Maravi

Hansungule rules out possibility of new constitution before 2011

Hansungule rules out possibility of new constitution before 2011
By Ernest Chanda
Wed 07 July 2010, 04:00 CAT

PROFESSOR Michelo Hansugule has observed that there will be no new constitution anytime soon considering the processes that have to be undertaken. In an interview, the South Africa-based human rights law lecturer expressed disappointment that from the beginning, the government and National Constitutional Conference (NCC) had never treated the constitution-making process as a serious matter.

“The NCC has been bedeviled with so much controversy from the time it was launched that by now, one would have expected authorities that be to have started listening to the public. Why should Zambia be such an unfortunate country when it comes to good governance?” Prof Hansungule lamented.

“The draft constitution even when submitted to the Minister of Justice has to undergo several processes. We have about four articles that have to undergo a referendum, plus the entire Bill of Rights before the document is submitted to Parliament. The NCC also has to send a team to go round the country explaining the document to the people. And already the 40 days is almost halfway done. With all these and many other considerations, it is not possible to have a new constitution any time soon. Once again our money has been wasted by an arrogant government and NCC team.”

Prof Hansungule appealed to President Banda to shelve the rest of the constitution and pick a few critical clauses that should be used in next year’s general election.

“Surely, President Rupiah Banda must rush through necessary amendments and extend the period in the spirit of the principles so obviously implicit in the whole idea of a constitutional review. In fact, an extension of the entire process, without extending the NCC seems inevitable. Given the looming elections not so long from now, the atmosphere would be too poisoned to have balanced discourse on the country’s basic law. The NCC should immediately be disbanded for the extremely bad work it has done,” Prof Hansungule demanded.

“Only one or two clauses that can expand and extend our democracy need now go to Parliament for enactment, the rest later. In particular, 50%+1 for the presidential election as earlier recommended by people should be enacted into law so that next elections are held on this basis. The rest of the document should be shelved till after elections and more importantly to allow for effective participation of people.”

Prof Hansungule wondered how prepared the NCC had been before they launched the draft constitution to the public.

“As I was deep in the rural areas of Ethiopia on Tuesday 22nd June when NCC chairperson Mr Chifumu Banda launched the documents, I could not, of course, be privy to the information. However, as soon as I discovered this on Friday, June 25th, I quickly visited the websites in question, and, to my disappointment, I only found the Draft Constitution on the NCC website. As I write, the summary of the resolutions have not yet been posted to the websites,” Prof Hansungule said.

“The NCC has sat for all these years and now it gives us forty days to comment on the documents, which are not there within forty days. Why is Zambia so unfortunate to have such bad arrogant governance? What Mr Banda and government are doing is similar to a poorly prepared incompetent teacher who puts the class in an examination room, announces that the examination will last three hours but says examination papers are still being awaited! Zambia cannot be this hopeless. It should have dawned on someone in the government by now that giving people forty days to read through and acquaint themselves with largely unavailable large and voluminous documents printed in foreign language is equivalent to an arbitrary deprivation of the elementary right of participation.”

Labels: CONSTITUTION, MICHELO HANSUNGULE, NCC

posted by MrK @ 4:36 PM