Didier Drogba joins fair elections campaign
By Sharon S. Tibenda
1st Nov 2010
File Photo, Didier Drogba taking a shot
English Premiership football superstar Didier Drogba on Thursday 28th Oct kicked off a United Nations sponsored campaign to push for free and fair elections in developing countries.
The Ivorian striker and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Development Programme unveiled a poster in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with a message urging voters to “Get on the pitch, and be a player. Register, Vote, Be heard.”
The poster features Drogba, the man who led the Côte d’Ivoire team to its first-ever football World Cup final in 2006, poised for a penalty shootout in the home orange-green colours of his country’s squad. “…For real development to happen, we must ensure free and transparent elections. I believe that good governance can help break countries out of poverty as long as electors and politicians fully do their part”, Drogba said.
The campaign is meant to highlight the potential that free, fair, and transparent democratic elections can have in the global struggle to lift people in the world’s poorest countries out of poverty. A free, fair, and transparent democratic election, the UN believes, can lead to accountable and transparent governance that is capable of tackling poverty.
Elections are due in several African countries including Uganda where Britain, a major development partner, has just said it still retains serious “…concerns about the evenness of the playing field between Government and Opposition, and challenges to freedom of expression and assembly”.
The DRC that hosted the launch is itself due to hold a series of elections over the next three years including presidential, legislative, provincial, and municipal polls. “…My ambition is to help contribute to a true democracy in Africa. That’s why I advocate honesty and play fair. It’s the only way for Africa to move ahead”, Drogba added.
The president of DRC’s Independent Electoral Commission Apolinaire Malu Malu said, “…the DRC elections are under way and I am convinced that the poster with UNDP’s Goodwill Ambassador Didier Drogba will support our public awareness campaign for fair, democratic and transparent elections which are the pillars of peacekeeping and strengthening of democracy”.
The massive English Premiership football fans in Uganda now have the perfect opportunity in the 2011 elections to help Didier Drogba’s campaign for free and fair elections become a success.
For a start, they could contribute to the campaign for free and fair elections by taking it upon themselves to guard their votes and ensure that no one rigs elections as the Supreme Court found in the past. END. Please log into www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
