THE SADC ELECTORAL ADVISORY COUNCIL (SEAC) IN ZAMBIA – WHAT CITIZENS SAY IS WHAT MATTERS IN THE END

THE SADC ELECTORAL ADVISORY COUNCIL (SEAC) IN ZAMBIA – WHAT CITIZENS SAY IS WHAT MATTERS IN THE END

By Kellys Kaunda

The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) team will confer with just about every relevant organ with a role in elections and those, directly or indirectly affected by the electoral process in Zambia.

At the end of the process, the advisory council will issue a report which will include highlights of areas of concern and recommendations.

But if reports of this kind are anything to go by, I ll tell you that the views that really matter are those of local players.

Not what they will say to the council but what they always say in the course of their political activities.

It matters more because it’s lived reality. It’s not filtered through diplomatic reports.

It’s raw footage unfolding in real time in front of the whole nation to see.

As you may know by now, most SADC, AU and UN reports are written in diplomatic parlance that consequently  downplays ugly and uncomfortable truths.

Governments love these missions because they offer an opportunity for free strategic public relations in front of an international audience.

If you really want to know the truth about your country’s electoral process, listen to your countrymen and women.

If you want to change anything about the electoral process in your country, listen to your fellow citizens irrespective of their political affiliation, if any.