not only have powers to set rules, manage elections exclusively without interference or direction from any other person but it must be financially self-sufficient and autonomous. To that end, provision must be made so that it draws its primary resources from the Consolidated Revenue Fund and that it must be in control of its own budget. The Commission must not be financially dependent on the President or ministers of government, all or most of whom will be candidates in elections that it manages. ZESN urges further tightening of the relevant rules and practices that impact on the independence of the Commission to ensure that the Commission is truly independent and the ultimate manager of all elections in the country. • As discussed in this paper, the Commission must be given full control of elections, including setting the dates of elections. This would mean changing the current system in which the President sets dates and yet he is an interested party by virtue of him and his party being contestants in those elections. The recommendation is that the Commission be given full powers to set election dates in consultation with the relevant parties and state authorities. XIX RECOMMENDATIONS 1. New Voters Roll 1.1 While ZESN notes the significance of creating an entirely new voters roll, if this option is to be taken, new registration of voters must commence immediately and significant resources must be deployed by the state and harnessed from the donor community since the process takes time and requires considerable resources. 1.2 Further, in order to expedite the process of creating a new voters roll, ZESN urges that all unregistered voters must be encouraged to do so and those that are registered must confirm the accuracy of their registration so that if and when the proclamation to start registration for a voters roll is made, the facility for automatic transfer of registered voters to a new roll will be used to ease and quicken the process. 2. Removal of Deceased Voters from the Voters Roll 47