JCTR calls for objective APRM review of Zambia
By Kombe Chimpinde
Mon 21 Feb. 2011, 04:00 CAT
THE Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection has called for an objective and credible review of Zambia under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
In an interview, JCTR Zambia chapter director of governance Dominic Liche said the success of the outcome of the review was dependent on an objective gathering of facts as well as critical self-assessment, which would bring a true reflection of the state of governance and many other areas of the country.
“Our expectation is that it should be done in a credible and objective manner where there is no bias and politicizing of the process. We also expect that the process will be concluded within a good period of time. But most importantly we want the national plan of action report which clearly tabulates the weaknesses, challenges and how best they will be addressed,” Liche said.
Zambia joins 16 countries that have already been peer reviewed under this instrument.
It will be assessed on its performance on political, economic management, governance and social development among others followed by a validation of a self-assessment and subsequent implementation of a national programme of action based on the review.
Liche said the review should not just end up as an academic exercise but one that would be in tandem with the existing state of affairs in the country.
He urged Zambians to participate in the review for the enhancement of the country’s development.
“APRM will give an opportunity to citizens to begin to highlight the issues themselves when they are asked what they think the challenges of governance are, see where we are going wrong and where we are doing well. Citizens must start to speak out about governance issues,” Liche said.
Liche urged the government to synchronise the national plan of action with the Sixth National Development Plan once it is out in order to coordinate the efforts of both plans.
Liche also said the assessment would not have a bearing on the elections as most of the issues expected would not be new.
President Rupiah Banda this month launched the review to be carried out by a review mission team under the umbrella of African Union.
Labels: APRM, JCTR
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JCTR calls for objective APRM review of Zambia
By Kombe Chimpinde
Mon 21 Feb. 2011, 04:00 CAT
THE Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection has called for an objective and credible review of Zambia under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
In an interview, JCTR Zambia chapter director of governance Dominic Liche said the success of the outcome of the review was dependent on an objective gathering of facts as well as critical self-assessment, which would bring a true reflection of the state of governance and many other areas of the country.
“Our expectation is that it should be done in a credible and objective manner where there is no bias and politicizing of the process. We also expect that the process will be concluded within a good period of time. But most importantly we want the national plan of action report which clearly tabulates the weaknesses, challenges and how best they will be addressed,” Liche said.
Zambia joins 16 countries that have already been peer reviewed under this instrument.
It will be assessed on its performance on political, economic management, governance and social development among others followed by a validation of a self-assessment and subsequent implementation of a national programme of action based on the review.
Liche said the review should not just end up as an academic exercise but one that would be in tandem with the existing state of affairs in the country.
He urged Zambians to participate in the review for the enhancement of the country’s development.
“APRM will give an opportunity to citizens to begin to highlight the issues themselves when they are asked what they think the challenges of governance are, see where we are going wrong and where we are doing well. Citizens must start to speak out about governance issues,” Liche said.
Liche urged the government to synchronise the national plan of action with the Sixth National Development Plan once it is out in order to coordinate the efforts of both plans.
Liche also said the assessment would not have a bearing on the elections as most of the issues expected would not be new.
President Rupiah Banda this month launched the review to be carried out by a review mission team under the umbrella of African Union.
Labels: APRM, JCTR
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NGOs bemoan lack of information on APRM
By Ernest Chanda
Sun 13 June 2010, 03:10 CAT
A CONSORTIUM of nine NGOs has bemoaned the lack of transparency on information about the
African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
The NGOs consist of Law Association Zambia, Caritas Zambia, Anti Voter Apathy Project, Foundation for Democratic Process, Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, MISA Southern Africa, NGOCC, Young Women in Action and the Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Dispute.
In a statement, the organisations complained that most of the information given about the process was outdated.
“It cannot be ignored that the Zambian people have constantly been kept in the dark regarding progress and interventions in the APRM process. As stakeholders in this national process, we have continuously been subjected to outdated and stale information including the most crucial element of the process, the national roadmap.
To date, there has been no meaningful information on the roadmap that the country is following,” the statement read. “The APRM being a process that addresses issues of governance needs to be done in a transparent manner because, after all, governance is about using collective power to manage public affairs.”
Officially, the National Governing Council (NGC’s) position has been that the country will be peer reviewed in June 2010 (now July 2010).
“If this is the case, then the process has reached its climax and the NGC should be actively informing Zambians on the current status of the process, the next steps especially what will be the Programme of Action (PoA), and the contents of the final country report. It is the NGC’s responsibility to disseminate the information without the people having to always appear to be ‘squeezing’ information out of them.”
The organisations have also questioned some of the decisions made by the APRM governing council. The NGOs reminded the APRM governing council on the need to use the process as a platform for discussion of governance issues.
Labels: APRM, NGOs, TRANSPARANCY
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‘The media in Zambia has been taken for a ride’
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe
Sunday, August 09, 2009 9:23:46 PM
MEDIA associations and unions in Zambia have stated that the media in Zambia has been taken for a ride. According to the joint petition on the state of the media in Zambia which was presented to Vice-President George Kunda on behalf of President Rupiah Banda at Mulungushi International Conference Centre last Friday, four major issues were raised - violence against the media, media law reforms and independence of the broadcast media, Chansa Kabwela's case and the removal of a media representative from the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
On violence against journalists, the media bodies stated that the media in Zambia was under fire and urged the government to seriously consider protecting journalists.
"We make this comment in view of the sustained harassment of journalists, which climaxed on July 28, 2009 incident as some MMD cadres went on rampage punching and kicking journalists as though they were criminals, at the Lusaka International Airport. We are sure you have seen a sample of what happens to journalists when they are caught up in such situations. This is not first incident because even opposition cadres have harassed practitioners in public media institutions," they stated.
"One recent incident involved ZNBC's Lackson Nthani in Southern Province during the UPND/PF pact meeting. It is sad that these incidents take place in full view of police officers who only advise journalists to leave such events but fail to apprehend and prosecute those found wanting."
They urged President Banda to take further action other than just condemning the attacks on the media especially the one that transpired at the Lusaka International Airport.
"Though one cadre was arrested on August 5, 2009 after committing the offence on July, 28, 2009, we still wish to emphasise that ample protection and measures must be put in place to protect the media from such violence to prevent cadres especially from the MMD that are beating professionals in Zambia who play a very key role of disseminating information," they stated.
The media bodies stated that they strongly felt that the continued harassment of media personnel had persisted because little action was taken previously.
They noted that they still remained worried if the solution to this problem would lie on marching to get government's attention to the matter.
They stated that ample protection must be devised because journalists and all citizens deserved nothing less.
"Just yesterday, August 6, 2009, the MMD cadres threatened Chansa Kabwela and the vehicle she used to go through the back gate of the new magistrate court because they had gathered in front of the gate and were threatening violence. We appreciate the fact that Chansa's case is in court already but we wonder why violence is becoming the order of the day especially in the ruling party, which is supposed to be a torchbearer to other political parties in terms of respect for order. This shows the audacity the cadres have and impunity with which they disregard others citizens' rights," they stated.
The media bodies resorted to seeking redress from the President because they felt that their concerns on this issue had not been adequately addressed.
"Contrastingly, we have heard statements from top government officials saying media practitioners are reaping what they sow and simply put, they deserve to be beaten, which is very sad in a country that claims to be democratic. This is a sad development for a country that has been independent for about 45 years and under democratic rule for about 18 years," they stated.
They implored President Banda to ensure that the police were allowed to exercise their powers independently to enforce law and order and put in place adequate and stringent measures to protect the media as the elections temple begins to heat up.
They stated that if these measures were not put in place, media practitioners would suffer terrible fate next time and may not return alive from assignments.
The media bodies stated that violence against journalists had also been committed by the police as journalists were undertaking their duties and such officers were not brought to book except for a few who were suspended on the Copperbelt Province.
The stated that the trend was spreading because even ordinary citizens were becoming violent towards the media.
They cited one specific example involving Muvi TV staffer Delphister Lungu who was being threatened by a suspected child defiler.
On media reforms and independence of the broadcast media, the media bodies stated that the government must relinquish the illegal duty it was playing of regulating the broadcast media in Zambia through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services (MIBS).
They stated that this kind of regulation was for the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), which had not been implemented since 2002 when the IBA Act took effect.
The media bodies stated that the ZNBC Act was another law that had continued to lie in Limbo and only two aspects had been implemented such as the television license fee.
However, they stated that an overdue board that comprised political figures was still overseeing the running of ZNBC, thus undermining ZNBC's autonomy as the board that was supposed to promote good governance in the corporation was not independent from government and the party of the day.
"This had continued to force the media to be polarized because they are towing the line of the ruling party and the government while the private media try to provide an alternative voice or those with divergent views from government. It is therefore not fair to ask the media to be ethical when the same government is choking the media from being ethical through controlling public media," they stated.
They urged the government to ensure that the IBA and the ZNBC Acts were fully made operational so that the broadcast media could be regulated by independent and professional bodies and not political appointees.
The media bodies expressed disappointment that the FoI Bill was not considered cardinal to be presented in the current Parliamentary session.
The media bodies stated that this was a sad development because all developed countries that had embraced a liberal media were quite advanced where development was concerned.
"It's rather not uneasy to see MIBS regulate the broadcast sector and we hope that the concerns made by MIBS on Sky FM will not lead to their licence being withheld at the point of renewal. There is need for the FoI Bill of 2002 so that the Zambian people can enjoy accessing their public media and quality information because we believe such legislation will make the work of the media more professional as they will be answerable to professional run bodies and not by political appointees who toe the party line that is ruling the country," they stated "This undoubtedly is one leading cause of the media polarity in Zambia because media are forced to be extreme because some sections of the media are forced to report favourably about their appointees who are politicians."
They stated that as they call for the implementation of the media law reforms, they wished to draw the government to the promises made in the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) and the media policy of 1996 that they promised among others to address impeding media laws which they had not to date and yet they come into office through democratic means but prefer to use archaic and colonial laws which they seemed to be content with.
"Yet these laws were used to oppress the indigenous minds of the day. One of the pieces of legislation that was recommended by the media for repeal and amendment is the law on obscenity. In Zambia to date, no one can define obscenity yet the law provides for imprisonment up to five years, because in the first place the law does not even state what constitutes obscenity. So the media are expected to grope in the dark and censor themselves because of the law," they stated "In fact even citizens will have it easy on this law because it does not guide the citizens on what constitutes obscenity."
On plans by the government to regulate the media via statutory instrument, the media bodies felt the intention would attract objection from all those who believed in a free media.
The stated that the profession of journalism should be regulated by imparting good moral values in journalists and a self regulatory mechanism was the only way to go.
The media bodies stated that forcing such regulation on journalists would also reduce on its acceptability which was a pre-requisite for any law to achieve its intended objective.
"We note that the government has given us six months in which to come up with a widely accepted regulatory framework. As media associations, we have been sourcing for resources to immediately start consulting on what type of self regulation we should put in place and any other attention especially statutory regulation will be met with serious resistance," they stated.
On Kabwela's case, they called on the government to drop the charges against her because it was the law that was at fault.
"In addition, we wish to state that in the past there has been pictures which were published and changed the course of history in the world. One of these are the June 16 of 1976 of Hector Pieterson where a picture was captured of a boy running from apartheid inspired attacks of black South Africans with his brother in his hands who had blood on his face. Much as the pictures were gross they depicted the full extent of suffering brought about by the apartheid era. Another picture of a girl fully naked and running from fire bombs in Vietnam during the war was also another picture that changed the course of history," they stated "Imagine if these pictures were hidden, what would have been said of the war or the apartheid situation in South Africa?"
They called on the government to drop the case unconditionally against Kabwela because the laws on obscenity were not clear.
On the removal of Amos Chanda from the APRM, the media bodies stated that they had been robbed of the only representative in the decision making body of the APRM - the executive committee which Chanda was a part.
They stated that the review by the APRM would be without much success because democracy hinges on media related issues.
The media bodies stated that they were saddened about the development because media representation had been reduced to a lower level yet again.
They stated that it would not augur well for Zambia to continue trivialising media issues because the modern world required a fully functional media to operate adequately and for it to develop.
"We see a serious lapse in implementing the communications strategy without a well exposed journalist who understands issues at a deeper level. Our understanding is that people from other professions do not understand how democratic, corporate and political governance is linked from a journalistic perspective," they stated.
The media bodies stated that they were strongly concerned about the matters outlined and hoped they would be met with seriousness they deserved and not threats of regulation and more punitive measures being applied so that the media could close down.
Labels: APRM, GEORGE KUNDA, LACKSON NTHANI, MEDIA, POLITICAL VIOLENCE
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Improved corporate governance will boost investor confidence’
Written by Florence Bupe
Thursday, July 16, 2009 4:57:52 AM
THE African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) has observed that improved corporate governance is critical in building investor confidence in the country.
During a luncheon hosted by the Institute of Directors (IoD) at Pamodzi Hotel on Tuesday, the APRM noted that Zambia in particular and Africa in general had historically attracted low investment levels compared to the potential it has.
“We hope that improved corporate governance will enhance domestic and foreign investor confidence. Corporate citizenship and social responsibility have to be managed sustainably and effectively,” the organisation said.
The APRM expressed optimism that Zambia would by next year be tabled for peer review, adding that the country would greatly benefit from the review process.
The organisation stated that countries that had acceded to the mechanism and been reviewed had so far greatly benefited from the process.
And APRM vice-chairperson Phillip Chilomo warned that unless the process of the APRM was carried out squarely and without undue interference, the targets would not be attained.
“Unless we come out squarely about this process, we won’t get the results of the APRM. We need to ensure that support systems are corrected before implementing certain processes,” he said.
Chilomo said currently, Zambia’s economy was being driven by only 30 per cent of the population because there was an imbalance in the distribution of resources.
“Zambia’s economy is being driven by 30 per cent of the population because something somewhere is not right. Zambia’s economy is growing because of urban areas, but the rural areas are deteriorating,” he said.
He said there was need to decentralise the country’s systems in order to enhance the implementation of the APRM process.
Meanwhile, Bank of Zambia (BoZ) deputy governor administration Dr Tukiya Mabula said the Central Bank would take on board the APRM in its financial sector development plan.
Labels: APRM
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No development without the rule of law – Sanderson
Written by Mutuna Chanda in Kitwe
Sunday, June 21, 2009 3:19:24 PM
KITWE resident Murray Sanderson has said there would be no development without an honest and transparent government. And Copperbelt University (CBU) economics lecturer Mundia Kabinga has said it will be more economical for Zambians to dialogue among themselves than spending US$2 million yearly on the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
During an Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ) organised public discussion on the African Peer Review Mechanism in Kitwe on Tuesday evening, Sanderson, who is also Zambia Institute of Public Policy Analysis (ZIPPA) chairman, said Zambians needed to get their priorities right.
"We have only to look across our borders to the DRC and Zimbabwe to realise that without the rule of law and honest and accountable government, any kind of development, any prosperity is impossible," Sanderson said.
"Now let us turn to Lusaka and look at the Ministry of Health and the Wildlife Authority where employees have lately committed massive thefts. Are things so much better here in Zambia? Nor is it just Lusaka. Look at our own Kitwe City Council. What happens to the money they receive? We don't know; the city's accounts are no longer audited."
He said Zambia should concentrate on principles, processes, practices and performance instead of policies and purposes.
"The rule of law; this covers the protection of person and property and the prevention of theft and corruption. Specific requirements under this head are: an efficient and incorruptible police service; a special enforcement body to follow up reports of the Auditor General and ensure honest handling of government monies; a law to protect whistle blowers,” said Sanderson.
"Honest and transparent government which is efficient and accountable to the general public; this could be achieved through introducing closely monitored and effective customer service charters so that civil servants start to live up to their name."
And Kabinga said a country did not need the APRM if it had internal policy dialogue. He cited Botswana and Namibia as examples of countries that did not need the APRM.
Kabinga however said countries that probably needed the APRM were those that lacked internal policy dialogue. He noted that Zambia lacked internal policy dialogue in its political, economic and corporate governance spheres. Kabinga also wondered whether the APRM recommendations would be implemented in Zambia.
But APRM National Governing Council (NGC) spokesperson Amos Chanda said there were examples of peer pressure among African countries working on those that were not in tow with good democratic principles.
And APRM NGC chairperson Tamala Kambikambi said much as African states had problems, that did not stop them from giving suggestions to fellow countries.
Labels: AMOS CHANDA, APRM, EAZ, MUNDIA KABINGA, MURRAY SANDERSON, TAMALA KAMBIKAMBI, ZIPPA
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Zambians are free to hold leaders accountable, says Saasa
Written by Jackson Katilungu in Kabwe
Friday, March 20, 2009 2:43:53 AM
ZAMBIAN citizens are free to hold their national leaders accountable whenever they go beyond their limits, economic consultant Professor Oliver Saasa has said.
In his presentation on the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) discussion in Kabwe on Wednesday, Prof Saasa, who is also a member of the national governing council of the mechanism, said individual citizens should come out and state how best they should be governed.
The discussion marked the beginning of the self-assessment research of the APRM, which Zambia, through late president Levy Mwanawasa, acceded to on January 22, 2006 at the African Union (AU) summit held in Khartoum, Sudan.
"We should use the tenets of the APRM on democratic and political governance to guide and urge our national leaders as citizens to do right things correctly and not wrong things," Prof Saasa said.
He said the issue of good governance evolved among the Zambian people who should gauge themselves through the APRM to see whether the nation was being run according to their will.
"Governance is all about the citizens who have the power to elect leaders of course democratically; personally I don't think leaders impose themselves on the people because it is they (citizens) that elect them and so if they feel otherwise, they should work through the constitution to remove them from office," he said.
Prof Saasa said people had powers to change systems if they felt that their leaders were not working according to their satisfaction.
Thematic areas of the APRM hinge on ensuring good democratic and political governance, economic governance management, socio-economic development as well corporate governance. Under democratic and political governance, the APRM aims at creating democracies that would ensure the rule of law prevails, free, fair electoral processes operate, and that accountable, efficient and effective public administration exists.
And APRM national governing council chairperson Tamara Kambikambi said it was incumbent upon every Zambian to use the mechanism in place to measure issues of morality, the rule of law, fight against corruption as well as issues of good governance.
Kambikambi explained that the main purpose of the APRM was to foster the adoption of policies, standards and practices that would lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration.
Last month, APRM lead panelist for Zambia Graca Machel was in the country to check on progress regarding the initiative and said she was impressed with the strides made so far.
Labels: APRM, OLIVER SAASA
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Graca queries Africa’s electoral system
Written by Mwala Kalaluka
Thursday, February 26, 2009 5:42:53 AM
AFRICAN Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) lead specialist for Zambia, Graca Machel, on Tuesday said there seems to be a problem with Africa’s electoral system. And Graca said the effectiveness of the APRM process in Zambia would be dependant on how citizens recognise the legitimacy of the National Governing Council (NGC).
During a meeting with Chief Justice Ernest Sakala and other justices at the High Court, Graca said there were considerations to use the APRM process to adjust the electoral system.
“We realise that we seem to have a problem,” Graca told the meeting attended by Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) chairperson Florence Mumba. “We may consider the need to adjust our electoral system to be not only much more transparent but much fairer.”
Graca, who is also former South African president Nelson Mandela’s wife, said the African electoral system had alienated women and the youths.
“These are the issues we have to deal with,” she said.
Graca said apart from looking at the electoral system, the APRM Secretariat was also considering holding a meeting of all representatives of Judiciaries of different countries and identify the challenges in the sector and subsequently effect change.
Meanwhile, Graca said Ghana was one of the countries, out of the nine that had been reviewed so far that has positively concretised the reforms under the APRM process.
She was responding to a question from Chief Justice Sakala, who wanted to know how many countries had been peer reviewed so far and what the findings were.
Chief Justice Sakala said he had observed that in some of the countries that had been reviewed, there were still a lot of problems.
Graca said some of the problems were long-term and had been entrenched in the political fabrics of those countries.
She cited countries like Kenya, where she expressed doubt over that country’s resolve to concretise some of the multi-faceted political reforms it was urged to undertake following the ethnicity issues that arose from the last general elections.
“They are supposed to have elections in two years time but it is not certain that they will do the reforms in two years,” Graca said.
On the recent issue of xenophobic attacks in South Africa, Graca said the problem was real although the government in that country tried to overlook it in its initial stages.
However, Graca said South Africa was not prepared for the different type of influx of foreign nationals, particularly the one emanating from the problems in Zimbabwe.
Graca said there were good observations in some countries.
Graca said Ghana, for example, was already recording acceptable levels of economic stature when the review process was being undertaken.
Graca said Ghana managed to reduce the public service, which she said was actually heavy.
“They had an NGC, which was operating,” she said. “There is a positive mood of interaction and complimentarity among different stakeholders.”
Graca said the results of this positive interaction were noted in the recent Ghanaian elections, which were so close but had been accepted.
Chief Justice Sakala said the issue of the APRM had been made clear to the members of the Judiciary, some of whom perceived it as some ‘animal’ before the interaction.
Labels: APRM, ELECTIONS, ERNEST SAKALA, GRACA MACHEL
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Kambikambi stresses need to review governance issues
Written by Gloria Siwisha
Friday, January 09, 2009 5:34:39 AM
NEWLY appointed African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) National Governing Council chairperson Tamala Kambikambi has stressed the need for the country to review its policies so as to ensure adherence to the principles and practices of good governance.
In an interview yesterday, Kambikambi who is also Zambia National Women's Lobby (ZNWL) executive director, pledged to speed up the implementation of the APRM to its logical conclusion.
"I think there is need for us as a country to review ourselves on issues of good governance and I hope through me as facilitator it comes to a logical conclusion," she said.
Kambikambi said the role of the APRM was intended for all stakeholders to participate in the country's governing process.
Kambikambi said she was proud that ZNWL was accorded the opportunity to practise what it had for a long time lobbied for.
She said women needed to realise that they too were equal partners in the development of the country.
"We need to be serious and know what we are worth, we are full citizens with full rights and privileges that go with it. So we should take challenges such as the global economic crisis and be ready to make a difference," said Kambikambi.
The APRM is an instrument of voluntary assessment acceded to be member states of the African Union (AU).
It originated from the first meeting of New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) heads of state and government representatives.
The APRM is expected to foster the adoption of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability.
It is an effective tool that helps identify problems and best practices in corporate, economic governance, management, social economic development, political and democratic governance, which were beneficial to the lives of the Zambians.
The APRM also aims at giving the country and its citizens an opportunity to dialogue and find solutions to governance issues.
Labels: APRM, KAMBIKAMBI
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JCTR asks govt to review composition of APRM NGC
Written by Kabanda Chulu and Katwishi Bwalya
Thursday, January 08, 2009 2:04:56 AM
JCTR has challenged the government to review the composition of the National Governing Council (NGC) of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), saying it is not representative of major stakeholders in the country.
And the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) Church Social Teaching programme officer Dominic Liche has observed that having Akashambatwa Mbikusita Lewanika (Aka), who is an active politician, as chairperson of the APRM will jeopardise the integrity of the process.
But justice deputy minister Todd Chilembo has said the government will not remove political advisor to the President Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika from the APRM as he would still remain a member of the process.
Reviewing the progress made since Zambia signed the APRM process in 2006, Liche stated that JCTR, together with other Civil Society Organisations working on the APRM through the Civil Society APRM Secretariat had highlighted how the process could be made more effective.
“We repeat our concerns here, especially on the nature and composition of the NGC, a body that oversees the whole APRM process. These concerns include, that the number of members on the NGC, which is 47, is too large and not representative of major civil society and church groups and that the way the chairperson of the NGC was selected was contrary to the APRM guiding principles and examples from pioneer countries that have gone through the APRM process,” Liche stated.
“Also having a chairperson [Akashambatwa Mbikusita Lewanika] who is an active politician can very easily jeorpadise the integrity of the process and that the conditions of members of the NGC is associated with huge costs (K500,000 per person per sitting) that can easily raise controversies similar to those relating to the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) and that there is lack of gender balance with only 11 women and that there is government dominance in the NGC, making voting almost always biased.”
Liche stated that the concerns raised should be considered and addressed even if it meant disbanding the NGC for a smaller NGC, which would be more representative.
“Sometimes there is a myth that a fully representative body must be a big one, but it is possible to have a smaller NGC that is really representative of key stakeholders as is the example of Ghana's NGC because it will be will be a waste of resources to have a process that will not really work for Zambia due to government dominance and political interests,” stated Liche. “It is disappointing that despite raising these concerns through the media and communication with the APRM Focal Point (Ministry of Justice), no adequate response has been given to our concerns. We want to see an APRM that is effective, transparent and inclusive with more education of the citizens on the process by government.”
But during a briefing in Lusaka yesterday, Chilembo said the government still needed the services of Aka who he said was a civil servant.
He said Aka would remain an ordinary member while Tamala Kambikambi would take up the position of chairperson for the APRM.
“Government has decided to appoint Mrs Tamala Kambikambi, former chairperson of the African Peer Review Mechanism National Governing Council as the new chairperson replacing Mr Akashambatwa who has taken up another national duty, but continues as an ordinary member,” said Chilembo.
“The new vice chairperson is Philip Chilomo. In line with Cabinet’s earlier decision, the National Governing Council will continue to locally oversee the implementation of the APRM. Government also has intentions of reducing the number of members on the APRM from 47.”
Labels: AKASHAMBATWA MBIKUSITA-LEWANIKA, APRM, JCTR
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Kunda advises against using APRM to apportion blame
By Laura Mushaukwa
Saturday September 13, 2008 [04:01]
JUSTICE Minister George Kunda has said the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) should not be seen as an opportunity for apportioning blame among stakeholders. And Chief Justice Ernest Sakala congratulated late president Levy Mwanawasa for establishing the National Governing Council to locally oversee the implementation of the APRM.
Speaking at a workshop for judges, magistrates and judiciary officers on the APRM held at Pamodzi Hotel yesterday, Kunda, who was represented by Solicitor General Dominic Sichinga, said there was need to give equal participation to all the stakeholders in the process.
"THE APRM should not be seen as an opportunity to apportion blame amongst stakeholders but instead a real platform to chart our governance potential in order to provide lasting solutions to Zambia's governance challenges," he said.
Kunda explained that the purpose of the APRM was to foster the adoption of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development, accelerated sub regional governance and continental economic integration.
"This purpose requires a participating state such as Zambia to undertake a self introspective examination of her own governance processes and be the judge of what needs to be done to improve governance," he explained.
Kunda added that Zambia had already fulfilled the APRM requirement of establishing the National Governing Council.
Kunda said the judiciary played an important role in the governance process hence the need to sensitise them on the APRM processes.
Officiating at the workshop, Chief Justice Sakala expressed optimism that the judiciary as an important stakeholder in the APRM process would play a critical role by interpreting and giving life to the standards contained in the different codes of governance.
Justice Sakala suggested the need for the NGC to critically look at the performances of other countries and avoid the mistakes, which they might have made in the APRM process.
Peer review refers to the systematic examination and assessment of the performance of a state by other states (Peers) by designated institutions or by combinations of states.
APRM is the brainchild of the African Union (AU), born at the 37th summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in July 2001 in Lusaka.
The APRM is aimed at helping African countries improve governance.
Labels: APRM, GEORGE KUNDA
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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
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Senior Govt officers warned against being tight-lipped
Posted on July 18th, 2008
Secretary to Cabinet Joshua Kanganja has warned permanent secretaries and other senior government officers against resisting to release relevant and important information to stakeholders on the country’s governance. Dr Kanganja said he has received reports from various stakeholders on the failure by senior government officers to respond to stakeholders when they are in need of information on the country’s economic, social, corporate, political, and democratic development.
Dr Kanganja charged that government officers must ensure that relevant and adequate information is provided to stakeholders who have genuine reasons to have access to the various types of information. He said this in Lusaka today when he officiated at a seminar for senior government officials on the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
Dr Kanganja explained that the challenges that Zambia as a country faces in realizing good governance should be brought to the fore so as to enable all stakeholders in society to propose remedies to addressing the challenges.
“I do not want to receive any more reports that a permanent secretary or any other senior government official does not want to release information to genuine stakeholders”
“Those offices you are occupying public offices, hence you must be accountable and attend to stakeholders when they are in need of information,” Dr Kanganja.
Dr Kanganja said government officials should not view the APRM as a blame apportioning exercise but rather as a genuine opportunity to show case Zambia’s determined efforts to release and actualize good governance principles.
“WE should equally ensure our co-operation with the APRM secretariat by providing all the information which is critical in producing the country’s self assessment report,” Dr Kanganje said.
Dr Kanganja said the Zambian government’s contribution to the APRM process should continue to demonstrate the good efforts being sewn to enhance good governance in the country.
He explained that the APRM process to which the Zambian government has committed itself is meant to assist African countries and its leadership in developing credible and satisfactory governance systems.
Dr Kanganje added that countries accredited to the APRM process are accountable for the governance situation in their respective countries through a self country assessment report and the peer review of the president.
ZANIS/YK/AM/ENDS.
Labels: APRM, GOVERNANCE, JOSHUA KANGANJA, PERMANENT SECRETARIES, SECRECY
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Govt has not abandoned APRM, says Banda
By Mwala Kalaluka
Saturday March 15, 2008 [03:00]
VICE-President Rupiah Banda yesterday said the government highly rates the performance of the Zambian civil service, ministers, deputy ministers and some parliamentarians. And Banda has said the government has not abandoned the implementation of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), even though it might take some time to realise its objectives.
Responding to a question from Chadiza MMD member of parliament Allan Mbewe, during the Vice-President’s question session time in Parliament, the Vice-President said Zambia was one of the few countries that could boast of a good and solid civil service.
“I would like to say that we rate our civil service very highly,” Vice-President Banda said. “Things are running normally and we have got peace in the country.”
He said this positive performance among public officers was as a result of the collective efforts that had been engendered in the growth of the country’s democracy.
On the concerns raised by Chipili PF member of parliament Davis Mwila over the government’s failure to revamp the Mununshi Banana Scheme in Luapula Province, Vice-President Banda said members of parliament and citizens should not wait for the government to do everything for them.
He said in as much as the scheme was previously owned by the government, it was privatised and it was now up to the private sector to take up the challenge of resuscitating Mununshi Plantation.
Vice-President Banda further asked parliamentarians from Luapula Province to inculcate a sense of responsibility in the people for them to stop tampering with the growth of the fish resource.
He told Luapula PF member of parliament Dr Peter Machungwa that the government was still resolved in its plans to restock fish in the rivers and lakes.
And Vice-President Banda said a recent assessment visit by APRM officials had shown that Zambia was not one of the countries that has been left behind in the implementation mechanism.
Labels: APRM
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Graca calls for balanced view of Africa
By Bivan Saluseki
Wednesday September 12, 2007 [04:00]
APRM panel member Graça Machel yesterday called on Africans to begin to have a balanced view of the continent and not just focus on the negatives. Meeting Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Mutale Nalumango over the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), Graça also wondered why it was tough for youths, women and the rural poor to win seats in Parliament when they were the majority and it was their right.
Graça said Africa had made outstanding achievements, which needed to be highlighted especially by the young people. "We must have a balanced view of who we are. It's just that. Africans are not only a failure. Africans have very good things they have done. They have outstanding achievements," she said.
"Let me give an example. You see, we were colonised for hundredsyears for many centuries as a continent but the liberation of our continent took only, mostly 50 years if you start from Ghana to Namibia, which was a colony and then end up with South Africa. Which means out of the five centuries, we came together, that again is the importance of unity."
Graça said African leaders at the time indicated they were not going to accept the liberation of one single country.
"We have to be all free. The liberation of one has to be the liberation of all and they created instruments which bound them together and because of that and we see leaders like Kaunda and Nyerere concerned about independence of countries in West Africa. They took the continent as a whole," she said.
"Africa must be able to say we were able to overcome and undo all the intricate issues of colonialism and within a relatively short period of time."
Graça said Zambia had played an important role during the independence struggle for Africa.
"It’s important to tell young people that this is what makes the profile of Zambians. And in many countries when you go and say ‘I am a Zambian’, people will know that these are the people who gave the little they had to allow us all to be free. We must take pride of that," she said.
"When you say that today we still face a lot of problems, just look back and say how many people were qualified when Zambia became independent? How many were they? In my country I will tell you. When we became independent we had 93 per cent of illiteracy.
I don't know what was the percentage in Zambia. So how much have we done so far so that even the free education which we are talking about today....to give free education to every child should be looked at in the context of where we are coming from as a nation. I am saying the nation; I am not talking of the government but the nation, the effort which the nation has made to allow every single child to have a primary education. And then it may come to a point where it's free and compulsory."
Graça said Africa needed to build self-confidence.
"If we concentrate only in our weaknesses we won’t even be able to go and search for those energies which are within us to face the challenge of today. It may well be that the challenges of today are not bigger than the past and even if they are bigger, if we have overcome some in the past, it’s because we can overcome these too. How do we do this?
The parents have a role to play, the traditional leaders have a role to play, the mothers, the young the old, those who are educated, not educated, that is why this review must be a national process, not government alone," she said.
Graça also said African countries should be trading among themselves too.
"All of us we trade with everybody else outside the continent but we trade very little among ourselves. Sometimes the argument is that we are producing the same things that are not true. If you go item by item, you find that there are certain items from some African countries we could import from," she said.
Graça said if transport and roads were a hindrance to trading within Africa, then such infrastructure should be fixed.
"Let’s look within ourselves and identify the weaknesses within the continent also which have to be solved. That is the issue of governance at continent level," she said.
Graça called for the presence of youths, women and the rural people in Parliament.
She said that was what APRM was all about.
Graça said currently women were having to be very tough to get to Parliament, which was not supposed to be the case.
"If they are not tough, they can’t make it. It shouldn't be so tough because it's a right. It shouldn't be so difficult for you to exercise your right. We have to find those answers," she said.
Graça said APRM was a learning process.
She said the APRM wanted to encourage interaction within Africa so that the countries could move together and the African Union would become a union that would be relied on.
And Nalumango said Zambia had domesticated some international treaties though there were still areas that needed to be worked on.
She said Parliament would help the executive in scrutinising the legislation.
Nalumango said countries should be moving towards good governance of the economy and even cooperate governance.
Graça who is APRM panel member for Zambia.
APRM is a mutually agreed instrument voluntarily acceded to by the member states of the African Union as a self-monitoring mechanism to encourage conformity in regard to political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards, among African countries within the framework of New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
Labels: APRM, GRACA MACHEL
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State wants people-driven APRM
By AMOS CHANDA
MINISTER of Justice, George Kunda, says Zambia’s African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process should move away from the corridors of the elite in society to the doorsteps of ordinary citizens. Mr Kunda said for the process to succeed, it should be wholly-owned by the people at the grassroots. He was speaking at the opening of the APRM brainstorming session in Zambia at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka yesterday.
“This means people should be fully involved and consulted at all stages of the process,” Mr Kunda said.
“There should be a conscious effort to move the process away from the corridors of the elite to the doorstep of the ordinary citizens.”
He said the APRM was designed to provide a platform to identify strengths and weaknesses in Zambia’s governance systems.
Mr Kunda said Government was committed to the successful implementation of the APRM process and urged participants at the session to develop initiatives that would be implemented country-wide.
Zambia is one of the 27 countries that has acceded to the APRM.
President Mwanawasa signed onto the process on January 22, 2006 during a ceremony that was held on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Khartoum, Sudan.
Following the accession, the Minister of Justice, who is the APRM national focal point person, launched the process on July 8, 2007 after Cabinet approval.
Mr Kunda said the brainstorming session was an important exercise that should generate a common national purpose that would guide the APRM process.
“It is, therefore, important that the outcome of this session should raise serious recommendations, especially in view of the vast experienced human resource represented here,” he said.
Mr Kunda said it was important that recommendations were made on a broad parameter upon which the APRM terms of reference for the national governing council would be based.
He said Zambia should not suffer the same problems other countries had experienced where institutional structures did not achieve the set objectives.
Mr Kunda said when that occurred, the credibility and integrity of the process suffered.
He said the core of the process was to capture the voices and concerns of ordinary citizens.
The brainstorming session, which ends tomorrow, is presided over by former National Economic Advisory Council chairperson, Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika.
Labels: APRM, GEORGE KUNDA
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APRM and good governance
By Editor
Tuesday July 10, 2007 [04:00]
IT is good that the government has launched a national self-assessment process through the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) framework. For democracy to work effectively, it is necessary that once in a while those who govern are assessed by the governed. We are saying this because the legitimacy of any government is to a larger extent determined on its acceptability or approval of the governed.
The strength of a government should not be determined by the capacity of a particular government to manipulate the people or to take the governed for granted. Rather, governments should consider processes that allow their criticism as key factors to enhancing ideals of democracy and good governance.
And considering that Zambia acceded to the African Peer Review Mechanism on 22 January 2006, more than a year now, we think that the process of the government opening itself to constructive and objective criticism is longer overdue. Although we are alive to the fact that the APRM process is not perfect, we feel that it is one which, if well implemented, can add up to our democratic credentials as a country.
Our understanding is that the APRM is essentially an African self-monitoring system which entails a country voluntarily submitting to make its own citizens undertake an internal audit or national self assessment of its political, economic, corporate and socio-economic governance systems after which an external audit or verification of the self-assessment report is made by an independent panel from the African Union.
Further, the mandate of the African Peer Review Mechanism is to ensure that the policies and practices of participating states conform to the agreed political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards contained in the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance.
In short, the APRM mechanism is the mutually agreed instrument for self-monitoring by the participating member governments. Among others, the principal purpose of the APRM is to foster the adoption of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration through sharing of experiences and reinforcement of successful and best practice, including identifying deficiencies and assessing the needs for capacity building.
We can clearly see from this that although the APRM will still have problems here and there in terms of successful implementation, it still offers many advantages, including in terms of fostering national dialogue, promoting transparency and enabling countries to identify capacity gaps, weaknesses, strengths and deficiencies for improvement to raise their standard of living.
In fact, we can look at the APRM process as a new way of promoting democratic responsibility not only in Zambia but on the African continent as a whole. Weighed against such arguments as the one on the fact that the APRM is a voluntary, non-binding process and could result in it being seen as toothless process, we think that with more work put in, this process could offer more positive and beneficial results in terms of governance within our countries on the continent.
Let us not forget that democracy and good governance are ideals which are still not yet well-rooted in Africa and all efforts aimed at strengthening them should be encouraged. By this, we are not saying that other regions of the world have better records of democracy or good governance. No. Even in some of the so-called advanced democracies, we still witness a lot of poor governance in many areas.
However, what is important is for us as African countries to come to a realisation that if we opt to embrace democracy and the concept of good governance, we should do so wholeheartedly or with both hands. Democracy and good governance should not just be useful terms or concepts when it comes to political sloganeering. On the contrary, these are terms or concepts that should be translated into action and those committed to such ideals should show that by allowing criticism upon themselves.
And when we talk about good governance, we are talking about the manner in which those who are charged with responsibility discharge their duties. Good governance is about discharging one's responsibilities in an effective, transparent and accountable manner. Good governance entails the existence of efficient and accountable institutions - political, judicial, administrative, economic, corporate - and entrenched rules that promote development, protect human rights, respect the rule of law, and ensure that people are free to participate in, and be heard on, decisions that affect their lives.
It is such importance which should be attached to good governance which makes us feel that the APRM process is a necessary one if as a country we have to start moving forward. And we hope those in government will not take this process as an academic exercise to posture for a good name in the eyes of the international community. The government should commit itself to criticism from the people not just because that is what will please its donors, but because that is the right way to do things.
We do not want to start seeing contradictions in terms of the promises and assurances from the government and what is actually happening on the ground. We expect that through the APRM process which our government has committed itself to, the people of this country will be offered an opportunity to give their views or assessments in terms of the governance style of those presently in government.
Labels: APRM, EDITORIAL, NEPAD, TIZ
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TIZ welcomes Peer Review
By Bivan Saluseki
Tuesday July 10, 2007 [04:00]
ZAMBIA should open itself to objective and constructive criticism, Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) president Reuben Lifuka has said. In an interview, Lifuka yesterday said the decision by the Zambian government to open itself to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) was welcome although the review itself had not been inspiring.
"It is a pity that so far there has been very little meaningful engagement on the NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development) and APRM processes by civil society and the general public in Zambia. It is our fervent hope that this announcement by government is a firm commitment to ensure broad participation of every stakeholder," he said.
He said the APRM would only succeed if there were full involvement of citizens and stakeholders right from the beginning.
"It is unfortunate as well that government's announcement on the opening up to the APRM comes at a time when government is embarking on a process of trying to limit the space for involvement of NGOs in development through its intentions to enact an NGO bill, to regulate the operations of NGOs," he said.
"These two positions are conflicting and it is important that government is not seen to be saying on one hand, let us talk and please be engaged, while on the other hand, government is saying, we will regulate how you operate and how you engage in different processes."
Lifuka said the existence of NGOs and other interest groups, was a full expression of the freedom of association and expression, and government could not start legislating how people associated and expressed themselves.
"Transparency International Zambia equally has its concerns about the APRM particularly later stages when the country report has been prepared and submitted to the APRM Forum which is made up of the committee of participating heads of state and is the highest decision making authority of the APRM," he said.
Lifuka said so far, the peer review at that stage had not been inspiring and participating heads of states had not done enough to provide genuine and sincere advice on key areas of concern raised in the country reports.
"Such a benign approach to serious issues raised is not inspiring and makes the whole APRM process look like another grand scheme to waste resources which could be put to better use elsewhere," Lifuka said.
"The heads of state will not be doing us a favour as country if they elect to only sing our praise and fail to point out and out rightly condemn our shortcomings. Our sincere hope is that the Zambian government is doing this not simply to keep with the trend but genuinely use this as a platform to strengthen our democracy."
Lifuka said it would not help the Zambian people if the APRM was just another avenue of stroking the egos of political players.
"Let this be a collective effort by this generation of African leaders, to move the continent a step forward in the global community. We will only be taken seriously as a continent if we are able to assess our own mistakes and find lasting solutions for them," he said.
Lifuka hoped the government would take time to learn lessons from other countries that had concluded the APRM process particularly Ghana, which had had a successful process driven by an autonomous and multi-stakeholder national APRM governing council.
"Similarly, we need to be cautious not to rush the process and thus leave out the involvement of the citizens in this matter," said Lifuka.
The government has launched a national self-assessment process through the APRM.
Proponents of the review see the process as a novel way to promote democratic responsibility on the continent, but critics of APRM point out a number of difficulties. The process hinges on the premise that once reviewed, nations will have access to new resources in order to implement the recommendations. Proof of this is still to be shown.
Another problem rests on the fact that the APRM is a voluntary, nonbinding process, which could result in it being seen as toothless.
Labels: APRM, TIZ
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