Thu, 24 Aug 2017 10:30:38 +0000
By Chintu Malambo
IS Zambia taking democracy to extremes by granting prisoners the right to vote? Are these hallmarks of a dictatorship. How many so-called democracies have granted prisoners the right to vote in national elections?
Granted the move will have some challenges in implementation, but the fact that the court has deemed it fit to grant prisoners the right to vote, puts Zambia way above most democracies that overlook the rights of all human beings irrespective of their role in society.
No one really knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. Isn’t it good to know that Zambian prisoners have finally been granted the right to vote?
To address human rights issues in Zambian prisons that have been brought about by a system delayed justice, and to promote human and civil rights of suspects, conditions of prisoners are slowly changing and this is something to smile about.
On the afternoon of Monday, 14th August, 2017, the Constitutional Court granted Zambian inmates the right to vote, in a judgement, delivered in their favour.
Prisons Care and Counselling Association, (PRISCA) had in the recent past been advocating for prisoners to participate in voting for leaders of their choice and to be accepted as full citizens.
PRISCA executive director Patrick Malembeka, being an ex-convict himself, expressed happiness and dedicated the judgement to all those in incarceration.
Mr Malembeka reaffirmed that Zambia no longer had prisons as they were now called correctional centres because not everyone that was in incarceration deserved to be there.
Several Prison’s ministries around the country have worked with allied agencies, and former and serving prisoners to ensure that people in prisons are treated as such and that includes advocating for their right to vote.
To some, the idea may seem risky or unnecessary but in fact, there is good reason to embrace it.
It is our constitutional right to support the right of prisoners to vote, and denying it violates the concept of self-government that the founding fatherss cherished.
Granting this right also makes sense for the country in terms of politics and policy because if this country is governed on the basis of democracy, then its policies must act in a way that supports this and not just a mere declaration.
As correctional facilities have grappled with population explosion in the past 20 years, allegations of ill-treatment of prisoners have also increased.
It is right then that the criminal justice reforms move to the fore of the political debate.
It is important to consider that one of the best ways to solve these problems is to listen to those currently incarcerated and to allow them to represent themselves in our national political conversation which of course includes their right to vote.
Some will argue that it is enough to allow prisoners to regain their right to vote after release. It would be folly to expect prisoners to be deprived of all rights and then emerge from prison ready to use them well. Their re-introduction into society comes with mixed feelings both to the ex-inmates and society. Stigma is a big hindrance to their acceptance in society.
That is why it should be agreed that if prisoners remain citizens and retain their civic status throughout their sentences, then it follows that prisoners should enjoy the most basic of their civil rights, the right to cast a ballot.
Telling prisoner they cannot vote is to some extent a temporary “civic death” as it is a suspension of normal rights as citizens while they are behind bars. And indeed, that was once true for prisoners in this country.
In the United States, the debate about prison voting rights is virtually nonexistent. Only two states, Maine and Vermont, allow the practice. If anything, the movement has gone backward.
In Massachusetts, this occurred via state referendum after some state inmates organised a political action committee, setting off a harsh rebuke from the state’s governor, who stated, “Criminals behind bars have no business deciding who should govern the law-abiding citizens of the Commonwealth.”
In the end, restoring these basic rights for our country is not only the right thing to do constitutionally, it could also presents positive solutions to a major national political problem.
Prisoners have often committed terrible crimes but they remain a part of our democratic society and we can learn from what they have to say.
This development also proves that Zambia may be a developing country, but its democracy is way more developed than some of the so-called big democracies.
The country is not afraid to pioneer a move to allow prisoners to vote. Let everyone’s voice be heard. After all what the prisoners under-go in correctional facilities is rehabilitation. This means that the in-mates are being reformed and prepared to re-enter society, for those that are serving custodial sentences with a time frame of release already indicated.
All in all, Zambia is definitely moving in the right direction and proving to the rest of the world that it does not only talk democracy but practices democracy.
