Let’s ban violent people from recontesting by-elections!- Lundazi PF MP Brenda Nyirenda

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Brenda Nyirenda

Let’s ban violent people from recontesting by-elections!

Lundazi PF member of parliament Brenda Nyirenda has suggested introducing a law that will ensure people whose seats are nullified due to violence never appear on the ballot paper.

“Thank you, Madam Speaker, for giving a chance to the people of Lundazi to ask the honourable Minister of Home Affairs this important question. Behaviour is only likely to repeat itself if it is rewarding. None of our children in here have ever been cited for violence and yet we are here and we are honourable members and there are mayors out there. Can’t we come up with a law to ensure that those people who are participating in the by-election, if there is violence in that by-election, then they will be nullified and never to appear again on the ballot,” asked Nyirenda.

In response, Jack Mwiimbu said candidates that have been condemned by the courts for violence but want to stand again after their election has been nullified is a moral and legal issue.

“Madam Speaker, Madam Speaker, I’m very happy that the honourable member of parliament for Lundazi has raised this issue. And you are aware, Madam Speaker, that this issue is topical. Where members of the public have been questioning us as a nation as to why we are allowing people who have been condemned in court for having caused violence in elections, and the elections were nullified and they want to stand again,” said Mwiimbu. “So it’s a moral issue. A moral issue and a legal issue. It is incumbent upon us to ensure that we come up with laws that are very clear that those that are found wanting, if you are found wanting in terms of corruption during elections, you are found violent during elections, you should not stand. We should not be rewarding, Madam Speaker, anyone who is found wanting during elections. Your election is nullified because you are violent, and then you are allowed to stand so that you can continue with your violence! We should not allow that.”

We agree.

It’s high time the country promulgated clear laws that ensure electoral crimes or malpractices are sanctioned by barring the guilty parties. Criminality should not be rewarded by a slap on the arm. Given a chance, any political party and candidate(s) involved in electoral violence, bribery and other forms of electoral fraud should be barred from seeking public office for some specified time. This is one way of bringing sanity to our elections. Ambiguities in legislation on sanctioning electoral malfeasance, violence, must be dealt with.

Our country and democracy cannot carry on with elections that are fraught with significant levels of violence during the campaign period, on polling day or in the aftermath of voting.

Any measures that help deter candidates or would-be candidates from engaging in violence, fraud and others must be supported. We cannot allow criminality to be the norm of every election. People choose to harm others during campaigns, and when their election is nullified we still want them to stand? This is nonsense! If that were the case, what then is the essence of petitioning and later nullification? This is a mockery to our laws and governance. It means that at every election, anyone can commit all sorts of atrocities, knowing too well that they will still be allowed to stand in a by-election. Then we are rendering useless our laws that provide for petitions. The offending party should be punished so that they feel it. And the best punishment is to stop them from recontesting the same seat as prescribed under Article 72 of our Constitution.

This is the right time to clean up our Constitution and remove lacunas that criminally minded characters trade on. This is the job for our members of parliament, and we thank Brenda for being honest on this issue. She has not looked at the fact that some of the culprits are from her political party. Instead, she chose to be a national leader who looked at bettering the future. This is true leadership.

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