THE donor community should consider assisting Zambia actualise the right of prisoners to vote, MISA Zambia has said. MISA Zambia chairperson Helen Mwale said prisoners should have access to information so that they can vote in an informed manner. Ms Mwale further called on the Electoral Commission of Zambia to consider allowing Zambians in the diaspora to vote and participate in the governance of the country. Ms Mwale said this on Tuesday at a media briefing held at the Cresta Golfview Hotel.

“Without access to sufficient information on the contesting candidates, participating political parties, as well as sufficient knowledge on the electoral process and the laws that govern such a process, the right to vote becomes compromised,” she said. And Ms Mwale said the lack of Access to Information (ATI) legislation has made it difficult for members of the public to get information from public officers. “Research by MISA Zambia has proven that ordinary members of the public find it hard to access information due to lack of the ATI law.

“Oftentimes when such people approach a government entity to demand for information, the first question which meets them is, ‘where are you from’?” she said. She said resolution number 59 of the United Nations considers access to information as a human right and the keystone of all freedoms. Therefore, members of the public should have access to institutions and techniques which provide access to information