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Fungi Kwaramba
Zimpapers Elections Desk
WORLD over, polarisation in the aftermath of elections is not uncommon, where emotions are invested, tensions often rise and Zimbabwe is not an exception as it awaits the announcement of the August 23 harmonised elections results.
It is at such critical junctures in the country’s body polity in all its hues and variations that the political leaders should step up and show leadership, principally by toning down on their rhetoric and desist from making incendiary statements that could trigger unnecessary chaos.
There is a reason why the political leaders should lead by example, not least because some leaders have made reckless statements that have triggered mayhem in their country.
Think of the violence that accompanied the United States 2020 elections when a losing Donald Trump refused to accept the people’s will and through a tweet on social media, triggered a bloodbath that Left people dead and many more nursing wounds.
Mr Trump supporters violently stormed the US Congress building on Capitol Hill as lawmakers met to certify Mr Joe Biden’s victory.
At the end of its 18-month investigation into the deadly riot on January 6, 2021, a US congressional panel put the blame squarely on Mr Trump who had a penchant for posting blogs that inflamed tensions.
According to the report, Mr Trump prematurely declared victory and started spreading voter fraud allegations; he pressured state election officials, the Department of Justice and his own Vice President Mike Pence to help reverse the results, and then he “summoned” supporters to Washington, DC, incited them to attack the Capitol, and failed to stop the riot for hours, the report read.
“President Trump’s decision to declare victory falsely on election night and, unlawfully, to call for the vote counting to stop, was not a spontaneous decision. It was premeditated,” it said.
In his pre-riot speech at the Ellipse, near the White House, on January 6, 2021, Trump told his supporters that he would walk down to the Capitol with them.
“After this, we’re going to walk down and I’ll be there with you … We’re going to walk down to the Capitol,” he said, urging the crowd to “show strength”.
This sounds rather familiar in the Zimbabwean context where the opposition leader Mr Nelson Chamisa has made it clear that he will not accept any other win but his.
But, that was a digression, for his tweets, Mr Trump was indicted, according to a report by the Associated Press, for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the US Capitol, with the Justice Department acting to hold him accountable for an unprecedented effort to block the peaceful transfer of presidential power and threaten American democracy.
The four-count indictment, the third criminal case against Trump, provided deeper insight into a dark moment that has already been the subject of exhaustive federal investigations and captivating public hearings.
It chronicles a months-long campaign of lies about the election results and says that, even when those falsehoods resulted in a chaotic insurrection at the Capitol, Trump sought to exploit the violence by pointing to it as a reason to further delay the counting of votes that sealed his defeat.
This too sounds familiar in Zimbabwe, again with the leader of the opposition Mr Chamisa and shadowy groups are caught in the dark web of black propaganda to use in the event he loses the elections.
“Let it be known that there is no way Zanu PF is going to take leadership in this country. We can’t lose, we will not accept fake things.
“Victory is ours. We will win this election. Anything that is announced outside our victory is a lie, its fiction,” Mr Chamisa told an online television station.
But that was not the first time, the CCC leader had earlier told a British publication that any win but his would be fiction and fallacious, saying if President Mnangagwa is declared winner, the (public) “if they find that their vote has been ignored, they did not vote for ED Mnangagwa and they will not accept him being imposed as the president.
“We do not control the people, they will do what they think is right,” he said.
Over the course of the campaign, Mr Chamisa had made similar messages, and while one would be disposed to say he was politicking it is trite that mischief causes war and his statements calling for peace were at best erratic and at worse paled with his thematic message for a revolt against a poll outcome other than in his favour.
But like Trump, Chamisa is walking a very thin line, as the country’s laws are clear that only ZEC has the mandate to announce the election results.
He and his stormtroopers have threatened to release the results of the election in what amounts to be subversion, but good thing Zimbabwe has the laws to deal with that.
According to Section 66A of the Electoral Act, any person who — (a) purports to announce the result of an election as the true or official results; or (b) purports to declare any candidate to have been duly elected before an electoral officer, acting in accordance with this Act has announced the result of that election or declared a candidate to have been duly elected in that election, as the case may be, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level five or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
(2) Subject to subsection (4), any person who, with intent to deceive or to discredit the electoral processes in an election, falsely (a) reports or announces the number of votes received by a candidate or political party in an election; or (b) declares any candidate to have been elected in an election; shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level six or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
Former ZEC commissioner, Dr Qhubani Moyo, said it was extremely irresponsible for anyone who craves to be in Government to be reckless by inciting the electorate to reject any other result not in their party’s favour.
“The electoral management process is governed by the Constitution; the announcement of results is the prerogative of the electoral commission. No other person, whether contestant or not is allowed to assume those powers,” he said.
“I find it extremely irresponsible for anyone who wants to lead the country to ferment chaos and incite people. We are aware that in the last election, there was peace and tranquillity until after the elections when there was incitement to the public to reject the results, which resulted in the still regrettable loss of life.
“Politicians must understand that as leaders it is their duty and obligation to always preach peace. One wonders what the motive will be if someone wants to reject the election results before they are even announced.”
One hopes that Mr Chamisa will not repeat what his party did in 2018 when its supporters ran amok after learning of impending defeat in the elections.
Online Reporter