The Elections Committee has observed with concern, some highly charged statements issued on various WhatsApp platforms, concerning the absence of our members, who are from GRZ and whose membership subscriptions are deducted at source.

As communicated from the beginning and re-emphasised in our communications, all concerns must be channeled through the correct communication channel i.e. the dedicated elections communication channel which is elections@zipszambia.org.

We hereby wish to advise and inform the members as follows:

1.    ALL members who are eligible to vote in accordance with the Act as per Section 19 (2) of the Act which states that Affiliates and Students may receive notices of the AGM but cannot vote and Section 10 (a) and (b) of the Electoral Guidelines, Rules and Regulations will be entitled to vote.

2.    In accordance with Section 18(1)  of ZIPS Act No. 15 of 2003 all members must be paid up by 14^th January. However, a waiver on the payment by 14^th January was granted and all members who had not paid had up to the initial date of 22 June 2021 and subsequently to 31^st August will be entitled to vote.

3.    In the virtual briefing of 24^th June 2021 it was reiterated that GRZ workers eligible to vote by their membership category are further eligible under the waiver by virtue of the MoU between ZIPS and GRZ.

4.    The absence of the GRZ members on the first published voters register was as a result of not having a current list at the time of publishing the Voters Register. We have since received the list as at May 2021 which has 751 names and will extract the 92 names of those who are eligible (as per earlier communicated eligibility criteria). We would like to also mention that the list received from PEMEC is very basic and for purposes of the longer term database, there will be need for some additional information that members employed by GRZ will be required to provide. This list will be shared on Monday12^th July 2021.

5.    It is incumbent therefore for all members to ensure that they verify their names or absence thereof on the revised voter register. 

6.    We intend to have ONE consolidated accurate voter’s register with your support by the revised date of Monday 4^th October 2021. The co-operation of our members is therefore sought in order to ensure that every eligible member is captured on the database.

We request the members to continue to engage with the Elections Committee by emailing their concerns, questions and clarifications and suggestions as opposed to rushing to broadcast their concerns on social media. Email address is elections@zipszambia.org

Thank you and God Bless

Mary Banda

Acting Registrar