Relevance of growing list of political parties in Zambia under scrutiny

Tue, 06 Feb 2018 09:21:30 +0000

By EDWARD MWANGO

WHENEVER a general election is on, anxiety grips Zambians as they look to their presidential candidates for hope.

The electorate, especially young people, want a leader who will bring more money in their pockets through job creation, promotion of growth of small-scale entrepreneurs and other needs.

On the other hand, the majority electorate want their would-be leader to ensure the burden on the cost of living eased such as the food basket, favourable commodity prices and other essentials needed to improve their well-being.

They seek a leader who would ensure that the country’s economy thrives on growth whose positive effects would trickle down to the ordinary person especially when it comes to the cost of living.

For instance 2017 statistics released by the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) indicated that the cost of living came down in Lusaka alone during the year.

Accordingly, the April 2017 JCTR Basic Needs Basket (BNB) for a family of five living in Lusaka stood at K4, 973.03, reflecting a K44.06 decrease from the March 2017 BNB of K5, 017.09.

The reduction in the April BNB was attributed to reduction in the cost of some food items.

The electorate also want a leader who would ensure reduced food prices, improved health, education and agricultural sector while increasing mining activities that would generate income for the country through tax concessions.

However, it has become a common trend for the country to witness what one would call drama during nominations for presidential aspirants especially when some candidates pull out at the eleventh hour due to lack of resources.

It was once reported that a named opposition political party presidential aspirant walked from his home in one of the compounds in Lusaka to the electoral commission headquarters near the City Airport and pulled out at the last minute due to lack of nomination fees and required number of supporters.

This was despite constant reminders by the country’s electoral body, the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) over the required number of supporters and nomination fees.

For instance in 2016, ECZ Public Relations Manager Crispin Akufuna told ZANIS in a statement that all aspiring candidates in the general election were supposed to ensure that pre-processing of the supporters was done during the stipulated period.

“’The Commission is appealing to all aspiring presidential candidates to directly contact District Electoral Officers in all provincial centres to arrange for the date and time for processing of their 100 supporters at the designated nomination centres in each province,’ advised Mr. Akufuna.

Accordingly all candidates were expected to provide proof of payment of the minimum 50 percent of the nomination fees and reminded the aspiring candidates who had made part payments to submit in written to the commission the dates and time on which they intended to file their nomination papers with the Returning Officer in Lusaka from 30th May to 3rd June 2016.

During the same period, some stakeholders cried foul over the nomination fees for presidential and parliamentary aspiring candidates stating that they were exorbitant forcing ECZ to revise the fees for the August, 11, 2016 general elections.

The fees for aspiring candidates for Presidential and the National Assembly were pegged at K60, 000.00 and K7, 500.00 respectively from the previous K75, 000.00 and K10, 000.00 respectively.

Fees for aspiring Mayors and Council Chairpersons were pegged at K5, 000.00 and K2, 000.00 from the previous K7, 500.00 and K3, 500.00 respectively.

Candidates aspiring for the positions of City and Municipal councillors were required to pay K750.00 from the previous K1, 500.00 while aspiring Councillors for district councils were required to pay K400.00 from the previous K750.00.

However the question that boggles many Zambians today is whether the swelling list of political parties is able to achieve the much cherished democratic tenets, including their relevance.

This observation has been laid bare by Foundation for Democratic Process Executive Director, Mweenge Chimfwembe who has questioned the relevance of some political parties in the country.

In a recent interview with the Daily Nation, Mr Chimfwembe said: “We are questioning if their existence is working towards changing different sectors of society such as alleviating poverty or youth unemployment.”

Mr Chimfwembe also questioned if the political parties were relevant to the political dispensation of the country, adding that the country’s constitution gave the right for any citizen to form an association to share ideas to express oneself and participate in the governance of the nation.

Mr Chimfwembe however observed that the constitution did not address the issue of a political party’s relevance in a democracy, adding that the country was seeing a situation where some political parties or individuals could be described as spoilers and that their nature was just to spoil the political fortunes of other people.

“We have political parties carrying very divergence views – others are talking about economic liberation, promoting a green economy, pushing the agenda of youth empowerment and ensuring that there is equality in the sharing of the national cake.  Mr Chimfwembe urged political leaders to avoid politics of discrediting one another but instead work on finding solutions to build a better Zambia.

On a similar note, a University of Zambia lecturer and political scientist, Dr. Alex Ngoma is concerned that opposition political parties are playing what he terms dirty politics by undermining government as a means of promoting their image.

“It seems like it is a strategy for the opposition to paint the government of the day black so that they can look like saviours to the people, but the truth is that such politics are retrogressive to the development of the nation and should be condemned,” Dr. Ngoma told the Daily Nation in an interview.

Dr Ngoma said the source of the problem was that most political parties were formed on the basis of greed and envy.

Other political analysts have since observed that there was a growing list of armchair critics of government who were not offering solutions to the country’s numerous challenges.

Although Zambia is a multi-party system with the Patriotic Front in power with opposition parties allowed to do some significant representation in government, other opposition parties seem not to have representation not even branches at grassroots level. The major figure in Zambian politics from 1964 to 1991 was Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, who led the fight for independence and successfully bridged the rivalries among the country’s various regions and ethnic groups.  Dr. Kaunda tried to base government on his philosophy of “humanism,” which condemned human exploitation and stressed cooperation among people, but not at the expense of the individual. Since Zambia’s 1991 move to a multiparty state, it is therefore imperative not to abuse this tenet by blowing the trumpet without offering solutions. It is high time for critics of the state, especially politicians to shift their unequal analysis of the country’s challenges so that they are seen to offer credible solutions other than unnecessary attacks.