Claim
In an article in the Daily Nation newspaper of 26th July 2021, Patriotic Front media director, Antonio Mwanza said that Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland and Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) General Secretary Father Emmanuel Chikoya had remained mute amidst chaotic violence scenes by UPND. Mr Mwanza further challenged Ms Scotland to denounce the UPND violence if the peace pledge the Commonwealth facilitated was not just a facade to hoodwink Zambians. Mr Mwanza further alluded to the fact that Madam Scotland and the Commonwealth are the ones who facilitated the peace accord that was signed at Mulungushi International Conference Centre. He questioned the position of the Commonwealth in view of what he said was the continued abrogation of the peace pledge by the UPND, and demanded that Ms Scotland, tell the Zambian people if she and the Commonwealth were endorsing violence by the UPND. Mr Mwanza also challenged Fr Chikoya to state the Church position on the continued violence by UPND.
Rating Justification
The fact checking process has determined as false, allegations that the Commonwealth is biased and that the intergovernmental body facilitated the peace and nonviolence accord meeting organized by the Coalition for Peaceful Elections in Zambia. The claims followed the Coalition for Peaceful Elections in Zambia’s launch of an initiative encouraging political party leaders and candidates in the 12th August 2021 elections to commit to peaceful elections by signing a peace pledge and making a joint public commitment reaffirming non-violence and a credible electoral process. Contrary to what the article says that the commonwealth facilitated the peace and nonviolence accord meeting, the initiative was organized and facilitated by Zambian organisations, and supported by the Commonwealth secretariat, as indicated on this link on the Commonwealth website. A Commonwealth representative reaffirmed to the iVerify team that they did not facilitate the peace and nonviolence accord meeting that was held at Mulungushi International Conference Centre, but they only supported the organisers. The Commonwealth has not commented or issued a statement on violence perpetuated by any political party, neither the UPND, PF or any other one. Instead, its actions related to this field were limited to the set up of a response team in case of any violence arising on either side.
