By Darlingtone Kabambe
Governance activist and Electoral Expert MacDonald Chipenzi says the move by President Edgar Lungu to consider pulling out from the International Criminal Court (ICC) is not wise.
In an interview with Lusaka Star , Mr. Chipenzi who is also former Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) Executive Director said there was no need for Zambia to pull out from the ICC because the country had no reputation of promoting misrule and dictatorship.
Mr Chipenzi said Zambians should not offer blind loyalty and solidarity over the withdrawal, and there were no justifiable reasons of leaving the ICC.
“The ICC was established to promote good governance and protect the rights of all citizens from the abuses from their leaders and not the misconceptions that it was meant to prosecute African leaders,” said Mr Chipenzi.
He said those African countries that were agitating for withdrawing from the ICC would result in their countries becoming a den of mass grave to the majority citizens.
He said many citizens would have no control and say over the abuses from their leaders adding that this would create many leaders to becoming tyranny and promoting their interests.
“As an electoral expert, i will sensitize other civil society organizations to ensure that the move does not receive maximum support from the majority Zambians,” Mr Chipenzi said.
Mr Chipenzi said Zambia could only pull out from the ICC by carrying out a referendum in order to seek out many voices on whether the country should move out or not.
Meanwhile, a University of Zambia Lecturer and Political Analyst, Evans Daka has called on President Edgar Lungu and his cabinet to subject the pulling out of Zambia from the ICC to the majority citizenry for the move to have a fair decision.
Mr Daka said the ICC was an autonomous and global institution with the mandate of safeguarding the rights of the people from the abuses of their leaders the World over.
“The intentions of pulling out of ICC is a national issue that borders on all the citizens, so a wide consultations should be sought democratically through a referendum which is not actually very expensive as people need to be fully sensitized over a number of months,” he said.
He added that that the ICC did not impose itself on prosecuting and investigating cases committed by member states but that the affected countries voluntarily took their cases to it if all the judicial avenues hade been exhausted without reaching a harmonious conclusion to a larger extent.
Recently, President Lungu was quoted by some sections of the media saying that he would consult widely on whether Zambia should pull out from the ICC or not.