Government's reluctance on constitution referendum worries Caritas
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Sun 17 June 2012, 13:24 CAT
SAMUEL Mulafulafu says government's reluctance on the constitution referendum, as clearly demonstrated by President Michael Sata's refusal to heed to calls for appointment of a referendum commission, is a matter of grave concern.
In a statement yesterday, Mulafulafu, the Caritas Zambia executive director, stated that what was in the public domain was that the PF government would want to use the popularly demanded referendum to elongate the constitution-making process beyond 2016 in order to create an opportunity for the next elections to be held under the current constitution with its deficient electoral laws to avoid provisions like the 50 per cent plus one being proposed in the new constitution.
He stated that since the constitution technical committee launched the draft constitution, there had been a lot of excitement generated by the content with different interest groups and individuals jostling to have a final say as to what should go in the final draft as content.
Mulafulafu stated that this was encouraging considering the fact that the launch of the draft was preceded by many negative factors which could have easily made a lot of people lose interest in the process, suspecting it to be yet again one of the wasteful constitution making ventures the country had gone through in the past.
"This scepticism could have been justified considering the fact that the initial performance by the PF government in moving the constitution making process forward was least inspiring given the many miscarriages the process had already experienced in the very initial stages," he said.
He stated that much as the benefit of doubt had been given to the process and now even with the extension of the period for discussing the draft from the initial 40 days to 90 days, there were still questions that beg to be answered.
Mulafulafu stated that it was still not crystal clear as to when the constitution-making process would end and there seemed to be also confusion as to what happens after the 90 days discussion of the first draft.
He stated that this time around, the people had emphatically reiterated what they had said at all times that the final draft constitution be subjected to a referendum before being enacted into law by Parliament.
"The technical committee has promised that this will be the case but we all know that this is a wish from them; they are not the legitimisers. The Mung'omba Constitution Review Commission proposed the same but they were overruled by the executive who opted for a dubious National Constitution Conference (NCC) which they manipulated to circumvent the need for a referendum," he stated.
"In the absence of a legal framework that would have clarified this matter, we need an unequivocal statement from government and better still the President that a referendum shall indeed be part of the process," he stated.
Mulafulafu stated there had been some disquiet on comments made by top ruling party officials when expressing their preferences on some specific issues in the draft constitution.
"But they may be too harshly treated as the draft constitution is for all to discuss. But what the top party and government officials should be weary of is not to insist that their individual views should be the way forward even when the majority of the Zambians are opposed to such views. They should not even shove their views on the throats of their party members as the party views. The likely danger is, holding such strong views by the executive and wanting such views to carry the day at all cost can lead to temptations of manipulating the process from an objective one to the one that will be very friendly to executive input. The fallen NCC is a good example," he stated.
He stated that much as the constitution technical committee was given the latitude to determine the pace of its work, it must be put under microscopic surveillance to ensure that its own inefficiency was not covertly used to motivate public outcry for more time.
"Though thorough consultations are needed, the process cannot go on forever. It is regrettable that to date government is not able to tell the public the budget within which the review process is working despite numerous promises to that effect. The public needs to know," stated Mulafulafu.
Labels: CARITAS, CONSTITUTION, SAMUEL MULAFULAFU
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Rupiah's public media claims embarrassing - Caritas
By Roy Habaalu
Sun 04 Mar. 2012, 11:58 CAT
RUPIAH Banda is embarrassing himself by claiming that the public media had turned into a government mouthpiece, says Caritas.
Commenting on the former president's recent statement that the public media had turned into government mouthpieces to a point where it had become unprofessional, Caritas Zambia executive director Samuel Mulafulafu said
Banda should not forget that he presided over a regime that served the interests of the ruling party and the government.
"The big man is really embarrassing himself. When did he realise that the public media is using taxpayers money when during his time he knew very well that the public media was abused?," asked Mulafulafu in an interview.
During the MMD's national card renewal exercise last Saturday, Banda said he was not asking for ‘too much' from the public media when he demanded fairness in their reporting.
"The newspapers themselves they were so vocal about supporting the MMD but now they find themselves as the ruling party's mouthpiece and are trying to be more vocal than those who have always stood up and taken certain positions to a point where it makes them look bad. The press must feel guilty on behalf of the people, particularly I am talking about the public press because it doesn't take away the right of the people to expect that the (Zambia) Daily Mail, the Times of Zambia, ZNBC are financed by our money, all of us Zambians and therefore they have to be fair. I know they want to keep their jobs especially now because that cousin of mine (President Michael Sata) doesn't tolerate, he can fire you anytime with immediate effect so we are not asking for too much. We ask them to tell the truth," said Banda.
But Mulafulafu said the public media had improved in its reporting compared to the way it operated under the Banda regime.
He said leaders must be consistent in the way they governed the country.
"If he (Banda) had made an effort that the public media reports objectively, he would not be complaining. It's important that when our leaders are in office they should have foresight because the same institutions that they are abusing somebody else will abuse them against them," he said.
Mulafulafu said the former head of state had no moral right to complain about unfair coverage by the public media having presided over a media that was very irresponsible.
"They (MMD) are looking for objectivity now but when they were in power they were encouraging the same bias that they feel is affecting them. It's important that when people are in leadership, they look towards the future because at one time they will be on the receiving end and the very institutions that they have weakened will not help them," said Mulafulafu.
Labels: CARITAS, RUPIAH BANDA, SAMUEL MULAFULAFU
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Caritas calls for efficient parliament
By Ernest Chanda
Tue 21 Feb. 2012, 12:01 CAT
CARITAS Zambia has advised members of parliament to avoid emotions but discuss substantive issues in the new session of Parliament. And Caritas Zambia has urged President Michael Sata to appoint a referendum commission that would be ratified by the current Parliament.
Giving his expectations from the second session of the 11th National Assembly which starts sitting today, executive director Samuel Mulafulafu said people expected a lot of serious bills presented in the sitting which deserve support from all members of parliament.
He said it was disappointing that from the previous sittings, members of parliament had chosen to be emotional over national matters.
"We want to see more substantial issues being discussed. I think one of the major issues that need to be discussed is legislations that have been demanded by the public; for example, the reinstatement of the Abuse of Office clause into the Anticorruption Commission Act. We are aware that there are many other legislative areas that have been billed for this sitting," Mulafulafu said in an interview yesterday.
"We would want to see an efficient Parliament that would take most of the
legal reforms that are required. Members of parliament are representatives of people. The trend that we had in the past is that we have a situation where members of parliament go to Parliament to present their own views as individuals or political parties; which is always an indication of a danger to democracy. These people are supposed to represent what the feelings of their constituencies are."
Mulafulafu urged the public to demand more from their members of parliament to enhance democracy.
He said the public should prevail on their members of parliament in order for them to speak on behalf of their constituents.
"So, we need to see a spirit of demand from the public that if they belong to a particular constituency, they must put pressure on their members of parliament to represent what their opinions are on a particular national matter. As long as we leave these parliamentarians to just speak their minds or that of their individual political parties, then the whole thing becomes meaningless," he said.
And Mulafulafu hoped that President Sata would take advantage of this sitting to appoint the referendum commission which should be ratified by parliament.
He said in the constitution-making process it was another matter that needed serious attention.
Labels: CARITAS, PARLIAMENT, SAMUEL MULAFULAFU
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Caritas calls for nationwide development
By Moses Kuwema
Thu 15 Sep. 2011, 13:53 CAT
CARITAS Zambia says there is need for an exclusive approach towards development which does not look at a particular political party's interest.
In an interview, Caritas Zambia executive director Samuel Mulafulafu said every part of the country should be accorded the government's intervention in terms of the needs and development concerns.
"There must be an exclusive approach towards development that does not look at constituencies or where particular political interest are. So our appeal to presidential candidates is that they should look at the country as a whole. In fact, we are tired of people always talking about their preferred region to the exclusion of the others. Even if a particular area is dominated by the opposition, it's still entitled to resources of the country in terms of development," Mulafulafu said.
She said the government's effort to ensure development should follow the plans of the country and not particular areas for parochial interest.
"As a country, we have a national plan which is supposed to be implemented according to the priorities of the dire needs of the country. So a president should not look at particular constituencies just because he or she likes it.
They should go to the plan that the government has devised as a way of approaching development in the country because that is based on assessments, based on policies," Mulafulafu said.
He said the role of a Republican president was not to look at constituencies, and people like President Rupiah Banda even had a slogan that he was a president for all Zambians.
"We don't see any successful president getting elected and focuses on a couple of constituencies while the rest of the country is neglected. They will not succeed because the others will not give him a chance and they will complain," said Mulafulafu.
Labels: CARITAS, SAMUEL MULAFULAFU
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Rupiah's govt has taken advantage of Levy's death - CARITAS
By Patson Chilemba
Tue 07 Dec. 2010, 04:01 CAT
RUPIAH Banda’s government has taken advantage of the death of Levy Mwanawasa to perpetrate corruption, says Samuel Mulafulafu. In an interview, Mulafulafu who is Caritas Zambia executive director, said everything the nation had seen under President Banda was a reversal in the fight against corruption.
He said this gave the people little hope on the future because the nation risked losing out on international funding.
Mulafulafu said the recent revelations from the Global Fund found both the government and some civil society organizations liable of abusing funds. He said Zambians were not impressed with President Banda’s fight against corruption.
Mulafulafu said due to lack of political will, the government had shown unwillingness to proceed in prosecuting the former president Frederick Chiluba’s plunder cases. He said the government had even gone ahead to remove the offence of abuse of office from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Act.
“If there is any situation where there has been any resemblance of fighting corruption, it has not been from the willingness of Mr Rupiah Banda. But it has been some actions that have been done to window dress or to try and resolve some relationship with the donors,” Mulafulafu said.
“Not that there is really organic interest from the government itself.”
Mulafulafu said the fight against corruption in the current administration died with president Levy Mwanawasa.
He said the nation had seen the scrapping off of the Task Force, removal of abuse of office and the subsequent efforts to ensure that Chiluba was let to go scot-free on corruption charges.
“All these are completely a series of stories that show that they have literally taken advantage of the death of Dr Mwanawasa to sort of perpetrate corruption. Which means that even when they were supporting him at the time when he was alive, they were not convinced about the need to fight corruption,” said Mulafulafu.
“Immediately he died, clearly there was an opportunity for them to do the things they would have done all the time.”
Labels: CARITAS, CORRUPTION, LEVY MWANAWASA, RUPIAH BANDA, SAMUEL MULAFULAFU
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NCC constitution-making process is a lost cause - Mulafulafu
By Patson Chilemba
Thu 19 Aug. 2010, 04:01 CAT
THE current constitution-making process is a lost cause, Caritas Zambia executive director Samuel Mulafulafu observed. Commenting on the constitution-making process undertaken by the National Constitutional Conference (NCC), Mulafulafu said there was no hope that the constitution made by the NCC would meet the people’s aspirations.
“They have got whatever they wanted using their numbers, either as representatives of MMD or government officials. It has come to the usual end where the ruling party and government had overwhelming majority and their views have prevailed over anyone else in terms of what has been the outcome of the NCC.”
Mulafulafu said claims by those in the government that the NCC was representing the views of the public were out of question. He said the clauses, which the MMD did not want had been thrown out, while those they wanted had been included in their draft constitution.
“One of the major questions that we had was ‘will the constitution review process go the usual route of the inquiries Act where it will be presented to the minister of justice or the report will go to the referendum’,” Mulafulafu said.
“And clearly we have been told that the report will go to the minister of justice, which will be the usual way where government will produce the white paper which will further be manipulated and be taken to Parliament for enactment into law. Parliament also will still have the power to debate it and remove the things that they don’t like.”
Mulafulafu said those who sat on the NCC did not represent the views of the people as contained in the Mung’omba report.
“They NCC delegates were just representing themselves and the economic interests that the NCC was bringing to them. The fact that they were discarding major positions that were subscribed to by the majority of the people was clearly the fact that they are not interested in what the views of the people are,” he said.
Mulafulafu said even the NCC’s u-turn on the degree clause and right to food, water and education was just a symbolic action meant to hoodwink the public that they had taken people’s concerns into account.
“And the fact that it just came from Mr Vice-President George Kunda to make that declaration and everybody followed, it shows really that the Executive had control of what was going on in the NCC,” Mulafulafu said.
“For us I don’t think we can be convinced by those trivial changes that they did in terms of changing positions.”
Mulafulafu observed that those in the NCC did not speak from principled positions because no reasons were advanced when Vice-President Kunda said the degree clause was a bad law.
“We expected to see those who were seriously committed to the fact that there should be a degree clause putting up an argument to sustain it, but there was none, which showed clearly they were just following what the Executive was saying,” Mulafulafu said.
“That has been the character of the NCC from the time that it started, that the key people from the government, from the ruling party have been driving the process.”
Mulafulafu said the people condemned justice deputy minister Todd Chilembo for describing economic rights as utopian.
He said the NCC u-turned over the matter because they were ashamed that the United Nations had recognized those rights.
“And when the draft came back for discussion, it is like they never fought that provision. Even Mr Chilembo himself didn’t pass any comment when it was proposed that it goes through,” Mulafulafu said.
“This NCC is wasted time, wasted resources. We will have to come back to this issue of the constitution once again. I think the way forward is just to abandon this whole process. I know that money has been wasted already, but we do not want to have another CRC.”
Mulafulafu said there should be a technical committee that would consolidate the information from the past constitutional review commissions and come up with a draft report.
Labels: CONSTITUTION, CORRUPTION, NCC, SAMUEL MULAFULAFU
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‘NCC has become a means of rewarding political sympathisers’
Written by Ernest Chanda
Thursday, September 03, 2009 12:09:27 AM
CARITAS Zambia executive director Samuel Mulafulafu has charged that the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) has become a means of rewarding political sympathisers.
Commenting on President Rupiah Banda’s extension of the NCC mandate by 10 months, Mulafulafu said the government did not seem to care about the resources being wasted.
“We have always said that this government does not seem to be serious about the constitution making process. The extension we are being told about contradicts what the Vice-President [George Kunda] told the nation recently that we shall conduct the 2011 election under a new constitution. This is a very undemocratic behaviour from the government,” Mulafulafu said.
“The NCC is now being used as a conduit to siphon the limited resources that we have. It has also become a means of rewarding political sympathisers. We will not agree to this as a nation because we do not have many resources to waste on endless exercises.”
He said government did not see the value of having a new and good constitution at the next elections.
“They [government] don’t seem to be in a hurry. This is a clear indication that we shall not have a new constitution before 2011. When you look at the 10 months that have been added, it takes us to almost mid next year. And when you consider other processes that should be done to come up with a final document we don’t have much time. This means that we shall go back to the same undemocratic constitution for our 2011 election. We urge government to show seriousness and consider the limited resources we are wasting on the NCC,” said Mulafulafu.
At the opening of the NCC sitting in Lusaka on Tuesday, chairperson Chifumu Banda announced that President Banda had approved the extension of the NCC mandate by 10 months.
Banda said he was happy that President Banda had approved the NCC’s proposal to have its mandate extended.
Labels: CARITAS, NCC, SAMUEL MULAFULAFU
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