Leverage On Competency Of Professionals To Achieve Political Aspirations, Bamigbetan Counsels Politicians
The Association of Political Consultants-Africa, APCA has called on political parties, governments and individuals aspiring for political offices across the Africa continent to leverage on the competencies and experiences of members of the association in fulfilling their political aspirations.
The President of the Association who is also the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan made the call Wednesday at the opening of the third Africa Political Summit taking place in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya
Bamigbetan stated that APCA had been at the forefront of nurturing healthy relationship with political parties, governments and political aspirants by drastically reducing political violence, voodoo and intolerance, ills which had hitherto plagued the political process in Africa.
Said he, “Our association is determined to wet the ground by nurturing healthy relationship with political parties, governments and candidates in Africa because we believe there is still a lot of ignorance about the jobs that we do and the huge value we can add to the outcome of elections in particular and generally to governance in African countries. We believe that the success of our mandate will drastically reduce zero- sum politicking that encourages violence, voodoo and intolerance, ills which currently plague the political process in Africa.”
He said that the coming general elections in different African countries in 2019 presents opportunities for political consultants within and outside Africa and thus leaves a gap for the Association to provide platform for parties and candidates to use their skills and expertise to assist political office seekers achieve their ambition to be elected.
“In 2019, 18 election cycles will be taking place across African countries. In my country, Nigeria, governorship, legislative and presidential elections are expected in the first quarter. Similar general elections are scheduled to hold in Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malagasy, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa. Next year, the citizens of Algeria, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Tunisia will elect new presidents. New lawmakers will emerge from the legislative elections in Benin, Chad, Guinea, Mauritania and Tunisia,” the President stated.
He also recalled that no fewer than 17 election cycles fell due in Africa this year, saying that at the end of this month, 14 of them would have been concluded across the states of Africa namely; Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, legislative elections in Djibouti, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea Bissau and Rwanda and the presidential elections in Egypt, Cameroon and Mali.
The President added that the gathering of the media giants was aimed at building bridges that will help resolve certain occupational challenges faced by consultants working in different countries across the Africa continent.
He regrettably noted that there have been instances when work permit laws have been invoked to deport consultants and deny such clients the critical professional support.
“We also believe that building such bridges will resolve certain occupational challenges faced by consultants working, for instance, for opposition parties. There have been instances when the work permit laws have been invoked to deport consultants and deny such clients the critical professional support that our job offers,” the President averred.
Bamigbetan listed some of the expectations of political process that works to include impartial electoral agency, a free and vibrant press, a technologically developed media industry, a strict and responsible enforcement agency, a respectable judiciary and tolerance for international observer mission to promote the integrity of the polls.
He maintained that though these conditions have not reached any stage of perfection in global politics in general but notoriously so in Africa polities.
“The crucial need for these requirements has given birth to the theme of this year’s summit: Building Stronger Democracies,” he opined.
The Summit provides an annual opportunity for consultants involved in the political process to share knowledge and perspectives on the critical sphere of human behavior, educate themselves on new thinking on the subject and be exposed to the new tools of getting the job done.
