Maravi

Rupiah may have to vacate the Office of Vice-President

Rupiah may have to vacate the Office of Vice-President
By Editor
Thursday September 18, 2008 [04:00]

“Whoever wants to keep the Law must learn what the law means” (Sirach 21:11). “Every lawless act leaves an incurable wound, like one left by a double-edged sword” (Sirach 21:3). “A group of people who have no respect for the Law is like a pile of kindling; they will meet a fiery end” (Sirach 21:9). This is what the Bible tells us about the Law.

And according to the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia, the supreme Law of our country, Vice-President Rupiah Banda may on Tuesday next week after he files his nomination papers as a presidential candidate in the October 30 elections have to vacate the Office of Vice-President.

We say this because Article 45(1) (2) states that the Vice-President shall be appointed by the President from amongst the members of the National Assembly. And under Article 65(1) (2), a person shall not be qualified to be elected as a member of the National Assembly if he holds, or is a validly nominated candidate in an election for, the Office of the President.

Article 71(1) (2) (f) states that a member of the National Assembly shall vacate his seat in the assembly if any circumstances arise that, if he were not the member of the assembly, would cause him to be disqualified for election as such under Article 65.

We have sought legal interpretation of these articles from very senior lawyers belonging to the opposition, the ruling MMD, the government and some who have no political affiliation at all. And their interpretation of the Constitution is that Rupiah will have to vacate the Office of Vice-President if he files nomination papers to contest the October 30 presidential elections.

This will mean that if he doesn’t do so, legal challenges may be commenced against him before even the elections are held. If not so, there will be serious election petitions against his election after October 30.

This will also mean that Rupiah wiil become an ordinary citizen and will not be allowed to use government motor vehicles, Zambia Air Force planes and other state facilities that are not extended to the other candidates. This may be a big blow to Rupiah’s campaign. But if this is what the law demands, then let it be so.

This constitutional requirement does not only apply to Rupiah. If Sakwiba Sikota on Tuesday files nomination papers to contest the presidency, he will have to vacate his seat in parliament. This is what the Constitution requires. For Rupiah he will not only vacate his nominated seat in Parliament, he will also have to vacate the Office of Vice-President which he can’t occupy if he ceases to be a member of Parliament.

We know that in trying to justify the adoption of Rupiah as the MMD’s presidential candidate, Tetamashimba told the nation that in doing so, they were seeking a constitutional advantage because Vice-President Rupiah would be able to use state facilities and resources in his campaign. We do appreciate that the party in power may enjoy advantages of incumbency, but the rules and conduct of the election contest must be fair and within the law.

So far, Rupiah has not kept strict within the law. The distribution of sugar and mealie-meal in Katete last week cannot be said to have been within the law. Attempts have been made to justify Rupiah’s distribution of sugar and mealie-meal in Katete.

It has been argued that Rupiah was not campaigning but merely performing an official function as Vice-President of the Republic of Zambia. This is a lie. Today we have produced the verbatim speech of Rupiah as he was distributing sugar and mealie-meal in Katete. And it shows clearly that he was campaigning to be elected as president.

We are advised: “Admit when you are wrong, and you avoid embarrassment” (Sirach 20:3).

Anyway, when you have got power and influence, many people will come to your defence even when you are clearly wrong: “When a rich man stumbles, his friends will steady him, but if a poor man falls, his friends will have nothing to do with him.

When a rich man makes a mistake, there are many people to cover up for him and explain away all the things he never should have said. But let a poor man make a mistake, and he gets nothing but criticism. Even if what he says makes good sense, nobody will listen” (Sirach 13:21-22).

There are many people who seem to be very ready to lie for Rupiah so that he becomes president and they benefit from his appointments and other favours. Today, all sorts of creatures surround Rupiah simply because they think he will be able to give them jobs and other favours if he becomes president.

But let him lose the October 30 elections and see how many of these creatures will surround him! But probably they have gone to Rupiah because he is their kind. It is said that “every creature prefers its own kind, and people are no different. Just as animals of the same species flock together, so people keep company with people like themselves” (Sirach 13:15-16).

There is need for Rupiah and his sponsors to pay a lot of attention to the law of the land and to learn to respect the rights of others. There is no need for them to be so desperate for power and become blinded by this desire. They should realise that the exercise of the power they today have, albeit in a limited and acting way, must be the constant practice of self limitation and modesty.

We urge the Zambian people to make sure that all those competing for political office do so within the confines of the law. And no one should be blinded by the personal benefits they may get if the person they are supporting wins. Lawlessness, arbitrariness and intolerance should be opposed at all times. And in saying this, we are reminded of what Martin Luther King Jr said in a sermon at Ebenezer on November 5, 1967: “I say to you, this morning, that if you have never found something so dear and so precious to you that you will die for it, then you aren’t fit to live.

You may be thirty-eight years old, as I happen to be, and one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls upon you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid. You refuse to do it because you want to live longer. You are afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticised or that you will lose your popularity, or you are afraid that somebody will stab you or shoot at you or bomb your house. So you refuse to take the stand.

Well, you may go on and live until ninety, but you are just as dead at thirty-eight as you would be at ninety. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit. You died when you refused to stand up for right. You died when you refused to stand up for truth. You died when you refused to stand up for justice…

“Don’t ever think that you are by yourself. Go on to jail if necessary, but you never go alone. Take a stand for that which is right, and the world may misunderstand you, and criticise you. But you never go alone, for somewhere I read that one with God is a majority. And God has a way of transforming a minority into a majority.

Walk with Him this morning and believe in Him and do what is right, and He will be with you even until the consummation of the ages. Yes, I have seen the lightning flash. I have heard the thunder roll. I have felt sin breakers dashing, trying to conquer my soul, but I heard the voice of Jesus saying, still to fight on. He promised never to leave me alone, never to leave me alone. No, never alone. No, never alone.”

We have a choice to make between right and wrong; one can even say between life and death; and we will get whichever we choose. But let us not forget that the road that those who choose wrong walk, over right, is smooth and paved, but it leads to the world of the dead.

It is said that “fools say whatever comes to mind; wise people think before they speak. When a wicked man curses his enemy, he is cursing himself” (Sirach 21:26-27).

Rupiah and his sponsors should try to address some of these issues in an honest manner because whatever they do, these issues will never disappear. Even if they win the October 30 elections, these issues will still resurface to hound them.

It is better for them to lose an election than to go into office with such burdens. If they do, they will not enjoy a single day of their victory because it will be a very meaningless one, a hollow one. There is still time for them to redeem themselves. Again, the choice is theirs.

Labels: ELECTIONS, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 6:42 AM