Statement by Kofi Annan following the release of Hakainde Hichilema

Accra, 16 August 2017

I congratulate the Zambian authorities for dropping the treason charges against Hakainde Hichilema and his team, and releasing them after one hundred days in custody.

I also want to congratulate the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Baroness Scotland, for her role, and the Commonwealth in general for its longstanding engagement.

I hope that the release of the leader of Zambia’s opposition is just the first step in a process to restore dialogue and cooperation between the authorities and the opposition. After all, they are only political rivals; not enemies.

In the interest of the Nation as a whole, I urge both sides to put the 2016 elections behind them and move forward. The focus ought to be on creating a political environment built on trust and the rule of law ahead of the next elections.

The Commonwealth, and other international and regional partners, can help in this process, but at the end of the day, only Zambia’s leaders and the people of Zambia can guarantee a healthy, peaceful democracy in Zambia. It is what Zambians expect of their leaders, and they should not let their people down.

Kofi Annan

Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation

Elections have become almost universal since the end of the Cold War. Yet in many countries where elections are held, freedom and democracy are actually in retreat. Intended as mechanisms for the peaceful arbitration of political rivalries, they frequently become flashpoints for political violence. At the core of these paradoxes are elections without integrity. All too often, elections serve merely to give autocratic regimes a veneer of legitimacy. But elections without integrity cannot provide the winners with legitimacy, the losers with security and the public with confidence in their leaders and institutions. This makes polities fragile as it encourages disgruntled groups to find other, less constructive, channels for the expression of their discontent. The Kofi Annan Foundation and Electoral Integrity Initiative advise countries on how to strengthen the integrity and legitimacy of their electoral processes and avoid election-related violence. Looking beyond technical requirements, they focus on creating conditions for legitimate elections, making it possible to govern peaceably in a climate of trust.

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Statement by Kofi Annan following the release of Hakainde Hichilema

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