Maravi

Matale urges MMD at NCC to respect majority's views

Matale urges MMD at NCC to respect majority's views
By Lambwe Kachali
Friday July 25, 2008 [04:00]

COUNCIL of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) general secretary Reverend Susan Matale has urged government ministers and MMD members at the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) committee sittings to respect the views of the majority in reaching consensus. Commenting on the action by Luapula Province minister Chrispin Musosha, health deputy minister Dr Lwipa Puma and home affairs deputy minister Grace Njapau who victimised and accused NCC democratic governance committee chairperson Stanley Mhango of being biased on Wednesday, Rev Matale said in every election or dialogue, the majority carried the day.

Rev Matale said members at the conference should seriously discuss and make the right decisions on issues, as failure to do so would have a negative impact on the constitution.

She said matters relating to elections required consensus because elections were part of governance.

Rev Matale said the behaviour exhibited by the three government ministers was a clear indication that they had gone to the conference with hidden agendas.

She said stakeholders who refused to participate in the NCC because of government in-built majority were slowly being vindicated. Rev Matale said with the presence of such ministers, it would be impossible for the NCC to produce a constitution that would serve the interests of the nation.

"What we said that NCC is tilted towards government and politicians has now started to show. We know that when it comes to voting in the conference, MMD officials will vote for the obvious in order to protect their interest and that of government and not the interest of the people of Zambia," Rev Matale said. "My suspicion is that at the end of the process, we may have a document that will not embrace the nation."

She said if government ministers and other MMD officials continued to behave in such a manner, the conference would be faced with many problems.

"Because it is not the first time MMD ministers and other officials have strongly opposed the decisions that the majority has agreed to," she said.

Rev Matale said the Secretary to the Cabinet was the right person to constitute the ad hoc committee that would be tasked with the responsibility to recruit and select members of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), saying there were numerous calls from Zambians to reduce the powers of the President for the sake of efficiency, effectiveness and transparency in the commission.

"If they refuse the Secretary to the Cabinet, then they should choose a group of people or any institution but not the President. As a country, we need to have redistribution of power," said Rev Matale.

On Wednesday, Musosha, Dr Puma, Njapau and Eastern Province minister Charles Shawa strongly opposed the majority decision to change Article 104 (1) of the Mung'omba Draft Constitution, which gives powers to the President to constitute an ad hoc committee that selects members of the commission.

However, when the majority committee members settled on the Secretary to the Cabinet and Mhango ruled in their favour, the three ministers accused him of being biased.

Musosha said he was ready to be disciplined by Mhango over the committee's resolution that the Secretary to the Cabinet should constitute an ad hoc committee to recruit and select persons to serve as commissioners of the ECZ.

The matter was then, for a second time, differed to a later date.

Labels: CCZ, MMD, NCC, SUSAN MATALE

posted by MrK @ 6:01 AM