Lesotho went to the polls on Friday after years of political instability. The African editor chats to independent elections analyst Terry Tselane about elections in Africa and the much-needed reform of election management bodies.
He also delves into the role that society, political parties and governments can play in improving the current election systems. Elections are important because they are about self-determination – being able to shape your future and your direction. But shaping your future and direction must have a relationship with what you eat every day.
When you say let’s turn left, you are not saying let us turn left to be hungry. It’s because you believe turning left will allow you to put bread on the table. Voters want basic services. They see elections as the only avenue where they can realise their dreams. If you want to be an entrepreneur, you hope that there would be policies developed by those you have elected that will assist you in your journey. If you want job opportunities, you believe that those you elect will be able to create an environment in which you can find a job.
Voter fatigue
When people don’t realise the benefit of voting there is disillusionment. They don’t understand why they keep voting for the same people who don’t attend to their needs.
That becomes a problem in a democracy. The reason why other people can’t wait for the elections is that they now realise that it is possible to change the government. When a government and a political party are so powerful there is no prospect of that party losing power, people think they are just wasting their time by voting. The concept of disillusionment has also affected the electorate in Zimbabwe.
It has been like this for a long time. However, with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formerly led by the late leader Morgan Tsvangirai and with the introduction of The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) led by politician and lawyer advocate Nelson Chamisa, we are now beginning to see that even campaign rallies in the country are changing.
During the last elections, the margin of the results was so small even though the incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa had state resources, including repressive apparatus such as the police and the army. Yet people still realised they can remove those in power with their votes. That is what motivates them to participate because, for once, Zanu-PF is vulnerable and voters believe they can remove it from power. They are motivated.
Elections and courts
There are now avenues that a person can follow if they are not happy with the outcome of the results of an election. In the past, the only recourse people had was to resort to violence or stage a coup. Courts are an electoral dispute resolution mechanism. Voters can lodge objections at the voting station. They can lodge objections with the Commission.
Voters can also go to the electoral courts or the Constitutional Court. In Kenya, the 2017 elections were nullified by the courts. It gave confidence to people by demonstrating that the courts are not siding with the government.
It is possible that they can nullify the results when irregularities in elections are so vast that elections can’t be declared free and fair. These are the instruments that are there in the electoral jurisprudence that is supposed to be used for the purpose of managing elections.
Reforming electoral bodies
These have to change. These organisations need to introduce electoral mechanisms in their processes. It is important that they adopt innovations to improve their systems. We don’t always go and queue on election day. We recently had to oversee the elections at the Vaal University of Technology. They were held electronically. I’m always quick to point out why it works when my money is in the bank which uses electronic systems, but democracy doesn’t work using the same mechanism. The issue is about trust. It means the electorate doesn’t trust people running elections.
We, as election management bodies, have to engender trust in society. This starts with people running the elections. They must operate with integrity and people must trust them. The electorate doesn’t trust election management bodies because they think they are praise singers of the government.
We need people who have the capacity to tell the governments where to get off in a very nice way and maintain independence. It can’t be that people don’t trust the system. The system is fine because, as in a bank, all our money is there. We have put our lives in the electronic system. You go to any ATM machine and you’ll get whatever you want. I have been saying that in South Africa we must introduce a machine that works electronically, one that has been refined.
The monitoring system
In Africa, we use the election calendar. We use it to conduct our own planning. We establish when the elections will take place. We then decide which markets we want to tap into because some markets are more difficult than others.
They are difficult because there is no solid history of democracy in certain countries with some still under military dictatorship. So there is an uneven level of development among African countries. Where there is no democracy, there can not be free and fair elections. You need democracy to have proper elections. Some of those difficulties in Africa make democracy unworkable as well as elections. The AU has got a directorate that manages all these dynamics among different countries.
It has a charter to which all member states need to commit themselves. This includes democracy issues and governance. But those mechanisms need to be strengthened in order for the AU to be taken seriously by everyone.
Do we need European election observers?
To some extent, we still do need them. If you are a child and you have not proven yourself that you are responsible enough to be on your own, mommy and daddy must always be there to ensure you account for your responsibilities.
We (as Africans) have somewhat misbehaved over the years. We have taken power through military means even where there was an opportunity for democracy. Our judgment can’t be trusted. I know it’s a difficult thing to say as an African and I say it with all humility: we are untrustworthy of democracy.
Look at what has happened in Zimbabwe. Democracy there has been in shambles. With the Lesotho elections and more elections to be held across the continent next year, there is a great need to strengthen all of these mechanisms.
*Mokati is the editor of The African.