Editor,

RE: "Why politics in East Africa is a life and death matter” (The New Times, December 13).

We are now beginning to see the same even in developed countries. Democrats in USA are currently trying all sorts of tricks that they think can eventually reverse the election results.

Seth

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If you think electoral shenanigans is new in the US, then you would be surprised with today’s attempts by the side that has lost the elections there to undue the results. But in fact, American electoral history is as replete with dirty tricks as the worst banana republic.

Who do you think coined such terms as gerrymandering, Tammany Hall and other machine politics? All these were intended to guarantee winning by hook or crook, mainly by crook.

The genius of America is not the purity of its politics—it is extremely far from that; it is in having managed to convince most people (both American and foreigners) of the superiority of their system and democracy when it is nothing of the sort.

Mwene Kalinda