to talk about is the progress that we have made on the intra-party elections. We have gone to Southern Province, we have done the constituency and the district and also Western Province we have done the constituency and the district. So within next month, we are going to hold provincial conferences in the two provinces then we will just remain with Northern and Luapula Provinces. Thereafter, we will decide when to hold the general conference. That’s where we are,” said Mwila.