NCC ends review of public submissions

NCC ends review of public submissions
By Ernest Chanda
Sun 15 Aug. 2010, 04:01 CAT

THE National Constitutional Conference (NCC) has resolved to take all articles agreed upon to Parliament for enactment and leave the bill of rights and others to a referendum.

This was after analysing all the less than 500 public submissions on their draft constitution on Friday evening.

After the Conference finished considering public submissions, spokesperson Mwangala Zaloumis moved a motion seeking the Conference to decide whether to take provisions agreed upon to Parliament and to a referendum the issues where they failed to reach a compromise, or take the whole draft constitution to a referendum.

Debating the motion earlier, Parliamentary chief whip Vernon Mwaanga proposed that the entire draft constitution be referred to a referendum in order to satisfy people’s expectations.

“I think that the people of Zambia are expecting a new constitution. And partial enactment will not satisfy their expectations. I therefore suggest that we submit the whole constitution to a referendum so that the people can decide what they want,” debated Mwaanga.

Mwaanga’s proposal was supported by Pemba UPND parliamentarian David Matongo who argued that the people must have a final say on the matter.

But commissioner Bidon Katete argued that the Conference submits Articles they had adopted to Parliament and refer those they failed to make a decision on to a referendum.

Reverend Gibson Nyirenda argued that taking the whole document to a referendum would anger people more since they had opposed the process from the beginning.

“You know how this process has been castigated from the beginning. If we take the whole document to a referendum it means that for all this time we have sat here we have done nothing. I therefore agree with those proposing that all those articles we agreed on we take them to parliament, and those we failed to agree on plus the bill of rights we take them to the people,” debated Rev Nyirenda.

Initially, delegates were supposed to deliberate up to 13:00 hours on Friday, but they had earlier on Thursday resolved to debate up to 20:00 hours the following day in order to finish the submissions.

And after completing public submissions at about 20:24 hours, Zaloumis moved the motion so that everyone would know how the final document would be adopted.

After it was resolved that articles agreed upon be taken to parliament while those unresolved and the bill of rights be taken to a referendum, delegates gave themselves a round of applause for the ‘good work’ they had done.

And in his closing speech, NCC chairperson Chifumu Banda expressed satisfaction that the Conference had accommodated public views.

“It is indeed gratifying that some cardinal comments from the general public have been taken on board. These include the reinstatement of the rights to water, sanitation and food in the Bill of Rights as well as the removal of the requirement that a presidential candidate should possess a minimum academic qualification of a first degree or its equivalent and the removal of the requirement in the Mung’omba draft constitution that a presidential candidate should possess a minimum academic qualification of a Grade 12 school certificate. This shows that you honourable members of the NCC were alive and sensitive to the demands of the people out there,” said Banda.

The NCC sittings that started on December 19, 2007, have met sharp criticism from the public for some decisions made, most of which were not in public interest.

These include, among others, the failure to out rightly adopt the 50 percent plus one voting system for a presidential candidate and the rejection of an elected Vice-President.

After this, the NCC secretariat will sit to prepare a final draft constitution that will be submitted to the Minister of Justice on August 31, 2010.

Thereafter, the Minister of justice will take those articles the NCC agreed upon to parliament for scrutiny and subsequent adoption.