Electoral malpractices

Electoral malpractices
By Editor
Sunday April 22, 2007 [04:00]

The nullification by the High Court of some parliamentary seats on account that those who won elections practiced corruption is enough confirmation that all is not well in our electoral system.

Despite having some laws in place to ensure that candidates do not involve themselves in electoral malpractices, it seems to us that nothing is done to ensure that these laws are enforced during campaigns and voting. There are so many irregularities and malpractices which are spotted on the ground during campaigns and voting but nothing is done to redress the situation. Sometimes, these irregularities or offences are committed in the presence of police officers who do not even care to make the necessary follow-ups.

We know that if results from all the 150 constituencies countrywide were to be petitioned, at least half that number could be nullified; whether the seats were won by the ruling MMD or opposition parties. This is because corruption has eaten deep into the moral fibre of our society. Corruption has become part of life and living. It appears one cannot do or achieve anything without ‘buying’ their way in or out of any situation.

Although these electoral malpractices are usually condemned on the candidates, we feel the problem is twofold albeit with a thin line between them. It involves the candidates on one hand and electorates on the other. There are some candidates who are inherently corrupt and they go to great lengths in buying their way to Manda Hill. Others are compelled by the dictates of the electorates to practice corruption just to satisfy their selfish motives, to meet their greedy aspirations.

Although candidates in the second category might justify their corruption, the justification cannot hold water in that what is wrong remains wrong. Corruption is corruption. After all, it is said that for corruption to take place, there must be the one corrupting and the other who is being corrupted.

But the point we are trying to make is that both the candidates and electorates are corrupt. Those candidates who are inherently or naturally corrupt will not hesitate to manipulate the poor, poverty-stricken voters using corrupt means. On the other hand, the corrupt electorate will not hesitate to make selfish and corrupt demands from candidates who often give in because they are too desperate to become presidents, members of parliament or councillors.

It is not uncommon for us to hear, during campaigns, that cadres are demanding to be paid so much or to be bought opaque beer if they were to actively participate in the campaigns. We remember that during the run-up to the September 28 general elections, some MMD cadres threatened to ditch Levy Mwanawasa’s campaigns because they claimed that his hands were not as giving as those of his predecessor Frederick Chiluba. In short, they wanted to be bribed.

It was time for them to enjoy, to gain something, because politicians usually vanish into thin air soon after being voted for. For them, election time is time to make some money, ninshita yakulilapo.
But the underlying factor to this problem is the general state of hopelessness in the country where abject poverty affects more than eighty per cent of the country’s population. This type of squalor leaves our people vulnerable, especially those in the rural areas.

They are so desperate that they are ready to do anything to make ends meet. That is why it is very easy for our greedy politicians to buy their way to State House, National Assembly or local authorities using tablets of soap and paltry amounts like K5,000 on top of saka la unga (a bag of mealie-meal). They know how desperate our people are and they dangle a tiny carrot in their faces just to dubiously win electoral support.

But this is the most crooked way of pretending to be concerned about people’s welfare because it is not sustainable. It is said that when one begs for water, it does not quench his thirsty. Often, something that one begs for is not exactly what one requires. It maybe insufficient or not one’s liking. That is why individuals are encouraged to work hard and satisfy their needs as opposed to asking for favours from other people. We should teach our people how to catch the fish instead of giving them fish for a day.

There is also every need to enhance civic education for our people. They should be taught to demand for lasting things from politicians. They should insist on putting in office politicians who are going to provide good policies, policies that would change their lives for better and for good. Not just during the campaign period.

And our politicians should be advised to sell themselves to the electorates based on what they think they will do to change people’s lives, not how many bales of chitenge material or drums of opaque beer they have to distribute in order to buy political support.

As for our people, they should insist on voting for politicians who have a programme or vision for the country, not a vision for their pockets and families. There are so many men and women who are looking at politics as a great source of livelihood. They are counting their fortunes on politics. That’s why they can afford to buy political support with whatever is practically possible. For them, it is an investment. And the moment they get that political power, they are pre-occupied with strategising on how they are going to recoup on their investment.

This can be stopped and it should be stopped. But for as long as our people accept this as a way of life, the same vicious circle as perpetrated by our greedy politicians will continue. So our people have the choice to make. The destiny of this country is in our people’s hands because they are the ones that give the so-much-talked-about mandate to these politicians.