The NCC extension comedy

The NCC extension comedy
Written by Editor

Accountability requires honesty, sincerity and integrity. A person who refuses to be sincere and transparent in their dealings can never be accountable. Why would a person who is prepared to be accountable fail to be sincere and honest in their dealings? The duty to be accountable is even more important for public officers.

We all have accountabilities at different levels of interaction with other human beings. This is what makes us human. We are or should be always considering what the impact of our actions is going to be on others. We weigh the benefits of everything that we do. This is what is normal. We expect our leaders to be accountable. This is an integral part of the responsibility that they take on when they accept to work in the public service. Indeed, many of our leaders claim to embrace accountability. What is annoying is that whilst making this claim, their actions tend to be opposed to their professed positions.

This is what we continue to see in George Kunda, the person who currently holds the serious office of Vice-President. We have been following with interest the issues that have arisen from the public debates surrounding the extension of the mandate of the National Constitutional Conference (NCC). It is clear to anyone looking that George is lying about the NCC on the period of the extension. It would be better if George did not try to mislead the public instead of creating pathetic lies to cover up his wrongdoing. The nation has been waiting for a credible explanation of the contradiction between Rupiah Banda and George Kunda. Rupiah told the nation that the extension for the NCC is four months. This, as we have said before, is against the clear indication of the Statutory Instrument that communicated the decision. The extension granted is for 10 months. Why did Rupiah say four months? To add to this comedy, George would like the nation to believe that Rupiah said nothing wrong; the period is four months. Why? The paper is clear, it is 10 months; not four months. It is clear that George and his boss are not telling the nation the truth. This does not surprise us. It is not the first time that we are being treated to lies and half-truths.

What is worrying is why the extension of time for the NCC should be shrouded in so much mystery. Why is nobody able to explain exactly when the NCC is meant to finish its work? Constitution-making is a matter that concerns all of us and the outcome will undoubtedly impact our lives in one way or the other. Our people have got the right to know everything about the way the NCC is operating. For instance, how long is it going to sit? When is it going to end? Everybody knows or should know that the outcome of the NCC could impact the next election significantly. It is therefore understandable that key political players in our country are demanding clarity on the way the NCC is being handled. They are entitled to ask. But it appears that Rupiah and his friends would like to keep their cards very close to their chests. They don’t want us to know in clear terms what to expect, when. The question is, why? Why don’t they want us to know?

We know that in the past the process of constitution building in our country has been used to advance sectional political interests. In 1996, Chiluba pushed a constitution through our Parliament, which was discriminatory and clearly calculated to give him political advantage.

It is this constitution that made sure that the credible majority building clause which required a winning president to have been voted by 50 per cent plus one of the voters who participated in any election was removed. This was not done with public interest at heart. This was Chiluba at his ‘best’; he was rigging the election even before the first ballot was cast.

We have not forgotten that it was that constitution which barred Dr Kaunda from standing for president. Chiluba used a whole constitution-making process to bar an opponent from standing against him in the election. We suppose this is the political engineering Chiluba used to brag about – the shameless manipulation of government authority to advance personal interests.

This unbridled desire to maintain power at all costs led Chiluba into atrocities. Who can forget the Christmas Day when Dr Kaunda was arrested on tramped-up charges of treason? Other innocent Zambians like Rajan Mathani, Princess Nakatindi-Wina and the late Dean Mung’omba, were incarcerated. This was nothing but vain power-play.

Rupiah and George are not very far from this kind of behaviour. It is clear to anyone who cares to read the signals that they will stop at nothing to secure a ‘victory’ in the next election. They will demonise their opponents; real and imaginary. They will use their government positions to haunt anybody who does not agree with them. These are the signs that they are showing. It seems that there is no principle they are not prepared to sacrifice on the altar of expedience. This is what we see.

It is clear that in one way or the other Rupiah and George want to use the constitution-making process to their benefit for the next election. Like Chiluba, we should not be surprised if they tried to eliminate opponents using this constitution-making process. We say this because if their intentions were noble, they would have no problems sharing with the country what the exact timetable of the NCC is. Their failure to be clear has nothing to do with any question of principle. It is a tactical matter, which they want to use to their benefit against the interests of our people. This is why today Rupiah can say four months have been given for the NCC to conclude its work, and George comes the next day to try and justify why four months is the same as 10 months! Knowing fully well that the information they have given to the public is wrong, they are now trying to justify the unjustifiable and defend the indefensible. Is it a matter of sheer incompetence? We don’t think so. There is a method to this madness. This is why nobody seems prepared to give the exact timetable for the NCC work. Simple questions are not being answered. Many of our people want to know when exactly the NCC is going to finish, is it in December this year or December next year?

In the light of the current timetable, is there going to be time to implement the constitutional adoption method recommended by the Mung’omba Constitution Review Commission (CRC)? If so, when? Where does this put the timetable for the 2011 election? Are we being taken to the 1996 and 2001 election debacles, that Chiluba presided over, combined? As we said before, in 1996 Chiluba barred an opponent, in 2001 the same Chiluba made sure the election was held in December during the rainy season, which normally makes a significant number of parts of our country inaccessible. The confusion that this inevitably created seemed suited to Chiluba’s plans. We know that the subsequent election of Levy Mwanawasa was a highly flawed and discredited affair. At that time this was what Chiluba wanted; an election that he could control.

Unless our people are vigilant, we do not see Rupiah failing to follow the examples of his newly found friend Chiluba. As many people have said, the relationship between Chiluba and Rupiah does not seem founded on any clear principles. They both seem to want to use the other for their purposes. But Rupiah will soon learn some good lessons about not taking the people for granted. We should all keep our watch and make sure that the constitution-making process is not used to rig elections the same way Chiluba did in 1996.