The nullification of election results in Kenya is an embarrassment and indictment on the credibility and legitimacy of international election observer missions who are always predictable in their comments on election results in Africa, Zitukule Consortium executive director Nicholas Phiri.

In a statement released today, Phiri stated that Zitukule Consortium had received the news of the nullification of the Kenyan election with delight.

“The ruling is an embarrassment and an indictment on the credibility and legitimacy of international election observer missions who are always predictable and less transparent in commenting on election results in Africa. Any person with a conscience will agree that nullification of general elections in Kenya resonates well with tenets of democracy that we long to see on the African continent as a whole and Zambia as a country,” Phiri stated.

He stated that this was a landmark judgment in the history of African electoral democracy which calls for leaders across the continent to reflect on the state of democracy in their respective countries.
Phiri stated that Zambia should draw lessons from what had happened in Kenya.

“The ruling by the Kenyan Supreme Court should make our own Constitutional Court and the entire justice system to take a deep self-introspection and soul and conscious search on how they have handled similar issues in this country especially in the recent past. It also calls for political parties to reflect on their own conduct before, during and after elections and how their conduct reflects on the electoral procedures and laws,” Phiri stated.

He stated that the ruling by the Kenyan court underscored the fact that majority of African countries had governments that should have never been in power if the countries had functional, strong and independent institutions of governance in place.

Phiri stated that it was now clear that the international observer missions had been accomplices, either by design or default in legitimizing illegality and killing the true spirit of democracy in Africa.

“We can only hope the landmark ruling given by the Kenyan court in declaring the election of Uhuru Kenyatta null and void is the birth of truly democratic and autonomous institutions of governance in Africa. For this reason, citizens of African countries including Zambia must take interest in issues of governance and ensure that they demand nothing less than accountability, transparency, and rule of law, respect for human rights and meaningful participation of citizens in all public matters,” Phiri stated.

He stated that Zitukule was of the view that the much talked about dialogue between the PF and the UPND needed to put reforms of institutions of governance, rule of law and constitutionalism as top of the agenda if Zambia was to avoid the political quagmire that was leading to endless violent conflicts and despotism.