EDIRORIAL: ZUMA VERDICT A POWERFUL MESSAGE TO REST OF AFRICA
Something momentous happened in Africa earlier this week when South Africa’s top court handed former president Jacob Zuma a 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court. It was a rare occurrence indeed on a continent where heads of state generally wield massive powers, and are usually constitutionally immune from prosecution while in office, and, in some instances, even after leaving power.
In such countries, the expression “nobody is above the law” rings hollow as it excludes sitting and former heads of state, who cannot be brought to justice for their excesses, however outrageous. The ruling in South Africa on Tuesday showed how it is supposed to be.
In passing the sentence, Constitutional Court judge Sisi Khampepe said, “It is declared that Mr Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is guilty of the crime of contempt of court. No person is above the law…I am left with no option but to commit Mr Zuma to imprisonment, with the hope that doing so sends an unequivocal message...the rule of law and the administration of justice prevails.”
Powerful words indeed by Lady Justice Khampepe showing that nobody is supposed to be above the law. In fact, Mr Zuma’s troubles are far from over as he is still separately facing 16 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering relating to a purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and military gear from five European arms firms for the then equivalent sum of nearly $5 billion in 1999 when he was vice president.
Mr Zuma was the most powerful man in Africa for almost a decade from 2009 to 2018, but he will now spend the next 15 months behind bars for refusing to appear before graft investigators.
This is something we only occasionally hear happening in mature democracies, but it serves to show that better days could be in store for Africa as far as the delivery of justice and equality before the law are concerned.
BEWARE THIRD COVID-19 WAVE
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravage economies and humanity globally, with total deaths nearing four million from more than 180 million infections worldwide to-date.
Indeed, the third wave of the mutating virus is already in Tanzania, and preventive guidelines against it being stressed by the President Samia Suluhu Hassan government.
Official data shows 509 Covid-19 cases and 21 deaths by May 2020 – and President Hassan says there already are over 100 infections from the pandemic’s third wave.
We appreciate her decision to allow vaccination against the virus, with the noble intention of curbing its spread in the country.
However, all the guidelines against the epidemic must strictly correspond with those of the World Health Organisation.
Losing manpower has adverse implications on the economy, so it is imperative that we resort to all ways and means to keep the country free of the malady. Also, education on Covid-19 should be liberally accorded to all and sundry on the Covid-19 menace.
In this regard, donning masks, hands-washing and sanitizing, as well as social-distancing, should be mandatory in public places.
Certainly, a proper campaign against Covid-19 would help save millions of vulnerable Tanzanians and the economy at large.
