Maravi

Stand-off worries KK

Stand-off worries KK
By Brighton Phiri and Nomusa Michelo
Monday August 20, 2007 [04:00]

DR Kenneth Kaunda has said the stand-off between the government and the civil society over the constitution-making process is extremely worrying and that he intends to meet government leaders over the same. And Federation of Free Trade Unions in Zambia (FFTUZ) president Joyce Nonde has called for the immediate withdrawal of the National Constitu-tional Conference (NCC) bill from Parliament.

Commenting on the Oasis Forum's demand for the government to withdraw the constitutional conference bill from the National Assembly, Dr Kaunda disclosed yesterday that he intends to meet government at various levels to discuss the matter before going public.

"The situation is extremely worrying. I am leaving for South Africa, but before I leave I intend to make an appointment with government," Dr Kaunda said.
"I feel I should first discuss the matter with government before issuing any statement on the matter."

And Nonde said the labour movement had never accepted nor supported the NCC bill.
"We have not accepted that bill. We demand that it should be immediately withdrawn from Parliament to allow for wider consultation. Why are they doing things in a hurry?" Nonde asked.

"That bill needs to be understood by all people and it should be translated into local languages so that people understand what is going to be enacted. How can we even debate content because we have not accepted it? If we start debating, it means that we have accepted."

Nonde said it was important for government leaders to stick to their promises and give the people of Zambia what they want.

She said if the meaning of a constitutional conference and a constituent assembly were the same, then the government should stick to the term which people are familiar with.
"People in rural area are familiar with a constituent assembly. When we start to change the name, we confuse people. Zambians must rise and stop this behaviour of today. We should handle the constitution once and for all," she advised.
Nonde further called on the Oasis Forum to revise their strategy and start to put pressure on the government.

"We have the capacity to put pressure on government to go our way. I am calling on Oasis Forum to revise their strategy so that we move forward," Nonde said.
Last week, the Oasis Forum demanded the withdrawal of the NCC bill from Parliament in order to allow further consultations before it is passed into law.

The Forum further called for the resignation of justice minister George Kunda for allegedly failing to advise President Mwanawasa adequately on the constitution-making process.

Oasis Forum convener Reverend Suzanne Matale said from the way the government was bulldozing the NCC bill, it was apparent that it would be passed into law before the current session of Parliament adjourns sine die.

She said the NCC bill, which has been formulated on the basis of the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID) road map, advocated piece-meal amendments of the Constitution and reserved the right of Parliament to debate and amend the recommendations of the constitution conference.

Rev Matale said the NCC bill was retrogressive by limiting the entire constitutional conference to merely making recommendations to the Minister of Justice.
She said the process was too important to be left to the whims of the Minister of Justice and the President to the extent that the bill grants the President carte blanche powers to dissolve the constitutional conference.

Rev Matale said the constitution should be adopted through a broadly representative body followed by a referendum with enactment by Parliament.

Labels: CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCE, FFTUZ, JOYCE NONDE, KENNETH KAUNDA, NCC, OASIS FORUM

posted by MrK @ 3:46 AM