KENNEDY Limwanya says now that the Electoral Commission of Zambia has announced nomination dates for the 2021 general elections, it is time for relevant questions to be asked regarding the eligibility of candidates.
Limwanya, former president Rupiah Banda’s chief policy analyst for press and public relations, recalled that one of the chief reasons the Patriotic Front aggressively fought for the passing of the ill-fated Constitution (Amendment) Bill Number 10 of 2019 was that they wanted the removal of Article 52 from the Constitution.
In a statement titled ‘Who will be PF presidential candidate in 2021′, Limwanya looked at what Article 52 provides for.
“This Article provides a safety valve to ensure that only eligible candidates contest positions of President, Member of Parliament and Councillor. It is meant to prevent impostors from assuming public positions of responsibility they should in the first place not have been permitted to contest,” he said. “This is what Article 52 (2) says, ‘A returning officer shall, immediately on the filing of a nomination paper, in accordance with clause (1), duly reject the nomination paper if the candidate does not meet the qualifications or procedural requirements specified for election to that office’.” Limwanya noted that the returning officer in presidential nominations is the Electoral Commission of Zambia chairperson who he said in the case of the 2021 elections, would be retired judge Esau Chulu.
“Judge Chulu is infamously remembered for announcing results that gave PF presidential candidate Edgar Lungu more votes than the total valid votes cast in Lundazi Constituency in 2016,” Limwanya said.
He recalled that according to judge Chulu, the total valid votes cast was 28,972 and yet President Lungu got 29,979 while United Party for National Development candidate Hakainde Hichilema lay a distant second with 4,975 votes.
“How could the total number of all valid votes cast be less than that of one candidate,” he wondered. ”The Judiciary prides itself in the mantra that ‘justice must not only be done but be seen to be done’.”
Limwanya said for such judicial officers as judge Chulu, integrity is the bedrock of their profession.
He said given the deep divisions and palpable tension that engulfed the country post 2016 elections, one would have expected a rigorous ECZ internal investigation and audit of the 2016 election management process.
“Out of respect for the owners of the Commission – yes, the Zambian people – maybe the findings of such an investigation could have exonerated judge Chulu from the cooked-up numbers for Lundazi Constituency and established that they were given to him by an errant officer (who should have been fired).”
Limwanya said from the conduct of the ECZ thus far, “it is as if judge Chulu thinks the people of this country are his puppets and he, the puppet master determines when and what should happen”.
He said by keeping quiet and carrying on as if all were normal, the Commission must be assuming that the country had moved on.
Limwanya said if on nomination day, judge Chulu accepts the nomination papers of a candidate who, according to some people, is ineligible for election as President, Article 52 (4) shall then kick in.
“It reads, ‘A person may challenge, before a court or tribunal, as prescribed, the nomination of a candidate within seven days of the close of nomination and the court shall hear the case within twenty-one days of its lodgment’,” he said.
Limwanya said this was the very reason the PF wanted to remove Article 52 from the Constitution through Bill 10.
He said PF did not want the eligibility of their preferred presidential candidate to be challenged.
“Nomination dates for presidential candidates will be from 14 to 18 June, 2021. The announcement of these dates is being overshadowed by the vexing issue of President Edgar Lungu’s eligibility considering that he has twice held office as President and is, therefore, not qualified to stand again,” he said. ”Given that presidential nominations will end on June 18, 2021, any challenge to the validity of a presidential candidate’s nomination will, in respect of Article 52 (4), take not less than 28 days, which will be way into mid-July 2021.”
Limwanya wondered if President Lungu’s candidature is found invalid by a court or tribunal around mid-July, whether the PF had the luxury of time to find a substitute presidential candidate to contest and win the August 2021 elections.
“This is the question all of those who claim to genuinely love the PF should be grappling with. Instead of going into 2021 with a high-risk candidate in Mr Lungu, the PF should put their house in order and find a suitable and eligible candidate who will need adequate time to settle down before the elections,” Limwanya advised.
He said the onus was on President Lungu to do the right thing for the greater good of the party.
Limwanya said doing the right thing should be by no other decision than stepping aside and allowing the PF to pick the person they feel is credible enough to represent them as presidential candidate in the 2021 elections.
“Does Mr Lungu still want to impose himself on the PF and kill the party? Is that what Michael Sata, the founder of the PF, would have wished to happen to his party? If not, who will be the PF’s presidential candidate in 2021?” asked Limwanya.