Simwinga urges support for Sata's devolution efforts
By Mwila Chansa-Ntambi
Tue 06 Mar. 2012, 11:59 CAT
THE Barotseland Agreement should be understood in the context of a devolved system of governance, says Ali Simwinga.
And Simwinga says there is need to support President Michael Sata's efforts of devolution, adding that countries that had devolved were doing better in terms of development than those that had not.
Commenting on the ongoing debate over the Barotseland Agreement of 1964, Simwinga, the immediate past Kitwe town clerk who was also the longest-serving town clerk in Zambia for 19 years said at his residence in Kitwe last Wednesday that if people isolated the Barotseland Agreement from the principle of a devolved system of government, they would be shooting in the dark.
"I have had the honour to serve as member of the Constitutional Review Commission under the Willa Mung'omba which was constituted by the late president Levy Patrick Mwanawasa and if you recall, that commission undertook a tour of all the 150 constituencies in Zambia. So I know what our people said, what they submitted and I am also quite familiar with what the commission after gathering all this evidence, both oral and written, did recommend on this particular issue of the Barotse Agreement," Simwinga said.
He added that when the Mung'omba CRC deliberated on the issue of Barotseland Agreement, commissioners proceeded to consider people's submissions on the Barotseland issue within the framework of local government and in particular devolution.
Simwinga explained that the Mung'omba Commission was in agreement with the observations of the Mvunga Commission that the issue could only be settled by the parties concerned in terms of the provisions of the agreement in question.
"The commission also noted that even the Mwanakatwe Commission recommended that the government and the Barotse Royal Establishment should negotiate over the agreement. However, it was the commission's view that since these submissions were motivated by the desire that power should devolve to the royal establishment, the matter should be considered within the context of devolution of power to provinces and districts and that is the issue," he said.
"The commission recommended on page 511 as follows: 'the commission recommends that the Barotse Agreement should be addressed through the devolved and decentralised system of local government as recommended in this report."
Simwinga observed that because the above recommendations had not found themselves in the country's laws, the people of Western Province felt, and legitimately so, that they were not getting an equitable share of the national cake.
"Now I have heard debates that no President Michael Sata during the campaigns indicated that he would restore the Barotseland Agreement. Well, I did not accompany him on his campaign trails but the few times I heard him, I heard him say he will respect the Barotseland Agreement because it accorded him an opportunity to practice a devolved system of government and I think we should not quote people out of context and that is my understanding of the issue at hand," Simwinga added.
He urged Zambians not to shelve documents but read and understand them so as not to mislead others.
"So I think those of my colleagues who are arguing on the restoration of the Barotseland Agreement without reference to a devolved system of government, in my humble view, are arguing out of context," said Simwinga.
And Simwinga said it was sad that people were complaining about realignments and increase in districts.
"Let me tell you that the Netherlands as a country is much smaller than the Copperbelt Province but it has 385 districts compared with ours which is a massive country with over 70 districts. So tell me, which one is easier to manage, the smaller unit or the bigger one?" Simwinga wondered.
Labels: ALI SIMWINGA, BAROTSELAND AGREEMENT, DISTRICTS, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, MICHAEL SATA, MUNG'OMBA DRAFT CONSTITUTION
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‘Govt should not override the needs of Zambians’
By Kombe Chimpinde in Mazabuka
Sat 22 Jan. 2011, 03:59 CAT
SOME Mazabuka residents say the Mung’omba draft report is the only legitimate document that should be adopted as the constitution of Zambia.
During a meeting convened by Citizens Forum at Mazabuka’s Nchete House, the residents said
the current NCC draft constitution did not reflect their wishes that they submitted in the Mung’omba draft report during the review of the Constitution in 2003.
Addressing residents, area development committee chairman Amos Chombege warned that the government would not be allowed to override the needs of Zambians.
“They should not take Zambians for granted. You saw what happened in Tunisia. The President and ministers must bear in mind that they are servants of the people. They are there because of our votes and taxpayers money and so they must listen to our demands when we say we want a new constitution that reflects the wishes of Zambia,” he said.
Chombege listed the social, cultural and economic rights, the 50 per cent plus one, appointment of cabinet ministers from outside the party and swearing of a presidential candidate after 90 days as some of the laws recommended in the Mung’omba draft but scrapped off in the NCC draft report.
He said that the government would only be compelled to serious provision of social and economic rights and proper governance of Zambians if they were enshrined in the constitution.
“This government has said that it is not possible to enshrine a law to provide social rights to all Zambians. But look at how money is spent when there are by-elections.
The reason is simple; by-elections are provided for in the constitution and it is mandatory for the government to look for funds to hold an election. So if these social rights are included, government will be mandated to provide social services to all Zambians,” he said.
Chombege called on Zambians to remain steadfast in their demands for a new constitution and not be hoodwinked by the government.
And Citizens Forum Mazabuka chapter coordinator Joseph Mfula said a people-anchored constitution was imperative as it was a guiding principle of any nation.
“When you talk about the governance of the country you need to have proper guidelines enshrined in the constitution. Zambia’s governance system is flawed because there was lack of proper guidelines in the Constitution that suits the wishes of the MMD and not the people who form the government,” said Mfula.
Labels: CONSTITUTION, MAZABUKA DISTRICT, MUNG'OMBA DRAFT CONSTITUTION, NCC
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Kaingu blasts Barotse secession advocates
Monday, November 1, 2010, 9:10
MWANDI Member of Parliamnet (MP) Micheal Kaingu has condemned the group calling for the restoration of the 1964 Baroste Agreement saying it will bring divison and disunity in the country.
Mr Kaingu said in an interview yesterday the restoration of the agreemnet would impact negatively on the nation and the unity Zambia had been expirencing since indepedence.
Mr Kaingui who is Community Development minister said the recent calls should not be tolarated by all peace loving Zambians who believed in the ‘One Zambia, One nation’ spirit.
“People should acknowledge that life is dynamic and they should not dwell on archaic laws which will not beneift Zambia as a nation,” he said.
He said all those aspiring for presidency could do it without calling for the restoration of the old agreement which aimed at disuniting Zambians.
“The Zambian laws are so liberal such that anyone who want to stand as president for the Zambia can compete favourably from any province since the atmopshere is conducive,” he said.
And Independent Churches of Zambia (ICOZ) board chairperson David Masupa said the country appreciated what the Baroste Royal Establishmnet (BRE) contributed to the attainment of indepependce but should consider the repercursion that this agreement had for Zambia.
He said the Mung’omba Constitution Review Commission and the National Constitution Conference (NCC) rejected to include this agreement in the Constitution as it would have caused other royal highness of different tribes to lobby for the same thereby bringing division in Zambia.
“This nation is a united nation, that is why we stand on the ‘One Zambia, One Nation’ slogan. we don’t want a situation where each province will rise to say they want to be an independent state,” Revereand Masupa said.
He said all the people of Western Province should be lobbying for from Government was the development of the province and not something that would divide the nation.
He said there was need for massive development in the province and the people there should make sure that Government channelled more funding to the area to develop it and bring it to a standard where other provinces are, or even better.
[Times of Zambia]
Labels: BAROTSE FREEDOM MOVEMENT, MICHAEL KAINGU, MUNG'OMBA DRAFT CONSTITUTION, SECESSION, WESTERN PROVINCE
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Kunda excluded CRC commissioners from NCC - Harrington
By Ernest Chanda
Sun 08 Aug. 2010, 10:00 CAT
WILLIAM Harrington has accused Vice-President George Kunda of having schemed to exclude former Mungo'mba Constitution Review Commission (CRC) commissioners from the constitution-making process so that he could easily push the government agenda.
In an interview yesterday, the former Mung'omba CRC commissioner charged that Vice-President Kunda had been used by the government to reject people's submissions through the National Constitutional Conference (NCC). Harrington wondered why Vice-President Kunda rejected the idea of having former commissioners as ex-officio NCC members.
"It's a great pity that Vice-President George Kunda allowed himself to be used by the government against the will of the people.
It was him who rejected the idea of former commissioners being ex-officio members of the NCC. When we suggested that, he strongly objected the idea,” Harrington explained.
“I remember that we travelled across this country at a great cost getting people's submissions. And when we kept these submissions in our draft constitution, it's because we listened to the people and we wanted to grant them their wish.
That is why even at the NCC we wanted to defend our recommendations. I'm not saying that all of us former commissioners should have been there, but at least even our chairman Mr Willa Mung'omba should have been there to defend the people's will and make certain clarifications.
“These guys have behaved in this manner because there was no one to defend Mung'omba's report. The few former commissioners who were there were representing different organisations. Even in Parliament when a minister introduces a bill, he has to be there to explain and defend it.
So, why did George Kunda reject our presence at the NCC? The answer is obvious; he was being used by government to suppress the people's will, and he has succeeded."
Harrington wondered why the NCC could call on people to make the same submissions that the conference rejected at the plennary.
"I know that these guys are not doing things in the interest of the people, but I don't know what their motive is.
The things people submitted in the 40-day period are the same things they submitted under Mung'omba CRC and other commissions. And these are the things that the NCC rejected at the plenary, so what is the relevance of this public submission?” Harrington asked.
“In my view, right from the beginning the NCC's lifespan should have been reduced to six months. Or alternatively, the NCC should have been abolished and a team of constitutional lawyers could have given us a good constitution. This could have cut down on the unnecessary costs this NCC has incurred.”
The NCC completed deliberations on all the 11 committee reports as compiled from the Mung'omba draft constitution and adjourned sine die on April 29, 2010.
Prior to the adjournment, several articles of considerable public interest were not adopted by the NCC according to public will.
These include, among others, the rejection of an elected Vice-President, the introduction of a first degree as one of the qualifications for Presidential candidates and the refusal to agree on the fifty per cent plus one voting system for a President; a clause that was referred to a referendum.
On June 22, NCC chairperson Chifumu Banda released the draft constitution and gave the public 40 days in which to read and comment on the document.
However, the NCC has not gone round the country to get people's submissions as prescribed in Part VI Article 23 (1, C and D) of the 2007 NCC Act.
The 40-day period officially ended on Saturday July 31 and the NCC plenary is expected to reconvene for a week starting on Tuesday this week to consider people's comments on the draft constitution.
Thereafter, the NCC secretariat will make a final draft constitution that will be presented to the Minister of Justice on August 31, 2010.
The Minister of Justice will later present the draft constitution to Parliament for debate and subsequent adoption of respective articles, as the House will determine.
Labels: CRC, GEORGE KUNDA, MUNG'OMBA DRAFT CONSTITUTION, NCC, WILLIAM HARRINGTON
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