How can the NCC and our Law makers be so wrong and backward
By Chanda Phiri-ex microblogger
Saturday, April 17, 2010, 12:03
Watching the first British prime ministerial debate on BBC world on DSTV, I was left with one question in my mind. How can our National Constitution Conference (NCC) delegates get it so wrong and appear archaic and backward in the way they have shredded the Mung’omba draft Constitution?
How in the world has Zambia spent so much money to allow a small group of people to produce an archaic document and claim that it will stand the test of time? It is really amazing to see what a rotten system can do to even the best minds.
There are a lot of vital clauses that the NCC has shredded and I will reserve them for a future blog by others more capable than me, but today, I have an issue on one of them and let me upack it. To begin with let me quote a story on Lusakatimes on Saturday, January 16, 2010 titled “NCC rejects articles aimed at making MPs vulnerable to recall”
“THE National Constitutional Conference (NCC) has rejected articles in the Mung’omba draft Constitution which would subject members of the National Assembly to a recall when they are not performing to the expectations of their electorate.The conference voted unanimously to have Article 188 and Article 189 deleted as they could promote anarchy in the country….”
Please note that this was a unanimous decision and all political parties are guilty of this crime except perhaps the Patriotic Front which is not taking part in this public spectacle.
This is what the the people whose forefathers gave us the kind of constitution the NCC want to perpetuate had to say in a live Debate when asked how they intended to re-establish the credibility of MPs in the eyes of the electorate, after all the scandals.
… I want to do three things to change the system. First of all, I want to give the right of recall to constituents. If your MP is misbehaving and is guilty of corrupt practices and parliament doesn’t act, you should have the right to recall that MP. The second thing we’ve got to do is give people the right to petition parliament so that your issues can be raised in parliament and that’s what we propose to do. Thirdly, and this is quite fundamental, and I don’t think David will support us on that, but I hope Nick will, we’ve got to reform the House of Commons and the House of Lords. We need a new House of Commons, a new House of Lords. We will have a referendum to elect members of parliament with more than 50% of the vote, and to have a House of Lords that is elected rather than hereditary or unaccountable. These are the changes we need…”- Gordon Brown, British Prime Minster
“Listen, none of this will make any difference if we allow this rotten system in Westminster to carry on where MPs have jobs for life, where they basically only need to get 20, 30% of your votes in their areas, then no questions asked, they don’t even need to bother until the next time there’s an election. There is a direct correlation between the hundreds of Labour and Conservative MPs who have got these safe seats, these jobs for life, and the levels of abuse in expenses.”-Nick Clegg leader of the Liberal Democrats
These are touch words uttered by people who have realised how flawed the system they have dumped on their former colonies has caught up with them. I say this because our constitution despite many changes still at the core reflect the traits of the one we inherited. People fail to realise that the colonial system was meant to disadvantage the locals and our politicians are using the same instruments to disadvantage anybody who does not sing their songs. In Britain one would argue that their system was meant to disadvantage those who were not in the elite circle. (I know I will be attacked on this one, I swear, but sorry I have issues with Monarchs.)
Thanks to the Zambian public for being way far ahead of their British Counterparts. They picked up on this problem long time ago and made sure that the Mung’omba draft Constitution had measures to curb such abuses.
What is upsetting is for the NCC to eat our hard earned taxes and shred what the people wanted and give us an archaic document. How can they be so wrong in this age of abundant knowledge and common sense. I bet most of these law markers have employees in one form or another. Are they telling us that if any of them gave their employee a five year contract and that employee stopped performing, would they continue to pay his or her wages? This is really common sense stuff and why can’t they see it?
MPs, the President included, are employed by the people. And if they are not performing, the people have the right to fire them even before the contract expires. What is evil and anarchy about that?MPs, the President included, are employed by the people. And if they are not performing, the people have the right to fire them even before the contract expires. What is evil and anarchy about that?
I have seen the economic indicators of our economy and they are good. But lets not mistake them for our good governance because they are nothing to do with the greatness of our leaders. They are all to do with China’s GDP that has kept our copper prices high. China’s GDP is 60% construction and I smell another housing bubble in the works and if that happens, God forbid, the copper price will nose dive and there will be no growth to talk about for Zambia. All the Infesters, oh sorry Investors will flee and all we shall be left with is our people.
That is why it is paramount that we invest in our people and the first step is a right constitution that will create fairness, equality and liberate our people to compete on the world stage. The World is flat and the world market is open to all and it is only the well prepared and motivated people who will take advantage. Zambians can compete with anybody anywhere in the world given an equal platform and it is incumbent upon our politicians to ensure that they deliver this for Zambians. True freedom and fairness. These two can unlock the potential of our entrepreneurs.
There are small countries like Israel that don’t have resources and yet what they have archived by just investing in people is extra ordinary. A must read book for our leaders, if they ever read, is a book by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, called Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle.
In conclusion, our valuable resource is our land and our people. We need to educate them, we need to free them from petty people holding our generation down because they want to protect their mediocre standards. Our children will no longer just compete with our next door Kasai neighbours in the north and Zimbabweans in the South. They shall be competing against the world!
Labels: CONSTITUTION, CORRUPTION, DEAN MUNG'OMBA, MMD, NCC
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MMD is using NCC to fix, divide opposition – Kazabu
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Wed 24 Feb. 2010, 08:40 CAT
FORMER Kitwe mayor Luxon Kazabu has charged that the MMD is now using the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) to fix and divide the opposition.
Commenting on the various progressive clauses in the Mung’omba draft constitution that have been rejected by the current NCC, Kazabu said the delegates to the conference had betrayed Zambians by serving the interests of the MMD and not the wishes of the majority Zambians.
He said it was disheartening that the constitution making process had lost direction as the people entrusted to come up with a people-driven constitution through the NCC were busy trashing critical recommendations for the sake of pleasing the MMD government.
He warned that the country risked going back to the constitution making process with every change of government because the people had been let down by those entrusted with the task.
Kazabu said civil society organisations and churches that initially declined to participate in the NCC had been vindicated, adding that the conference had been abused by the inbuilt MMD majority that were pushing the party’s agenda and not the people’s as prescribed by the Mung’omba draft constitution.
He said it was sad that critical clauses such as the 50 per cent plus one vote required for one to be declared Republican president had been subjected to a referendum when Zambians categorically stated through the Mung’omba draft constitution that the threshold would enhance fairness and legitimacy to the electoral process.
Kazabu said Zambians were tired of a minority government whose legitimacy remained questionable throughout their terms hence the recommendation for the 50 per cent plus one clause.
He said the NCC’s decision to throw out another provision that allowed political parties to merge after an election or during the life of a serving Parliament was not in the best interest of the country but a move meant to disadvantage the opposition.
“The MMD is scared. It is now using the NCC to fix and divide the opposition so that it becomes weak. This should not be allowed in our country, people should be able to resist politics of tyranny being practiced by the ruling party because Zambia is a democratic state and the wishes of the people must prevail every time,” Kazabu said.
He said it was regrettable that clauses that the MMD were comfortable with in the draft constitution had been quickly endorsed while those that were critical and meant to empower the majority people had been rejected maliciously.
Kazabu charged that a huge chunk of taxpayers’ money being channelled to the NCC was just being wasted because of the manner in which business was being handled at the conference.
Labels: CONSTITUTION, DEAN MUNG'OMBA, LUXON KAZABU, MMD, NCC, POLITICS
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NCC - a waste of time and money
By The Post
Sun 21 Feb. 2010, 04:00 CAT
It must now be clear to all that the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) is a waste of time and money.
It must be clear even to those participating in the NCC that they have betrayed public trust and what they are doing is not in public interest but their own narrow personal and group interests.
The whole exercise has been characterised by shallowness, pettiness and a desire to fix their real or perceived political opponents.
Those participating in the NCC seem to have perceived the whole process as nothing more than a forum in which they can express their demands and have their will prevail over those of others. This is not a way to come up with a constitution that can stand the test of time.
It is also clear that most of the participants in the NCC have no interest in the future nation, the future Zambia.
The present seems to owe them everything; they are propelled by expediencies of the moment and not the desire to come up with the constitution that will help us construct a more prosperous and democratic nation.
This is very dangerous because in their pursuit of today’s personal gains they are throwing away the future of their children, and their children’s children. We say this because the future nation will not be built in the future; it will be built on the threshold of today’s decisions and actions.
Given our present problems and the uncertain future that these give rise to, given the reality that we are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today and that we are confronted with the fierce urgency of now, in the unfolding life and history, it is criminal to see things in such a narrow way, with such short-sightedness.
We must work unceasingly to lift this nation to a higher destiny, to a new plateau of responsibility and vision.
The Constitution of a country is a national document of the highest importance. As the supreme law of the land, it must be recognized and respected as embodying the sovereign will of the majority of the people.
What we are seeing at the NCC is the betrayal, the abandonment of the sovereign will of the great majority of our people as expressed in the Mung’omba draft constitution which was a product of direct deep and extensive consultations with the people.
The will of the people has been subordinated to the whims of about 500 well-selected and remunerated characters. And it is clear that the great majority of these characters are not there to advance the interests of our people but their own and those of their political masters, their sponsors or benefactors.
For this reason, they have not hesitated to abandon the people’s wishes as expressed in the Mung’omba draft constitution. For instance, the people wanted 50 per cent plus one majority vote in a presidential election.
Themselves want simple majority and their will has more or less prevailed over that of the people. The people wanted increased press freedom in their country.
Them have taken measures not to advance press freedom but to curtail it. They have elevated their current political battles above the constitution and above the wishes of the people.
Their problems with one newspaper has blinded them from the true meaning and value of a free press.
Out of their political fears, they have openly advocated for curtailed press freedom. One of their commissioners, Chama Chilukuta, put it more aptly:
“The media today is quite dangerous. It is only today that we have certain print media publishing words like idiot, foolish towards fellow human beings or even the head of state.
I am not saying its all media, but one groundnut can destroy the goodness of the other groundnuts. We need to provide safety measures.”
This NCC commissioner doesn’t even realise that words like foolish are also found in the Holy Bible and are used in it even by Jesus Christ to describe the unacceptable behaviour of certain human beings, including that of King Herod whom Jesus referred to as a fox. So are we also being told that they should provide safety measures against the Holy Bible?
And in pursuit of one unacceptable groundnut they are ready to destroy, curtail press freedom in this country for everybody! What type of people are these? What type of reasoning is this?
We have never understood this type of reasoning that seems to suggest that the press will only enjoy full rights when every one of them is worthy of it; when it is more ‘responsible’. Don’t they know that constitutional rights do not have to be earned by conduct?
We hold that the greatest right in the world is the right to be wrong, that in the exercise thereof people have an inviolable right to express their unbridled thoughts on all topics and personalities, being liable only for the abuse of that right.
Press freedom, or any other right for that matter, would be a farce if it only meant the freedom to report pleasant things.
It is often said that a free press – which often forces us to confront that which we may find unsettling – is the price of democracy. We believe a free press is not costly to society, is not dangerous to a nation. It is, in fact, a reward to a nation, to democracy.
It is said that every man or woman should have an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he or she pleases before the public; to forbid this, is to destroy the freedom of the press; but if he or she publishes what is improper, mischievous, or illegal, he or she must take the consequences of his or her own temerity.
Of course, appreciating the fact that the right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously. Clearly, the mere fact that speech is accompanied by conduct does not mean that the speech should be suppressed under the guise of prohibiting the conduct.
And as we have stated before, we who so staunchly espouse free press and then seek to edit it must be wary that from today’s decisions might leach tomorrow’s hypocrisy.
And as Nelson Mandela intelligently advised, “none of our irritations with the perceived inadequacies of the media should ever allow us to suggest even faintly that the independence of the press could be compromised of coerced”.
We have repeated this advice from Madiba several times in our editorial comments but it seems the personal interests of these people are so entrenched; for them curtailing press freedom seems to be a matter of life and death and they will listen to nobody when it comes to that. They see a free press as being dangerous to their interests, to their political survival.
There will always be deficiencies in everything that is done by a human being. But that should not be the basis to curtail liberties. The cure for an irresponsible press is more press freedom.
This may seem a paradox, but in the name of free speech, free press, a democracy must sometimes defend the rights of individuals and groups whose actions, whose behaviour, whose words are found to be unacceptable.
These rights are defended out of the conviction that, in the end, open debate, a free press will lead to greater truth and wiser public actions than if they are stifled. For this reason people are harmed when a press is suppressed or repressed.
Looking at where we are coming from in terms of the way we have been governing the affairs of our country, the two most decisive factors affecting the consolidation and expansion of democracy in our nation will be the quality of political leadership and economic development.
Listening to the debates at the NCC, one wonders where this country is headed, what this country can achieve with such low capacity, such mediocrity at the helm of this politics, at the apex of this constitution-making process.
It is also clear that with such high levels of unemployment, of poverty and low economic development, people lose the ability to think properly because their immediate needs take precedence over the future of their country.
For a few millions of kwacha, people traded the future of their country for the present needs of their stomachs or pockets. Those who say that economic development makes democracy possible and that political leadership makes it real are very right when one looks at what has been going on at the NCC.
The constitution should reflect the wishes and aspirations of all our people. If it doesn’t, it will not last for long. We say this because the constitution is at the heart of the nation-building process. If it is not right, the nation has no alternative but to change it and make it better or right.
We have no doubt if tomorrow there will be a change of government another constitution review process will be initiated to remedy the situation. People shall be truly free only when their constitution is people-driven.
The constitution must be a medium that regulates human conduct in necessary matters concerning the common good. And for this reason, the constitution must acknowledge, protect, foster, together with the public duties binding all citizens the rights of all individuals and organisations.
Labels: CONSTITUTION, DEAN MUNG'OMBA, NCC
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NCC abandons Mung’omba recommendation on press freedom
By Ernest Chanda
Sun 21 Feb. 2010, 04:01 CAT
SEVERAL delegates at the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) on Thursday refused to grant absolute freedom to the media as proposed in the Mung'omba draft constitution.
This was despite human rights committee chairperson Enock Mulembe's clarification that there were restrictions in other clauses ahead. Article 57 (1) of the Mung'omba draft constitution states that, “There shall be freedom of the press and other media.”
Most delegates argued that if left without control the media would feast on people without due respect for their rights.
Southern Province minister Daniel Munkombwe argued that giving the media such freedom would amount to opening a Pandora's box.
“Yes, press freedom is a necessity, but have we not heard in this country? So far certain radio stations create debate to merely scandalise and scorn people. We have known also some sections of the media which totally... So if we open a Pandora's box and give them freedom the country will go.
I'm not saying we are against this but I'm simply saying there must be some safety valve because if left like it's very easy for a multinational company to buy a whole range of the press and suffocate the country,” debated Munkombwe.
Munkombwe's views were supported by Northmead Assembly of God church overseer Bishop Joshua Banda, Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ) representative Dr Antonette Phiri, among others.
Commissioner Chama Chilukuta from Nchelenge District Council complained that he was not happy with some of the language used by the media.
“The media today is quite dangerous. It is only today that we have certain print media publishing words like idiot, foolish towards fellow human beings or even the Head of State. I'm not saying it's all the media, but one groundnut can destroy the goodness of the other groundnuts. We need to provide safety measures,” said Chilukuta.
And Reverend Gibson Nyirenda, one of the Lusaka pastors who honoured former president Frederick Chiluba, claimed that some people in the media had become too powerful.
“Some people in this country have become untouchable. They write what they want and say what they want. If we don't give the media safety measures we are simply giving them a blank cheque for pornography. Every time you open the papers you read insults and see pornographic pictures. The world over is talking about fighting HIV/AIDS. Now, how shall we fight AIDS if we give the media a blank cheque?” Rev Nyirenda asked.
But Bweengwa UPND member of parliament Highvie Hamududu challenged those complaining to form their own newspapers and write what they wanted. He said there were enough defamatory laws in the country for those who felt insulted by the media.
“This country is not going forward. I support this Article 100 per cent and it must be approved without any infliction. We all know that in this country the press is subject to the Constitution.
I think the people talking about insults don't understand the Constitution. If the press insult you take them to court because they are subject to the Constitution of the land. Why do you want to continue chasing one newspaper when you have a chance to create your own?”
Hamududu inquired. “I want to caution people in this conference not to be subjective. You won't be in power forever because one day you will need the same press you are trying to gag. If you doubt me ask my brother George Mpombo, who if not for the press today he would have been dead and buried. But because of the press he has risen up and is more read about than some of you. So if you are not happy with what the press writes open up your own newspaper and write what you want.”
His views were supported by Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) president Andrew Sakala who said if passed, the media would for the first time be supported by a stand alone clause.
When it came to voting, the conference resolved to adopt the clause but with the importation of limitations from Article 20 (3) a, b and c of the current Constitution.
Labels: CONSTITUTION, DEAN MUNG'OMBA, GIBSON NYIRENDA, HIGHVIE HAMUDUDU, NCC, PRESS FREEDOM
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Consider adopting dual citizenship clause, Chongwe appeals to NCC
Written by Ernest Chanda
Monday, May 04, 2009 2:57:46 PM
LUSAKA lawyer Dr Roger Chongwe has called on the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) plenary to consider adopting the dual citizenship clause as proposed in the Mung'omba draft report. In an interview ahead of the NCC final sitting mid this month, Chongwe said the idea of dual citizenship had more legal advantages than disadvantages.
He said it was a submission that came from the majority of Zambians and should not be overshadowed by the minority in the NCC.
"I welcome the Mung'omba recommendation for dual citizenship. In fact, it was also reflected in the Mwanakatwe report and this means that the proposal came from the majority Zambians. Legally, all those children born and brought up outside Zambia will be free to assume Zambian citizenship and bring their money here to invest. This will be a clear demonstration of respect for human rights. It will also give us some economic advantage," Chongwe said.
"We have Zambians living in countries like the United States, Australia, South Africa, Canada and many others. Already their children have been legally adopted as nationals of those countries, so why should it be a problem in this country?"
Chongwe said times were changing and it would not help Zambia to dwell on old systems.
"I know that it was opposed by a small group of people last year, among them my late brother Lieutenant General Christon Tembo. Of course as a military man he had his own reasons, but those reasons do not suffice in modern day Zambia. If we claim to have respect for human rights in this country, then we should seriously consider adopting this clause," Dr Chongwe said.
He said the NCC delegates should have adopted the dual citizenship clause instead of recommending for an appointed Vice-President to take over when the President dies.
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with the dual citizenship clause. There should be no unnecessary controversy on this issue because it is straightforward. It is far much more desirable than the nonsense of an appointed Vice-President taking over automatically when the President dies. This is nonsensical and it should be rejected at the plenary. It did not come from people, but it was their own view, which has been supported by their Vice-President [George Kunda]. After all he is also a member of the NCC so I'm made to believe that they hatched it together," Chongwe said.
According to the Mung'omba Constitution Review Commission (CRC) report of 2005, there were more Zambians who submitted in favour of dual citizenship than those who opposed it.
The petitioners submitted that the Constitution should provide for dual citizenship because there was need to encourage Zambians living abroad who had acquired foreign citizenship to retain their Zambian citizenship.
In its report on page 103, the Mung'omba CRC recommends that the Constitution should permit dual citizenship only in respect of Zambian citizenship acquired by birth or descent.
And the Mung'omba Draft Constitution of 2005 states in Part V clause 20 (1): "A citizen, by birth or descent, shall not lose that citizenship by acquiring the citizenship of another country. (2) A citizen, by birth or descent, and who, before commencement of this Constitution, acquired the citizenship of another country and as a result ceased to be a Zambian citizen shall be entitled to apply to the Citizenship Board to regain that citizenship."
Labels: CONSTITUTION, CRC, DEAN MUNG'OMBA, DUAL CITIZENSHIP, NCC, ROGER CHONGWE
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Beware of political opportunists
By Editor
Saturday July 21, 2007 [04:00]
Nearly a month after the political party presidents’ summit at Mulungushi International Conference Centre, there is enough evidence now why politicians should not be allowed to posture as servants of the people.
Going by the behaviour of some of our politicians over the constitution-making process in the aftermath of what was mistaken for a breakthrough over this process, the cynicism with which people view politicians is justifiable.
Prior to the inter-party dialogue among political parties, we do recall that most politicians were singing the song of going by the people’s will in the constitution-making process. Now that politicians think they have succeeded in geting what they have always wanted, they think that it is time to change the rhythm of the original song.
We are not surprised because our politicians are the kind of people who, once they see some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of personal benefits, they can go to the extent of buying the whole tunnel just to make sure that they can derive maximum benefits unto themselves.
Now that some of these unprincipled, job-seeking politicians have seen some potential benefits from the constitution-making process, they want to go to the extent of ‘buying out’ the entire process. They are now willing to sacrifice the will and wishes of the people just because some prospect of this or that benefit is blinking in their faces. What crass political opportunism is this?
Listening to some of our politicians and considering their sudden infatuation with a process which they were originally not so keen on, it is clear that they have all along been posing as servants so that they become the masters over all of us. It is truly funny, yet scary, that some opposition political leaders are now speaking as if they actually belong to the ruling party and not their parties. Even some members of the ruling party are sounding more reasonable than some of the so-called opposition leaders over the constitution-making process.
Maybe we can understand this and perhaps we need to be more fair to some of our politicians because after all, they need jobs and their parties are nothing but shells; their parties are just on paper and they are a nullity to our political process and they think they can only add value to themselves by trying to align themselves to the party in power.
We have repeatedly stated that when it comes to the constitution-making process, the people of Zambia can only trust politicians at their own peril. There is a consistent pattern of dishonesty and inconsistencies that serves to show why politicians should not be left on their own to deal with the constitution-making process.
As we have stated already, some of the politicians have conducted themselves in a manner that shows clearly that nothing positive should be expected from them in terms of their role in this process.
Our position remains the same on this matter: The people, and not politicians, will have to take a leading role if a genuine and long-lasting constitution has to come out of this process.
Yes, we have heard some politicians claim that they are an integral part of the political system and they cannot be reduced to by-standers, just to observe the process from the sidelines. Nobody denies the fact that this process should be a collective one because the new constitution should not be a product to serve the interests of a particular set of people.
This is the reason why we are opposed to the idea that politicians, under the mask of the Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue, should now claim more relevance and importance to the constitution -making process when they have all along not shown any serious commitment. It is actually downright mockery to the people of Zambia for some politicians to talk about inclusiveness in this process when they want it to be hijacked by themselves and unto themselves.
The people’s wishes are well articulated in the Mung’omba Constitution Review Commission (CRC) report, and those who will go against the recommendations in the CRC draft report will certainly not be relevant to the process.
So even as the constitution conference bill is being circulated and debated, of prime importance will be the fact that its final form or content should be informed by the CRC draft report and recommendations. Anything short of that will not be of any use to the desires of the people of Zambia to have for the first time a constitution that they can truly claim to be theirs or their own.
Needless to say that it would be difficult to completely eradicate political opportunism in this process because some politicians simply cannot survive without being opportunists.
What is important, however, is for all of us to remain vigilant and ensure that political opportunists are not given space to push their pocket agendas in a serious process like this one. Obviously, the opportunists will not announce their arrival or disclose their identity, but they can be identified by their talk and their actions.
And so far we have already identified some of them. So, let’s keep our guard on high alert so that we can keep all political opportunists out of the constitution-making process.
Labels: CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCE, CRC, DEAN MUNG'OMBA, EDITORIAL, ZCID
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Dialogue over constitution
By Bivan Saluseki and Mwala Kalaluka
Saturday June 30, 2007 [04:00]
THE dialogue over the constitution making process is not genuine, Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) president Reuben Lifuka has said. And the Oasis Forum has vowed to go ahead and hold peaceful demonstrations over the delayed enactment of the constitution during the SADC summit to be held in Lusaka in August this year.
Lifuka said on Thursday that while the efforts at dialogue should be commended, TIZ was worried that the dialogue was not genuine and sought to promote partisan views of politicians alone.
"We are worried at the apparent desire to advance the primacy of political parties in a process that is not partisan but national. We are equally taken aback that some of the proposed measures by the summit of presidents imply additional use of public resources on matters that were exhaustively dealt with by the Mung'omba Constitution Review Commission,” Lifuka said.
“While we agree that the Mung'omba CRC draft constitution and report are not beyond reproach, we find the manner adopted to deal with the recommendations narrowly focused and a recipe for anarchy.”
Lifuka said TIZ was surprised that the political parties that met at the summit of presidents were not sensitive to the fact that President Mwanawasa and his cabinet had assumed the responsibility to adopt the constitution by determining what the party in power agreed to and disagreed with.
He said the calls for a constituent assembly primarily were an expression that the Zambian people desired and that the adoption of the constitution was not a preserve of a single group
"The views of the people on the constitution are critical and these cannot be short changed for parochial partisan interests.
Unfortunately, the proposals from the summit of presidents show that political parties, that is, the ruling party and the opposition political parties have now taken it upon themselves to adopt the Mung'omba CRC and decide what they agree and disagree with in terms of the recommendations made," said Lifuka.
"Holding the constitutional conference in the manner that is being proposed is outside the recommendations of the Mung'omba CRC and it means therefore that political parties have rejected the proposed measures relating to the adoption of the constitution and what we have is a totally new recommendation altogether.
“The question is where are the political parties drawing this authority to tamper with the recommendations of the Mungo'mba CRC? And what would happen if civil society or any other interest group, equally sat and decided to reject or modify some of the recommendations of the CRC just to suit their self-serving interests?"
Lifuka said he did not expect politicians to empty their own pond and decide, for instance to reduce the powers of the president, and institute stringent checks and balances in the exercise of political powers.
Lifuka said the proposed establishment of a conference working committee was another form of a CRC.
"The question is how different is this process from the one that the CRC followed? Clearly the CRC received divergent views and submissions on the constitution and the CRC members debated and took different positions on these submissions and in the end they arrived at some consensus and it is this consensus that is reflected in the draft constitution and report," he said.
"We wonder why this exercise should be done all over again if not for political parties to try and dilute and 'doctor' the Mungo'mba CRC and ensure the removal of important recommendations which they consider to be a threat to their hold on power or their aspirations for power."
Lifuka said in essence, the political parties wanted to submit to the constituent assembly a watered down version of the Mungo'mba CRC draft constitution, which would no longer reflect the views of the people, but the views of a limited group dominated by politicians.
He reminded political parties that President Mwanawasa equally tried to 'doctor' the Mungo'mba CRC draft constitution and report when he unilaterally set up a team of civil servants to discuss and propose a roadmap as well as the procedures to follow in setting up a Constituent Assembly outside the recommendations of the CRC.
H wondered why President Mwanawasa and political parties were finding it difficult to move straight to a constituent assembly where all stakeholders would be able to discuss their positions on content.
"Let government take to Parliament a constituent assembly bill and not a bill to simply facilitate access to funding from the national treasury. We do not support calls for partial amendments to the constitution as proposed, because this departs from the letter and spirit of the recommendation by the CRC that the Constitution should be repealed and replaced," he said.
Lifuka said the constituent assembly would provide a framework for stakeholders to agree with each other on content issues or even disagree.
"But at least, there will be a mechanism to reach consensus and finally adopt the constitution. The sideshows as proposed by the summit of presidents are unnecessary distractions and costly to the ordinary Zambian person. The constitutional conference - if that is the politically correct term for the constituent assembly, will only be acceptable if its focus is on the core mandate of adopting the constitution and nothing else," said Lifuka.
"President Mwanawasa is urging us to give this process started under the Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue a chance to succeed, we say this is a familiar line - we remember vividly that President Mwanawasa in 2003 asked the Zambians to give the CRC process a chance to succeed - what has changed? It seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same."
And the Oasis Forum has said the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID) was just a talking shop for politicians to resolve their differences and was not the right organisation to use to come up with a good constitution.
Featuring on The Lusaka Star programme on UNZA Radio yesterday, Oasis Forum spokesperson Musa Mwenye said peaceful demonstrations would be carried out during the August SADC heads of state summit in Lusaka because other regional leaders have to know President Mwanawasa’s antics on the constitution making process.
He was responding to concerns by a University of Zambia (UNZA) lecturer, who called in and said President Mwanawasa’s recent turn-around on the constitution issue was just a ploy to pacify the situation ahead of the SADC summit to be hosted by Zambia.
Mwenye said demonstrations over the constitution would be extended from the SADC meeting up to Parliament so that the point is driven home.
“Whether or not there is public policy stint, that can only be elaborated by those involved but for us as Oasis Forum we have planned to hold peaceful demonstrations during the SADC conference,” Mwenye said.
“We want to drive the point home to the President’s counterparts that this is what is happening in Zambia.”
Mwenye said the Forum and all the other stakeholders it was collaborating with were still resolute on having a good constitution.
“The Oasis Forum is also very resolute, collectively and also as the Coalition Group on the Constitution (CGC),” Mwenye said.
“We are resolute on what we want as a people.”
He said the Forum would never be fooled twice on the constitution review process, because they were alive to the fact that President Mwanawasa could go against the recommendations of the ZCID just as he did on those contained in the Mung’omba CRC report.
He urged Zambians never to surrender the constitution review process to the whims of politicians.
“If we leave it entirely to the politicians we are going to have a lot of problems in the composition and basic provisions of our constitution. That is why it should be more inclusive,” Mwenye said.
“This is not to say politicians are not an important element. They are a very important element, so is the government, but they are not the determining factor, they cannot drive the process. They can just be there as one of the many voices that can formulate this document.”
He further said they were aware that most political parties were against recommendations of appointing cabinet and deputy ministers outside parliament.
“These are the same people who have been crossing floors and creating by-elections and causing huge amounts of money to be lost from the government coffers,” Mwenye said.
He stressed that since the constitution was a document that reflects the complexion of government it must belong to the people and not the politicians.
“You cannot have politicians who are presidents in waiting. You cannot have a President who is an incumbent deciding on the complexion of something that they will directly benefit on,” Mwenye said.
“It belongs to the people, the structure of government flow starts from this particular document.”
And answering concerns on the involvement of the ZCID road map in the constitution’s adoption, Mwenye said the people wanted the government who it gave the recommendations of the Mung’omba report to categorically state whether it had agreed to enforce the people’s aspirations on the constitution making process.
He said it would be premature to discuss the differences between the constitution conference, as suggested by the summit of presidents, and the constitutional assembly before the government states its position.
“It has been very interesting and this has been unfolding in the past few weeks. It’s not about the form, it’s about the function. If you recall on Sunday we issued a statement, where we as CGC asked the government to categorically state that the constitution conference will in fact adopt the constitution but on the same day the Minister of Information issued completely conflicting press statements in the Daily Mail and Times of Zambia and you and I know that the Daily Mail and Times of Zambia are the mouthpieces of the government.”
Mwenye pointed out that President Mwanawasa’s statement in Ndola on Thursday that there would be a refrendum to decide whether or not there should be a constituent assembly also made matters worse.
He said until the government comes out in the open on the mode of adoption, the people would find it difficult to tell the difference between a constitutional conference and a constituent assembly.
“What we are saying is that there is no clarity as to what this constitutional conference will do and as you know governments in Africa have thrived on confusion,” Mwenye said.
“When there are ambiguities then we have these things coming up.”
He said the changes in terminologies over the constitution have just bred confusion.
“I am confused as to why the terminology was changed. I had expected the political leaders and also the President to come out categorically and say we will do the will of the people as expected in the Mung’omba report,” he said. “What is wrong if the function of the constitutional conference is the same as that of the constituent assembly, to just say government has accepted to have the constituent assembly? Why should we change terminologies and have these conflicting statements from ministers?”
He called on the people to remain focussed.
During the recent ZCID-organised summit of presidents political parties, who included President Mwanawasa agreed that a constitutional conference would adopt the next constitution.
Meanwhile, Zambia National Federation for the Blind (ZANFOB) president Wamundila Waliulwa called in and urged the Oasis Forum not to relent in its fight for a better constitution.
Labels: CRC, DEAN MUNG'OMBA, OASIS FORUM, TIZ
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