Additional information
by Chisanga Puta Chekwe (Author)
Chisanga Puta-Chekwe was born at Nchanga in the Copperbelt province of Zambia. He attended Kabulonga Boys' School in Lusaka and Sir William Borlase School in Buckinghamshire in England before reading law at the Universities of Birmingham and London. A Rhodes Scholar, he also holds a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford. Mr Puta-Chekwe practised law in Zambia between 1980 and 1986 when he left Zambia to work in international merchant banking. In addition to observing the South African election in 1994, Mr Puta-Chekwe also supervised the election in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1996. He spent six years with the Ontario Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, serving as a part time member from 1991 until 1994, and as executive Chair of the Board from 1994 until 1997. He then went on to head Oxfam Canada as Executive Director. He has recently been named Chair of the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal. Mr Puta-Chekwe is a Solicitor of the Supreme Court (England and Wales) and an Advocate of the High Court for Zambia. 'Altogether, eight people died in the Pamphlet Massacre. Prior to their deaths, the men had been roped together, thrown into o ravine and hacked with pangas. The non partisan pamphlets they had hoped to distribute had been published by the IEC and were entitled: "Your guarantee for a better South Africa."'
'There appeared to be no tension whatsoever between the different groups attending the rally. At one point, I observed a young white woman and a
young black man absentmindedly holding hands while engaged in deep conversation on (I thought) some intricate aspect of election strategy. I appeared to be the only person who found this scene even remotely interesting.'
'The voter came right to the point. She said, "Is it possible to vote for all the candidates?" When her question was answered in the negative, she added, in maternal tones, "You see, I have been watching these young men campaign on television. They have all worked so hard I would like them all to win!"' An Election to Remember is an eye witness account of the historic 1994 election in South Africa. Chisanga Puta-Chekwe a Zambian lawyer living and working in Canada, was a UN observer to this election. His book vividly portrays the hopes, the tragedies and sometimes the comedy of the election.
