FOURTH TERM SILENCE

Mon, 25 Sep 2017 12:46:07 +0000

ANGELA Merkel, Germany’s Chancellor stands poised to win elections for her fourth term of office.

Yes, fourth term.

If, as expected she is successful, Ms Merkel will be matching long serving Chancellor Helmut Kohl who was in office for 16 years.

Ms Merkel has been in office since 2005 and if she wins yesterday’s election, as all indications seem to predict she will serve in office for more than 16 years.

Very few people in Zambia know this fact because there has been no controversy over the term extension because it is not an issue in German politics. Germany, like most developed countries, apart from the United States of America have no term limits.

This is a topic that has assumed Holy Grail proportions in Zambia, it is an article of faith to which the church, non-governmental organisation and opposition leaders seem sworn.

The entire Oasis Forum, led by the church, was an edifice created to fight against President Frederick Chiluba’s third term bid. To make the campaign even more credible, an anti-corruption aspect was added to the mix. Donor agencies, led by the United Kingdom and Germany bankrolled the exercise.

Among the strongest antagonists was current FDD president Edith Nawakwi, who also championed the foreign sponsored “Chiluba is a thief “campaign.

Ms Nawakwi is now in the throes of a losing battle of a third term presidency following an uprising of her members who want her to step down.

The whole issue of term limits has become a highly divisive subject in Africa. Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni does not subscribe to the “logic of term limits.” He does not agree with the undemocratic imposition which limits the will of the people.

Mr Museveni has now extended his more than 30-year rule and moves are afoot for Parliament not only to banish term limits but also remove the age limit which currently limits his ability to continue ruling.

Elsewhere, Rwandans voted overwhelmingly to support changes to the constitution to allow President Paul Kagame extend his term of office, possibly until 2034.

Kagame, 59 in power since 2000 but effectively in control since his rebel forces marched into Kigali in 1994 was overwhelmingly voted into office.

In Zambia, the mere mention of President Lungu extending his rule beyond 2021 has been met with ferocious opposition.  All manner of arguments have been advanced against this eventuality and interestingly a new dimension has been added – corruption.

Corruption, used as a potent propaganda tool against second republic President Frederick Chiluba is slowly creeping into a foreign sponsored debate in Zambia in which billions of Kwacha have been invested in social and print media platforms to undermine the regime.

As Chief Chitumukulu Kanyanta Sosala has said before “The authenticity of one’s political and social life must be promoted by his ability to understand, at least, the falseness of the political conditions in which he lives, so that he can rise from the bondage of falsehood to the majestic heights of understanding.”