Electoral commissions in Africa ‘agents of political chaos’, LPM’s Skrywer claims

Landless People’s Movement member of the Windhoek City Council Ivan Skrywer says African electoral commissions are agents of instability and political chaos.

Skrywer has said this in the wake of unrest in Cameroon and Tanzania following elections in both countries.

He said events in the two countries are a defining moment in African politics and especially for electoral systems and processes.

“They [electoral commissions] thought once they have their politically affiliated judges on the benches that they will forever be covered by the judiciary, and Cameroon and Tanzania are the latest classical examples of how the actions of the electoral commissions in Africa are on a rampage to create instability and chaos on the continent,” Skrywer claimed.

He said this must come to an end, to restore peace and democracy.

Skrywer said the time has come for the interpreters of the law to be interpreted by citizens themselves, and claimed electoral commissions are losing credibility due to their own rulings on the basis of their political affiliation and not on the basis of facts before them.

“Because what we are seeing more and more each day is that the once calm and peaceful nations are getting tired of the non-democratic, biased and authoritarian regimes,” he said.

He said there is a need to urgently address this problem in Africa before it is too late.

“We need to defend the peace and stability of the continent,” Skrywer said

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