Africa-Press – Zambia. The election at the African Development Bank (AfDB) where former World Bank Vice President and Zambia’s Samuel Munzele Maimbo participated, reignited my memory to a sad episode in 2021 where national interests were sacrificed, personal anger and bitterness were openly displayed and were Africa’s work was thrown out because of petty local politics back home in Zambia.
It was October 2021 and President Hakainde Hichilema was the new President of the Republic of Zambia.
One of my last assignment as Permanent Representative at the African Union in Addis Ababa, was to get Zambia’s Attorney General, Likando Kalaluka SC elected to the prestigious United Nations International Law Commission.
The International Law Commission (ILC) is a United Nations body of experts responsible for promoting the progressive development of international law and its codification.
Established in 1947, the ILC works to identify gaps in international law, propose new rules, and codify existing ones.
As a mission team, we had campaigned hard for the whole year, we drew in friends and sister nations and overcame many hurdles.
Kalaluka also put in his all, campaigned among law groupings and organisations in Africa for member states to support his candidature.
We also broke the francophone, Arab and South-West Africa jinx that makes elections at multilateral bodies like the African Union difficult because of these voting blocks.
Ask anyone who has participated in these continental elections, whether it’s in football at the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa ( ANOCA) or the AfDB!
Our campaigns also required that concerted efforts were made with the African Group at the United Nations (UN) in New York.
The election of African candidates to international systems and international jobs has been streamlined and now follows an adopted process by the African Union.
This is a process where the African Union (AU) and its member states nominate and selects individuals for positions within international organizations.
This plays a crucial, helps review nominations and ensuring a single, endorsed candidate from Africa stands and has a better chance to win at global stage.
Africa has been allocated nine seats on the International Law Commission.
We had over 21 candidates from member states vying for the nine slots available.
At the 39th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the 3rd Mid-Year Coordination Meeting between the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms,held between 14-16th October 2021 and attended by newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Stanley Kakubo, we succeeded!
Kalaluka was elected!
Kalaluka’s candidature was adopted together with other candidates from; Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Algeria, Kenya, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Mauritania.
The following day we made the victorious and celebratory official announcement in a media statement made by our Mission Press Secretary.
We later saw off the new Minister fly back.
This was in October 2021.
President Hakainde Hichilema had been in office for a month or so.
Although we knew that we would be recalled,we continued to work diligently and demonstrated usual patriotic dedication.
It was the following week that Hon Kakubo gave me a troubling phone call.
He said he had been directed that the nomination of Kalaluka to the United Nations must be withdrawn immediately, and he wanted to understand the process required to do so.
I was shocked!
This was Zambia’s victory to have our own national elected as a member to the prestigious United Nations body.
It’s a lawyer’s ultimate dream!
Further, it had been a year’s campaign and hard lobbying, and I dare say my own personal and weighty influence at the African Union had made us reach thus far.
Kalaluka’s election at the United Nations would be merely symbolic as the list from the African Union is never amended or tampered with.
We have had rare cases such as the case of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) election in 2021, where Africa Union’s adopted candidate, Kenya’s Amina Mohamed a lawyer and renowned diplomat was somehow bumped off to accommodate multilateral partners’ preference for
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria), a renowned economist and former Nigerian Finance Minister.
She ultimately won the position, becoming the first woman and the first African to lead the WTO.
I explained to Hon.Kakubo that the African Union Commission could not reverse the decision adopted by the Executive Council and had actually proceeded to forward the adopted list to the United Nations.
I advised that maybe Zambia could then formally withdraw Kalaluka’s participation through communication written by our Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
And so it was, on 3rd November, 2021, Zambia formally wrote to the United Nations Secretary General to formally withdraw the name of Likando Kalaluka SC as a candidate for the United Nations International Law Commission.
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