DIALOGUE VITAL IN RESOLVING ELECTIONS DISPUTE

Mon, 05 Feb 2018 15:23:00 +0000

By EDWARD MWANGO

WHEN news spiralled both on the local and international scene that Kenyan opposition leader, Raila Odinga had taken an unofficial oath to be “sworn in” as the nation’s people’s president, mixed reactions gripped many Zambians.

Some political analysts described the whole episode as confusing while others said it was a moment of ‘wait and see’.

According to Al Jazeera, local and other international news media, Mr Odinga on Tuesday January 30th 2018 took his oath, cheered on by thousands of supporters who had gathered in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park.

“Today is a historic day for the people of Kenya,” Odinga said in a speech after taking his oath. “The people have gathered here in the hundreds of thousands to say enough is enough with the electoral rigging.

“Today’s step is one step towards the doing away with electoral autocracy and to establishing proper democracy in our country.”

The symbolic “swearing in” ceremony took place three months after he boycotted a presidential election re-run.

Against expectations, Odinga’s deputy Kalonzo Musyoka was missing at the function. Odinga told his supporters that he would be sworn in later, for reasons that would be explained on a later date.

Kenya’s Attorney General, Githu Muigai, had said in December that Odinga’s alternative swearing-in ceremony would amount to treason.

Odinga, 72, refused to take part in an election re-run in October, claiming the government planned to rig the vote.

President Uhuru Kenyatta won a second and final five-year term in office and was sworn in as president in November.

The East African country’s Supreme Court annulled August’s presidential election result saying the electoral commission committed “irregularities and illegalities” during the vote, harming the integrity of the election.

The Kenyan case is the opposite of Liberia where newly elected president, George Weah’s rival, Joseph Boakai congratulated him (Weah) on winning Liberia’s presidential election.

“I respect the will of the people as announced by the National Electoral Commission,” Boakai said, adding that he had called Weah to congratulate him.

“I reject any temptation of imposing pain, hardship, agony and uncertainty,” he said. “My name will not be used as (an) excuse for one drop of human blood to be spilt in this country.”

Similarly, Zambia, just like Kenya, was entangled in the presidential election dispute after the 2016 general poll that ushered in Edgar Lungu, as the sole winner and republican President of Zambia.

In 2016 UPND leader, Hakainde Hichilema who was the presidential candidate in the elections petitioned the declaration of President Edgar Lungu as winner of the presidential election, a move which temporally brought the country to a halt whilst waiting for the outcome.

The Constitutional Court threw out the petition challenging the re-election of President Lungu, on grounds that the 14 days within which the matter should have been heard had lapsed.

Mr Hakainde has since vowed that his party was not going to drop their bid to petition the election on grounds that his constitutional right to be heard had been infringed upon.

But government has been straight to the point advising the UPND leaders to desist from misleading Zambians that the matter regarding the Presidential petition was still before the courts of law.

“There is no election petition that is being heard in the courts of law. The matter that HH and his vice president Geoffrey Mwamba are following up in the High Court is whether or not they were given their right to be heard by the Constitutional Court,” Justice Minister, Given Lubinda was quoted by the media as saying.

Both the Kenyan and Zambian experience have raised serious debate as they leave the electorate perplexed regarding the credibility of international election observers.

On their part, the election monitors in both countries have since maintained their stance that the elections were free and fair.

Election monitoring is the observation of an election by one or more independent parties, typically from another country or a non-governmental organization (NGO), primarily to assess the conduct of an election process on the basis of national legislation and international election standards.

McDonald Chipenzi, an electoral expert in Zambia believes electoral disputes can be resolved amicably.

“We need to resolve post-election disputes amicably with respect and tolerance for one another.

“It is not easy to contend with losing an election because resources are used but on the other hand it is important to resolve disputes amicably,“ said Mr Chipenzi.

Nevertheless, the UPND spokesperson Charles Kakoma looks to dialogue as the only channel to avoid unfortunate situations like the mix-up in Kenya between opposition leader Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Mr Kakoma told Daily Nation recently that there was need for dialogue first and amicably resolve issues to avoid unfortunate situations like the mix-up in Kenya between opposition leader Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta.

According to Kenyan law, being a member of an organised criminal group can lead to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, a fine of more than $5,000 or both.

Kenya’s government had warned that Tuesday’s mock inauguration of Mr Odinga as “the people’s president” after months of election turmoil would be considered treason.

In December last year, Commonwealth peace envoy Ibrahim Gambari praised President Lungu and Mr. Hichilema for their “unwavering commitment” to political dialogue in the country.

This was contained in a statement after a five-day visit to Zambia where he met with Mr Lungu, the speaker of the national assembly, Mr Hakainde, the minister of justice, the Board of the Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue (ZCID), political leaders, the Church Mother Bodies, representatives of civil society organisations, Commonwealth high commissioners and development partners.

It was his third visit to the country since Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland appointed him as her Special Envoy.  The Secretary-General had previously negotiated a commitment from President Lungu and Mr Hichilema to engage in forward-looking political dialogue addressing issues of common interest ahead of Zambia’s next election.

Professor Gambari said, “During this visit, I engaged and deepened consultations on the role of national institutions, the church and civil society organisations in driving the dialogue process forward. I held extensive discussions with the ZCID, a platform for political parties with a mandate to support inter-party dialogue. For purposes of sustainability and national ownership, it is important for national institutions to be supported, so they can own, effectively lead and sustain the dialogue process.”

He continued, “I am pleased that all relevant stakeholders, both national and international, are very supportive and committed to this process. In this regard, I wish to use this opportunity to express special thanks to the Republican President HE Mr Edgar Lungu and the leader of the UPND (main opposition political party), Mr Hakainde Hichilema, for their continued support and unwavering commitment to this noble cause of engaging in a forward-looking national conversation that would further deepen the culture of dialogue, democracy and conflict prevention in Zambia.”

Professor Gambari is expected to return to Zambia later this year to finalise preparations for the formal commencement of the peace dialogue.

He said constitutional and institutional reforms were key among the issues proposed to be addressed during the dialogue process between President Lungu and Mr. Hichilema.

Professor Gambari also proposed for the initiation of targeted capacity building workshops for the police and security services, political parties and other civil society organisations to help the country unite alongside the dialogue process.

While dialogue is vital in resolving disputes, it is cardinal for stakeholders to consider this as a key component to the road to success so that Zambia maintains its status as a peace loving nation.