The drafters of our Constitution did well to include Chapter Six, which requires personal integrity from those seeking public office.
Without a doubt, the chapter is one of the most progressive provisions of our Constitution after the Bill of Rights.
However, it has remained just a provision on paper as it has not been implemented.
The lack of implementation is caused by failure on the part of different government institutions, namely courts, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to play their roles in upholding the Constitution and instead engaging in passing the blame.
The IEBC says it cannot bar any candidate because of a court decision that denied it the right to do so.
This has emboldened disgraced governors, those who have been impeached, to offer themselves for elective positions. This is a mockery of our national moral fibre. This is unacceptable in a country that prides itself on being governed by rule of law.
It is important that the courts, IEBC, EACC and ODPP work together and, for the interest of the nation, find a way of implementing the provisions of Chapter Six.
The courts need to stop issuing ridiculous orders that tie the hands of other institutions in the chain of implementing the law on integrity.
The IEBC, courts, ODPP and EACC have an obligation to save this nation from the hands of corrupt and greedy public officials.
Quote of the Day: "Tis not the crime which holds your hand, but the punishment; 'Tis not respect for God which restrains you, but the terror of his vengeance.”
Matthew Gregory Lewis
The English novelist died on May 14, 1818
