Thank you for the opportunity you have given me to comment on this story. Please allow me to start by saying that I question the background and the credibility of this story. Firstly, the author uses the Zibabwe elections to compare those that happened in Zambia. Which elections? Anyway what I would like to say is that the opposition in Africa may not always be the right people to win an election but the poor laws governing the whole electoral process and in managing electoral fraud have not been of any assistance either. Secondly, doubt that the Herald can be the best people to comment on matter the atmost affects the masses especially the down trodden in society. When it was very clear in the run up to the elections here in Zambia that the ruling party was using government resources among other things to hoodwink the electorate, the Electoral Commission of Zambia was nowhere to be seen. They were absolutely quiet. Then came cases of bribes and all the works. Did the Herald report anything about this aswell? Where were you when countless electoral mulpractices were going on before our last elections. Like I said we have weak electoral bodies running elections which regional countries and other ill informed observers come to call free and fair. Question is for who were they free and fair? Have you considered how many Zambians were disenfranchised by the carelessness of ECZ? The elections will always be considered free and fair by the observers because they come into the country late and make conclusions based on what they see and not what actually has transpired in the run up. Another point of correction is that no two countries can ever be the same when it comes to determining the eligibility of elections, especially in Africa. Lastly, I did not expect to hear anything factual from this source. It sounds thoroughly biased and very retrogressive. I would have expected you guys being so close to Zambia to even carry out a pre-election survey atleast a month before we went to the polls and also provide your readership with a well informed postmortem of the elections. But you can't do that except to champion the interests of the powers that be which ever side of the border you are on. For your own information, we have a paper in Zambia that digs deeper. They have a beaurau in Harare and when your country had elections, they gave us a better account of what went on your elections-fact for fact. Pre and post election periods. The elections are not for the government. Elections are for the people.

Aluta contua!

SF Zambia

Thank you for according me this opprotunity to express my views over this article. I find it very strange that someone from zimbabwe with first hand experience of electrol malpractice can write such an article.Before,we go further,have we as africans ever asked ourselves why once a party is elected into office it takes time for them to come out?or maybe as the herald man states its because they perform extremely well and that performance is mostly appreciated by the rural folk whom we well know that the literacy levels are so high. These people fail to convince the educated in urban areas but strangely enough manage to convince the rural people.Am not saying the rural people are not part of the nations,but the point is these people are not well informed over most developmental issues.The simple reason being the private media is not given licenses to operate in such areas but only in town.Therefore government machinary is at full force in these areas.Like in zambia,rural people were even enticed with free fertilizer which only happens at election time.In zimbabwe we even saw people been hacked by axes,pangers e.t.c.for supporting the opposition,then someone from zimbabwe,for God sake even has the audacity to talk of free and fair elections in zambia.shame on you.