Kawambwa! Please vote with your conscience

By Daily Revelation Editor

Finally, the people of Kawambwa will head to the polls today to elect a member of parliament to replace imprisoned Nickson Chilangwa.

We hope that in the final analysis, democracy is going to reign supreme and that people will vote for their preferred candidate they feel will better represent their interests, as opposed to voting for anyone on account of some ‘incentives’ they may have received from anyone in the form of money. For those who have already received bribes from anyone to influence their voting, we hope they will show repudiation for that act by doing a last minute repentance to vote with the conscience as opposed to anything they might have received as inducement to influence their vote.

However, whatever the outcome of today’s election, they will be marred by the influence of money, particularly by the ruling party, just like the previous elections, even those preceding this ruling party, and the many others that will come in future. Clearly, the role of money in the form of bribes to the electorate has destroyed the fabric of this country. The electorate has now become accustomed to the practice and thus it has now become part of everyday culture. It will surely take a herculean effort, a revolution actually, in the manner politics is conducted to end this very sorry sick cycle.

But we are likely to move along with this vicious cycle for the foreseeable future because generally the players we have on the political scene, both from the ruling and opposition parties, have normalised the vile practice and we are likely to continue being governed by these same political figures because, while they may change political affiliations from time to time, their outlook towards politics remains the same.

Those in the opposition may genuinely raise complaints against the malpractices being committed by the ruling party, with its penchant to use state resources for political ends, not because they are genuinely against the conduct, but because their resource envelope is not as big as that of the ruling party. They would actually not hesitate to engage in the same malpractices if they had the power to the persue or wallet. The best example is the ruling UPND itself. This is one political party that mourned for years against the malpractices they saw being committed under the MMD, through to the PF reign, and one would have hoped they had learnt lessons and were going to conduct their affairs in a more upright manner. And Zambians were further encouraged by the posturing from President Hakainde Hichilema and those in the UPND expressing disgust at the manner they saw matters being handled and promises to address the situation. But is that happening? Definitely not.

Just yesterday, Transparency International Zambia (TI-Z) executive director, Maurice Nyambe expressed concern that TIZ had received reports of senior UPND officials engaging in electoral malpractices where they are said to be dishing out K50s and other gifts under the guise of empowering citizens.

We can guarantee you that these empowerment programmes in that area will end today, and will be transferred to Petauke or Pambashe, or some other area that will hold by-elections in the future.

The sick culture will not end until a new system, and possibly new people with a different outlook towards corruption and other vices emerge on the political scene and in national leadership.