EU attack misguided

Feb 19, 2002

THE SECRETARY-General of the Organisation of African Unity has attacked European Union countries saying that they should leave African countries to monitor their own elections.

THE SECRETARY-General of the Organisation of African Unity has attacked European Union countries saying that they should leave African countries to monitor their own elections.Amara Essy said last weekend that African countries did not observe elections in Europe and therefore the EU should stop monitoring African elections.No-one is stopping African countries from monitoring European elections. Indeed donors often invite African journalists to cover European elections. It is African countries that choose not to monitor European elections.Essy is misguided because in general there has been no problem with foreign monitors witnessing African elections. It only becomes a problem if a country has got something to hide. Foreign monitors came to Uganda in 1996 and 2001 and their comments were broadly fair although often critical. Monitoring is accepted as a necessary part of elections. No-one has called for all foreign involvement to be scrapped. This is because Uganda’s elections have generally been recognised as free and fair albeit with some shortcomings. The misguided Mr Essy is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. There are serious concerns about the validity of the Zimbabwean electoral process. Zimbabwe has expelled the head of the EU monitors. Essy believes that the OAU should show solidarity with its member states. He therefore argues that there should be no more foreign election monitors in Africa. Essy is thereby willing to sacrifice the credibility of all elections in Africa merely to bolster up the regime in Zimbabwe. This is a disservice to both the OAU and Africa. African countries should welcome all friends, whether they are African or European, willing to helping to monitor their elections.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});