STOP Abdoulaye Wade! Say No to His Quest for a Third Term!

STOP Abdoulaye Wade! Say No to His Quest for a Third Term!

All the progressive forces for democracy in Africa must join hands immediately and form a huge barricade to block Abdoulaye Wade from seeking for a third term in office.

Wade was elected as the President of Senegal in 2000. He has managed to have two six year terms but it seems he is still more determined than ever to stay at the Senegalese State House.

Wade must thus be stopped in his tracks. He must be told in no uncertain terms that he has fully served his time in the Senegalese hot seat. He must be forced to face the reality that he has now overstayed his warm welcome in the echelons of power.

Wade must retire and join the ranks of wise elder statesmen who have already had their time in Africa.

Just like those before him who tried to extend their stay in power and failed, Wade must have no choice but allow a new leader to emerge and take Senegal forward.

In Zambia, the late Fredrick Chiluba tried to do a similar stunt and was stopped. This also applies to the cases of such people as Bakili Muluzi in Malawi and Olusegun Obasanjo in Nigeria who also failed in their bids for an extra third term.

What makes his case even worse is the fact that he has also been the Secretary-General of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) since it was founded in 1974. As such, he is former long-time opposition leader, who ran for the Presidency for four times, beginning in 1978, until he was elected in 2000.

A cursory glance at the recent developments in his political career clear depict a man who is so determined to extend his stay in power by any means necessary.

For instance in July 2008, the Senegalese National Assembly approved a constitutional amendment increasing the length of the presidential term to seven years, as it was prior to the adoption of the 2001 constitution.

This extension would not apply to Wade's 2007–2012 term, but the Minister of Justice Madické Niang stressed on this occasion that Wade could potentially run for re-election in 2012 if he was still healthy.

Later on during September 2009, Wade confirmed that he planned to run for a third term in 2012 "if God gives me a long life".

Then during a July 2011 speech to supporters, Wade used the local Wolof language “‘’Ma waxoon waxeet’’” (“‘’I said it, I (can) take it back’’”) in explaining his decision to go back on his 2007 pledge not to run for another term.

The unfortunate phrase has since become a popular rallying cry for the anti-Wade opposition.

Then as fate would have it, on 27^th January 2012, Wade was officially approved by the Constitutional Council (composed of 5 major judges) to run for a highly controversial third and last term.

Following this declaration, enraged mobs engaged in violent protests and manifestation throughout the city.

To add salt to injury, there is really nothing much that Senegal will lose once hi ends his 12 year long stay in power. If anything, Senegal stands to gain more and have a good opportunity for a fresh start after a presidency that has been marred by so many difficulties and controversies.

According to various news reports, Wade's presidency has been marred by allegations of corruption, nepotism and constraints on freedom of the press and other civil liberties.

He has also been criticized for excessive spending on what have been described as "prestige projects". This includes commissioning a 160+ foot bronze statue (the African Renaissance Monument), for which Wade claims he is entitled to 35% of all tourist profits it generates because of the intellectual property for conceiving the idea.

In a parallel controversy, Wade has been criticized by Christian bishops in Senegal for publicly denying the divinity of Jesus Christ, comparing him to the statues found in the African Renaissance Monument, after local imams expressed their opposition to the monument. He later regretted that his comments had caused religious offense to Christians.

Wade also received criticism in 2009 for a "goodbye present" he reportedly gave to a departing International Monetary Fund official after the two had had some dinner together. The present turned out to be a bag of money worth almost US$200 000.

Added to that, the widespread speculation and criticism have centred on the possibility that Wade is now grooming his son Karim to succeed him.

It is therefore imperative by reason of the foregoing, that all progressive forces of democracy in Africa must unite and STOP Wade from running for the extra third term. It is time we as Africans stood up and said enough is enough!

Wade must just GO!!!

· Extra information sources from Wikipedia

EU Must Not Give Up In the Fight Against AIDS

There is currently no EU plan of action on HIV and AIDS. Not even a Global Health strategy where this plan could sit.

We want the EU to play its part in “creating an AIDS-free generation” and make this clear in its planning and financial mechanisms.

Please take action and call on the EU to:

1) Develop a renewed plan on Global Health and on HIV and AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in the EU External Action that underscores the importance of a human rights-based response to HIV and makes clear steps towards helping to end AIDS

2) Provide leadership by allocating additional support to meet the urgent funding needs of Global Fund before the International AIDS Conference in July 2012; and call on member states to live up to their pledges to contribute to the Global Fund to Fight HIV, TB and Malaria.

3) Strengthen human rights based financing mechanisms for communities who are at higher risk of HIV infection in those countries that the Global Fund will no longer be funding, such as those in middle income countries.

4) Include concrete measures in the renewed plans on HIV and AIDS to increase policy coherence across the EU’s trade, external action and development and human rights policies, ensuring that its trade agreements do not undermine the rights of people living with HIV and others to access affordable essential medicines.

* Please kindly visit the International AIDS Alliance website for more details

Implication of Reforms on Popular Democracy in Zimbabwe

By Fortune Nhengu Siziba

“Our demand is just and legitimate. We demand a free and fair election where international observers will oversee.”- Josiah Tongogara, Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) Commander (1978).

Comprehensive, participatory, competitive, free and fair elections are at the core of the democratization process in any country. Democratization in Zimbabwe has somewhat taken a lengthy and winding boulevard that has resulted in electoral outcomes that have been denounced by many governance scholars, political actors and analysts. Zimbabwe is faced with a situation whereby most revolutionaries and liberation heroes have long clamored for legitimacy, freedom and fairness in elections to no avail. There is no wonder why the international community still refers to us as an upcoming democracy three decades after attaining independence. There has also been heated debate about electoral reforms and why it is imperative to have them in Zimbabwe. This article seeks to decipher the electoral dynamics that are active in Zimbabwe, deficiencies present in the operational legislative framework and the retrogression of the military in meddling in electoral affairs.

In 2009 the Southern African Development Community (SADC) endorsed the call for reform of the security sector. The security sector was implicated in noxious political hostility and interfering in the 2008 plebiscite. Although some principals in the Global Political Agreement (GPA), who are keen on defending the so called professionalism of service commanders, still insist that no reform is needed and they also affirm that existing laws on the military and police force are satisfactory as they are. It is important to note that the advent of reforms is paramount to the implementation of the roadmap to the country’s next elections.

The GPA lacks a legal and operational framework for stalling the intrusion of security forces in electoral processes as it only incorporated reform legislation two years into its formation courtesy of resistance from some of the major principals. The reform legislation restricts police and military involvement in elections and attends to political violence. It also grants extensive powers to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to administer, direct and control elections, compelling it to publicize election results within five days of the ballot. 

The lack of media reforms in Zimbabwe has worsened already existing obscurity in terms of attaining dependable information ahead of elections. Typical of election build up is the violent intolerance of the media where media practitioners face illegal detention, beatings, torture, harassment and beatings among other human rights violations. Public sector reforms are enviable and practical in Zimbabwe in line with the country’s policy atmosphere. These reforms should start from the leadership composition of parastatals which are led by former army generals who were placed at the apex of their echelons.  This was a deliberate ploy to facilitate the flow of funds with regard electoral injustices and violence. This is a scenario whereby public entities have virtually been turned into income generating projects for sponsoring violence of the state against its citizenry.     

Participation in elections that fall short of security sector, public sector and media reforms has adverse effects on residents as it negatively impacts on service delivery, non-violence, tolerance, adoption of people-centered policies, voter turnout and outcome. Active participation of citizens in public discourse puts them at a position where they can hold their service providers accountable. This has increasingly been recognized as being critical to the role of elections in the democratization process. Zimbabwe is continually confronted by the challenge of how best to promote better service delivery with the objective of poverty reduction and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). To be certain, democratic space is closed and the right to free participation impeded whilst democracy calls for residents to freely participate both individually and collectively in decision making. This conviction has long played a role in states designated as progressive, democratic, open, free and developmental.

In essence, elections that lack reforms undermine democracy and free participation as they promote violence and apathy. Such elections would be merely reduced to a one man race with the major political competition being withdrawn at the final hour. The elections would be widely condemned as no one would recognize them despite the sole contestant, replicating the June 27 rejected run-off.

Fortune Nhengu Siziba is a Research and Policy Formulation Officer at Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA). He writes in his personal capacity. He can be contacted on lantsupa@gmail.com