By Isaac Zulu
Governance, Elections, Advocacy and Research Services (GEARS) Initiative Democratic Governance Officer Gideon Musonda has castigated the civil society organisations he says have gone to sleep and are not as vocal as they used to be during the PF administration.
Musonda, in an interview, implored civil society organisations in the country to be proactive and stop going to sleep after general elections.
He observed that most civil society organisations have a tendency of becoming passive after an election period, which he said is portraying a picture that civil organisations only get interested in governance issues when there are elections.
He explained that the fact that some of the vocal leaders of civil society organisations in the country have been appointed to government and quasi government institutions by the UPND administration, should not make them “become passive civil organisations.”
“To some extent I agree that most civil society organisations in the country have become passive…they have not been as vocal as they used to be in the run up to the 2021 general elections. Unfortunately, most of these organisations have lost that vocal voice that they had,” Musonda said. “And I can only make a clarion call to our fellow civil society organisations to stop going to sleep after general elections.”
Further asked what is currently making it difficult for civil organisations to provide effective checks and balances to the current administration, Musonda pointed out that most civi society organisations in Zambia do face financial challenges in the aftermath of elections.
“The voice of civil society organisations that are supposed to be the voice for the voiceless should not become mute in the aftermath of general elections. While we acknowledge that some civil society organisations that are advocating for good governance in the country usually face some financial challenges, we strongly feel that we need to keep the fire burning,” said Musonda, adding that despite the fact that one of GEARS Initiative senior executive officer (MacDonald Chipenzi, as Electoral Commission of Zambia – Commissioner) being appointed to the Electoral Commission of Zambia, GEARS Initiative will continue providing effective checks and balances to the government of the day.
