Elections in Africa: A Contested Space and the Place of Diplomacy in Bridging the Gap between Contesting Parties
Author : Dr. Chingozha Misheck Pachipano, Dr. Chimanikire P Donald, Sakarombe E and Chingozha Yeyukai
Abstract :
The world over all nations are endowed with limited resources. Where resources are limited political decisions will need to be made to decide on the economic route to take so as to settle for the best alternatives that will advance the interests of the majority of citizens. The process of coming up with the decisions that will satisfy all is not always easy. This then calls for the political processes to define who will be able to sufficiently address the interests of the citizens.
Resultantly elections are done periodically within nations so as to vote for political leadership that will then be entrusted to carry out the task of running the affairs of the country on behalf of the people. The elections at times are contested or defined as unfair by some actors within the political landscape or those actors with interests invited to monitor the electoral process.
A lot of name calling, throwing of missiles and attacks on rivalries is rampart during the campaign period. This results in destruction of property and injury to persons. The clashes are at times fuelled by the leaders who propagate hate speech as they attempt to de-campaign a rivalry. Once these conditions are experienced the environment will no longer be able to allow a fair election. Consequently, the results of the election will cause many players to challenge the credibility of the conditions proceeding the election.
Keywords :
Elections, conflict, political party, opposition party
