Maravi

Kunda names APRM implementation group

Kunda names APRM implementation group
By Noel Sichalwe
Monday August 11, 2008 [04:00]

JUSTICE minister George Kunda yesterday announced that 47 people will sit on the National Governing Council (NGC) to oversee the implementation of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). And Kunda appealed to the nation to give President Levy Mwanawasa time to recover instead of urging the government to invoke the constitutional provisions with regard to succession.

Addressing the press at his office yesterday, Kunda said the NGC would spearhead and oversee the implementation of the APRM

He said the APRM would be guided by the guidelines prescribed by the African Union (AU).

Kunda said Zambia set up the NGC, which was approved by Cabinet on July 24, 2008.
He said the NGC was broad based and drawn from government, the civil society, Parliament, the Judiciary, professional bodies and other stakeholders.
The NGC would be chaired by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) chairperson Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika and the vice-chairperson Tamala Kambikambi from Zambia National Women's Lobby Group.

Kunda said members of the NGC would serve on conditions similar to those of the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) and would be required to subscribe to the code of conduct.

He said the APRM would evaluate the entire governance spectrum and come up with a national programme of action on governance and country assessment report.
He said the report would showcase the achievements, strengths, weaknesses and other challenges in implementing governance standards.

Kunda said the APRM would be an opportunity for stakeholders to participate in the governance processes of the country and not a platform for finger pointing or apportioning of blame on government officials.

"The APRM is aimed at evaluating the nation and how it is fairing in terms of governance. All of us as citizens, public officers and civil society and private sector representatives will need to participate fully in the APRM process so as to ensure a balanced outcome," he said. "The outcome should be credible if it is to be used as a reference point for our governance and developmental programmes. I therefore challenge those who will make contributions to the discussions on the APRM to be constructive and do so in a spirit of patriotism as we endeavour to develop our beloved country."
He said the Ministry of Justice would like to work closely with the civil society and other stakeholders to succeed with the APRM.

He appealed to stakeholders against engaging in negative politics and controversy during the process.

Kunda said other countries that had been peer-reviewed such as Ghana, Rwanda, South Africa, Benin and Kenya had benefited from the process.
He said at the last African union (AU) meeting in Sharm El Sheik in Egypt, Uganda, Nigeria and Burkina Faso were due to be peer-reviewed.
"We should join the long list of countries that are being peer-reviewed and through this process share best practices and experiences which will be beneficial to our beloved country," he said.
Kunda said the NGC would be at liberty to constitute committees and retain consultants and experts to fuse them within the structures of APRM.
He said he would soon start sending letters of appointment to all NGC members spelling out the terms under which they would serve.

He said the NCG would determine the timeframe but that the maximum should be one year.

Zambia acceded to the APRM on January 22, 2006 and subsequently Cabinet approved the implementation of the APRM in June 2007.

APRM is a voluntary mechanism which addresses governance issues like democracy and political governance, economic governance, corporate governance and socio-economic governance.

And commenting on various assertions that the government should invoke the constitutional clauses that provide for the succession of the President in case of illness, Kunda said Zambia still had a government in place which was functioning according to the constitutional provisions.

"We have an effective government," he said. "Our President is going to recover and we are confident and we should give him time to recover."
Kunda thanked Zambians who were praying for the quick recovery of President Mwanawasa.

Labels: APRM, GEORGE KUNDA, NGC

posted by MrK @ 4:14 AM