Former President of the United States of America and Republican Presidential candidate in the November 2024 Presidential election, Mr. Donald Trump has threatened to prosecute at levels “never seen before” in the country, all those involved in electoral vices and other unscrupulous behaviours “when” he won.

Mr. Trump who stated this today in an aperant alarm via his X App (formerly Twitter) handle, over allegations of electoral malpractices said himself, his Attorneys and Legal Scholars were watching very closely the sanctity of the 2024 Presidential Election.

In the post tagged “CEASE & DESIST”, the presidential hopeful said “I, together with many Attorneys and Legal Scholars, am watching the Sanctity of the 2024 Presidential Election very closely because I know, better than most, the rampant Cheating and Skullduggery that has taken place by the Democrats in the 2020 Presidential Election”.

In an ostensible reminisce, Trump continued “It was a Disgrace to our Nation! Therefore, the 2024 Election, where Votes have just started being cast, will be under the closest professional scrutiny and, WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again.

We cannot let our Country further devolve into a Third World Nation, AND WE WON’T! Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials.

Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country”.

It could be recalled that the post 2020 United States presidential election won by President Joe Biden of the Democratic Party, was marred by violence and a near disruption of the country’s transition process.

Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo has been sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison for taking bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

The 78-year-old, who governed Peru from 2001 to 2006, was convicted of accepting $35 million in exchange for awarding Odebrecht a contract to build a road connecting Peru’s southern coast to Brazil’s Amazon region.

This marks Peru’s first high-profile conviction related to the continent-wide Lava Jato corruption scandal, which implicated officials across Latin America. Odebrecht, now known as Novonor, admitted in 2016 to bribing officials in 12 countries to secure public contracts.

Toledo, who denied the charges of money laundering and collusion throughout the trial, has been battling cancer and pleaded last week to serve his sentence at home, asking, “Please let me heal or die at home.”

He is currently detained in a Lima prison, where Toledo has been detained since last year. Former President Pedro Castillo is also being held there as he faces allegations of “rebellion” after trying to dissolve Congress in 2022.

Two other ex-presidents, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Ollanta Humala, are also being investigated in the Odebrecht case.

Toledo’s conviction relied on testimonies from former Odebrecht executive Jorge Barata and Toledo’s ex-collaborator, Josef Maiman, who confirmed the bribes. The road project began under Toledo’s administration but was completed under his successors.

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has now sacked three top judges he previously suspended over alleged judicial misconduct, drawing further accusations of political interference in the judiciary.

The three Constitutional Court judges presided over a presidential petition in 2016 in which they dismissed Hichilema’s challenge against the election victory of former President Edgar Lungu.

They also took part in a controversial ruling allowing Lungu to stand in the 2021 elections, despite having twice served as Zambia’s president.

Their dismissal comes after they lost a court application for a review of a judicial panel’s decision recommending their suspension.

On Sunday evening, a statement released by the presidency said they had been “removed with immediate effect” following a recommendation by the Judicial Complaints Commission (JCC).

“The removal of the judges is in exercise of the powers vested in the President under [the Zambian constitution],” it said.

The three judges – Justice Annie Sitali, Justice Mungeni Mulenga, and Justice Palan Mulonda – have not publicly commented on the matter.

The JCC had investigated them over allegations of gross misconduct following a complaint by Moses Kalonde, a private citizen.

Last year, the JCC rejected a complaint from lawyer Joseph Busenga, who had petitioned for the removal of the three judges, alleging that they had mishandled the 2016 election petition.

There has been mixed reactions to the dismissal of the judges.

Political tensions have been in rising in Zambia ahead of elections in 2026, when Hichilema and Lungu are expected to face each other for a fourth time.

Social and political commentator Laura Miti says informed Zambians are split between those who feel this is a legal but self-serving move by the president and others who back him.

“My view is that the judges misbehaved spectacularly in the presidential petition in 2016. That being true this comes across as the president exacting revenge for their judgment which is highly concerning,” she told the BBC.

But Makebi Zulu, Lungu’s lawyer in the case, termed the move an “illegality” telling the BBC that “it was executive overreach aimed at interfering with the independence of the judiciary”.

“No judge should be disciplined for carrying out their judicial function,” he said.

Under Zambia’s constitution, all judges, including the chief justice, are appointed by the president upon the recommendation of the JCC and with the approval of the National Assembly.

Political analyst Sishuwa Sishuwa says the “reality is that we will always have the problem of incompetent and unqualified judges as long as the process of appointment is led by the executive.

“It does not matter who is in power,” he posted on X, adding that a “structured and broad-minded approach” is more beneficial than “targeted and individual changes”.

Source: bbc.com