Poll inadquances have exposed gaps in Constitution - ZCID
By Kombe Chimpinde
Wed 28 Sep. 2011, 13:58 CAT
Inadequacies witnessed during the polls have exposed the many serious gaps in the existing Republican Constitution, according to ZCID. And ZCID has called on all Zambians and political parties against political retribution.
Zambia Centre for Inter Party Dialogue (ZCID) executive director Chomba Chella told journalists that the many gaps had continued to render the country's electoral process weak and prone to suspicion.
"A good electoral process should be one that is clearly embedded in the law in such a way that it makes electoral contest smooth and predictable," Chella said.
He said there was need for an electoral process guided by clear constitutional principles that make participants comfortable.
Chella noted that for this to be done, there was need to ensure laws that would guide the duration of the announcement of elections; ensure low cases of electoral violence; prevent the marked high level of intimidation among the electorate; and the unprofessional conduct by the police service.
"Despite the massive support the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) received from government and cooperating partners, the election management body's performance was below par compared to 2008. For instance, in a number of polling districts, materials arrived late, thereby delaying the voting process, causing unnecessary anxiety and in some cases violence. Some electoral commission officers were also clearly partisan," he said.
And Chella said that ZCID had received numerous cases of political retribution.
Chella said that political retribution must not be allowed to continue because it took away from the hard reputation of Zambia as a democratic nation.
Quick Reply
Labels: POLLING, ZCID
Read more...
A wasted effort
By The Post
Thu 09 Dec. 2010, 03:59 CAT
A good constitution is one inscribed in the hearts and minds of people.
Serious attention is paid to this document because it is a guide by which people are governed. In the quest for better governance, many countries world over have delved into reviewing their constitutions and our country is not an exception. Zambia has been grappling with the issue of reviewing the constitution, with four constitution review commissions having been set up in the past to collect submissions from people. But our country has over the years failed and the soon-to-be enacted constitution is another wasted effort.
It is very clear that those who were tasked to write a constitution for us did not rise above personal and narrow interests. The delegates at the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) appeared to have no obligation to our people.
They lamentably failed to proceed on all issues from the interests of the people such that one could not help but wonder who they were writing the constitution for. It’s no wonder that George Kunda is today saying the government will go ahead and enact the new constitution excluding the clauses that were referred to the referendum.
We are not surprised with this outcome because various key stakeholders opposed the mode that the government used to deliberate the Mung’omba draft constitution, a brilliant document with many progressive clauses. Our people wanted a constituent assembly, but the MMD government insisted on the NCC as a mode to examine, debate and adopt the Mung’omba draft constitution. We have not forgotten how various stakeholders, including the Oasis Forum opposed the setting up of the NCC.
They insisted that the constitution be adopted through the constituent assembly, but the MMD was adamant over the matter and a draft bill was prepared after some consultation. We still remember how some sections of the church and civil society organisations accepted the idea reluctantly but called for further consultation over the matter.
The people feared that the bill, formulated on the Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue (ZCID) roadmap, advocated piecemeal amendments of the constitution and reserved the right of Parliament to debate and amend the recommendations of the constitutional conference. The stakeholders felt that the bill was retrogressive as it merely limited the NCC to making recommendations to the minister of justice.
Again these wishes were ignored and the MMD government took the bill to Parliament. When civil society threatened to demonstrate over the constitution review making process, George, then justice minister, accused the Oasis Forum of derailing the process and said the government intended to achieve a comprehensive review of the constitution in a less costly manner.
We still remember how the bill sailed through Parliament and the late Levy Mwanawasa assented to it, making it law. Stakeholders such as the Zambia Episcopal Conference, Council of Churches in Zambia, Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia, Patriotic Front and the Non-Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council boycotted the NCC, but the process started with about 496 members.
This NCC sat at taxpayers’ expense and altered the draft constitution to great lengths. Much as it left some good clauses intact, it referred to the referendum some key issues, which our people wanted to see in their constitution. The NCC referred to the referendum the clause on the 50 per cent plus one threshold, the clause on the involvement of Parliament in debt contraction and the clause that requires a parliamentarian to retain his seat as an independent member in the event that his political party is dissolved. The NCC also referred to the referendum the clause that requires the National Assembly to approve the increase and decrease in the number of ministers and deputy ministers as provided by the Constitution under the request of the president and the clause on the bill of rights.
However, enacting the new constitution without the 50 per cent plus one threshold means that the country will continue to be governed by minority presidents who will use much of their time in power to justify that they are popular and duly elected. Some people have argued that the 50 per cent plus one threshold is costly and has led to conflict in some countries where it is used. But these arguments do not hold water. Democracy is not cheap and we should, as a country, be ready to spend if we are to make meaningful progress in the political system we espouse. Zambians have for some time been asking for the 50 per cent plus one threshold but those in power have selfishly continued to manipulate the process and remove it from the constitution.
There has also been concern about the manner in which the government has been contracting debts, especially after the country qualified for the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point. The HIPC and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative contributed significantly to the reduction of the country’s debt, which stood at about US$7.1 billion at the time. Many stakeholders have warned that the country risks falling into a debt trap, a debt that future generations will have to struggle to liquidate. According to the 2011 budget, “the government intends to receive about US$400 million in concessional and non-concessional loan disbursements during 2011.”
Last year during the 2010 budget address, Situmbeko Musokotwane told us “the government’s stock of foreign debt is expected to grow by US$59.7 million to US$1,159.6 million by the end of 2009.” Clearly these figures will continue to rise. For a long time now people have been calling for Parliament’s involvement in the contraction of debt so that people can know what the country wants to borrow for. It is quite clear that the country needs a serious national debt management strategy that will protect it from unnecessary debt and misapplication of funds that ultimately erode the gains of debt cancellation. In a country like ours where leaders have an insatiable appetite for borrowing even for things like mobile hospitals, we seriously needed this clause in the constitution.
We need to know why we are borrowing, what we are going to use the money for and whether or not we have the capacity to manage effectively and in an orderly manner what we have borrowed and how we are going to repay. This is the more reason our people wanted to have a say on debt contraction through Parliament. But George and his friends do not want that.
The issue of Parliament having a say in the decrease or increase in the number of deputy and Cabinet ministers is also valid and there has been concern from many of our people who feel that there is need to do things differently. This is an important issue, which cannot be ignored especially that it involves taxpayers money. The bill of rights is another key part which involves our people’s economic, social and cultural rights and it needed special attention. There was absolutely no need to refer the bill of rights to the referendum because this bill is about the basic needs of our people. But we are not surprised because this is the same clause that attracted laughter during the NCC sittings as some people felt that these rights could not be guaranteed to our people. Any caring government would want to ensure that these essential rights such as food, health, shelter, education and sanitation among others are met to enable its people participate meaningfully in the political process. But these are the rights that George and his friends have decided to refer to the referendum and he is not sure when the referendum will be held because there is no money. But was there even any need to refer these clauses to the referendum?
The outcome of this constitution review process was well calculated and the NCC referred these clauses to the referendum on purpose. But this tendency of mishandling the review process will not help the country and our people in any way. This process is very costly and one will notice that some clauses in the various constitution review commissions are the same; our people have been very consistent. However, those in government have over the years been selfish and they have not worked towards giving people a good constitution that will stand the test of time. This is clearly an MMD constitution and those who sat to craft it were not looking beyond their short-term political interests. It is sad that after 46 years of independence we are still talking about the constitution and yet South Africa, which is 16 years in terms of democratic rule, settled the matter amicably. In fact, South Africa’s post-apartheid constitution remains one of the best models because it guarantees the very social, economic and cultural rights that the NCC delegates laughed at.
We agree with NGOCC executive director Engwase Mwale’s statement that Zambians feel cheated over the government’s manipulation of the constitution. Zambia will definitely have another constitution review process because our people still need a good, people-driven constitution, one which they will call their own. And that constitution will one day be enacted because the soon-to-be-enacted document is a wasted effort.
Labels: 50 PERCENT PLUS 1, CONSTITUTION, HUMAN RIGHTS, NCC, ZCID
Read more...
ZCID condemns Mufumbwe violence
By Chibaula Silwamba
Thu 06 May 2010, 04:00 CAT
ZAMBIA Centre for Inter Party Dialogue (ZCID) has condemned the violence that characterised the Mufumbwe parliamentary by-election late last month and called for an end to political hooliganism.
And ZCID spokesperson Njekwa Anamela said there is nothing wrong with the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) funding an individual political party for capacity building purposes.
Addressing journalists at ZCID secretariat in Lusaka yesterday, Anamela said it was sad that innocent lives were lost and injuries sustained in the Mufumbwe by-election on April 29.
“Regardless of who started the violence, this form of political campaign strategy should be stopped with immediate effect,” Anamela said.
“ZCID is further concerned at the inflammatory political language that has characterised political debate of late. This trend should be stopped henceforth.”
He announced that in the next few months ZCID would engage political parties and other stakeholders to find a permanent solution to this problem.
“Among the expected outputs of this consultative process would be the political parties’ charter which will look at deficiencies in the electoral code of conduct and its proper implementation,” Anamela said.
And Anamela said the MMD and Patriotic Front (PF) qualify for funding from NIMD under the bilateral arrangement.
“The funding is for capacity building,” said Anamela. “I am not aware of any political party that has been given any funding for campaigning by NIMD. If there is such then obviously it will be outside the spirit of our partnership and since I don’t have evidence, it will be unwise for me to confirm something I don’t know.”
Labels: BY-ELECTIONS, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, ZCID
Read more...
ZCID approach is a failed piecemeal - Catholic Bishops
By Brighton Phiri
Monday August 06, 2007 [04:00]
ZAMBIA Centre for Interparty Dialogue (ZCID) approach on the constitution-making process is a failed piecemeal, Catholic Bishops have stated. In a pastoral statement signed by Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) president Archibishop Tresphore Mpundu, the Catholic Bishops observed that the approach suggested by ZCID would result in the tried and failed piecemeal approach which successive governments used.
"In light of the very clear popular recommendation coming from the Mung'omba Constitution Review Commission (CRC), we stand by the repeated demand of the people of Zambia for a new constitution, not an amended old constitution. This is the only way to avoid repeated attempts in future years to give us a good people-oriented
Constitution," read the Bishops' statement in part. "We feel that the approach suggested by ZCID will result in the tried and failed piecemeal approach that successive governments used to deal with recommendations coming from the Chona, Mvunga and Mwanakatwe CRCs. A comprehensive review will demand a new constitution, once and for all."
The Catholic Bishops disclosed that when they met President Mwanawasa recently, they reiterated their conviction that there shall never be a legitimate constitution unless the country had a document that was genuinely a product of a national consensus and inclusive of all social groups.
They stated that the truth was not being seen to be served as required in the constitution-making process.
"The Catholic Church in Zambia has rich history of speaking out on important national issues going back to the pre-independence days. We have consistently spoken about issues touching on political and economic justice, national elections, development,
HIV/AIDS, women and constitutional issues. Our speaking out comes from the firm belief that it is our prophetic duty to do so in order that people may have that fullness of life promised by our Lord and Saviour ( John 10:10). After all it was Christ himself who gave to his disciples the mandate to go out to the whole world to proclaim good news to all creation (Mark 16:15)," read the pastoral statement. "It is in this historical context that
this intervention on the current constitutional issues must be seen. We have said time and again that we are non-partisan. Our concern is always to ensure that such fundamental values and principles as the truth, love, social justice and the common good are effectively served in our governance systems. We now feel compelled to speak out once again so as to give further clear guidance to the nation. The people of Zambia have the right to know where we Catholic Bishops stand on the constitutional process and content.
This is especially true in the current context where the truth is not being seen to be served as required."
The Bishops observed that the term "road map" had lost its true meaning regarding authentic constitutional reform.
The Bishops stated that a road map served as an important role in the constitution-making process by pointing out the necessary steps that ought to be taken.
They stated that politicians or groups of one brand should not design a road map, but that it should come from the people themselves.
The Bishops stated that history showed that politicians desired to adopt constitutional amendments that only served their short-term political interest.
"Unfortunately, we have the bitter experience of the Chona, Mvunga and Mwanakatwe CRCs. Who would deny the fact of such a biased process relating to the three CRCs?" asked the Bishops. "According to our traditional Zambian wisdom and practice, all
serious issues are to be thrashed out in a wide group, representative of different opinions and view points...otherwise there is a danger that a wise decision will not be reached and that the decision will not be accepted by the people."
The Bishops stated that participation in the constituent assembly or constitutional conference should not be dominated by any interest group, political parties, civil society organisations or government officials.
"We there fore urge a clear public scrutiny of the participants list before it is approved. And we also join our voice to those who are calling for patriotic sacrifice by the participants who should serve on the basis of sponsorship by their own organisations so as to reduce overall costs," read the pastoral statement.
The Bishops demanded the entrenchment of fundamental human rights such as right to education, health care, food and adequate housing in the Bill of Rights as demanded by Zambians.
They stated that there was need to apply the electoral reforms which demanded the return of the 50 per cent plus one winning margin for the presidential candidate as suggested by the Electoral Reforms Technical Committee (ERTC).
The Bishops called for the reduction of the presidential powers, separation of powers, removal of district commissioners' offices because they only served at the pleasure of the appointing authority.
They called for the constitutionalisation of Auditor General, Inspector General of Police offices, Drug Enforcement Commission and Anti-Corruption Commission.
The Bishops demanded the establishment of a constitutional court, which could handle both human rights cases and electoral issues.
The Bishops called upon the Catholic faithful to study their statement in their Small Christian Communities in order for them to understand what was at stake.
"We encourage our people to call on their local members of parliament to come before them to fully explain to them how they will represent them on these constitutional issues if and when they come up in Parliament," the Bishops stated. "In order to promote the public dialogue so very necessary at this moment, we will instruct that this
ZEC statement be read in all Catholic churches on 12th August 2007, the second Sunday of August. Moreover, we will provide translations of the statement so that our faithful have easy access to it. And we instruct all our church-sponsored community radio stations throughout the country to broadcast the statement at least once a day during the first two weeks of August. It is our fervent prayer that the God of justice will continue to bless this nation and guide us to come up with a
constitution that really serves the best interest and common good of all Zambians in the many years to come. May we be faithful to the call of justice and peace that our Lord Jesus has sent us out to share with all the peoples," read the Bishops' statement.
Labels: CONSTITUTION, ZCID
Read more...
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
Read more...
I will not argue with Ng'uni - HH
By Chibaula Silwamba
Saturday July 21, 2007 [04:00]
UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has said he will not waste his time arguing with ZCID spokesperson Newton Ng’uni because the FDD national secretary spends most of his time arguing. But Ng’uni demanded that Hichilema apologise to him for saying that he had issued a press statement that was not approved by all political parties in the Zambia Centre for Inter-Party Dialogue (ZCID).
Reacting to Ng’uni’s letter to him dated July 19, 2007 demanding an apology within 24 hours, Hichilema yesterday said Ng’uni had been exposed for releasing a press statement that was not approved by all political parties in the ZCID.
“Arguing with Ng’uni is waste of time. He spends most of the time arguing. My spokesperson will deal with him,” Hichilema said.
“If he insists that the statement was approved then he should show me a document signed by Mr Tiens Kahenya and Mr Winston Chibwe. The professional way of doing things is that all parties should sign on the document. Let him show me where Mr Kahenya and Mr Chibwe signed,” insisted Hichilema.
He said he could not apologise to Ng’uni.
“Apologise for what? Apologise to who?” he asked. “Instead Ng’uni should apologise to his own conscience for issuing that statement. He must be ashamed that he issued a statement that was not approved. He has now been exposed.”
He said he had more important issues to do than argue with Ng’uni.
“He can make noise as much as he wants but my position is the same,” said Hichilema.
Hichilema’s vice, Richard Kapita said he would be surprised if Hichilema apologises to Ng’uni.
“The president is right. It will be his choice to apologise or not but I will be very surprised if he apologised,” said Kapita.
Kahenya, who is UPND secretary general, declined to comment saying he did not want to add salt to an ‘injury’.
But Ng’uni, who is FDD national secretary, in a letter to Hichilema, stated that Hichilema and the UPND were accusing him of doing things he never did.
He stated that despite Hichilema having the capacity to find out the truth about what was happening in the ZCID, he and the UPND had continued to issue statements in which they accused him of things he did not even do.
Ng’uni warned that should Hichilema fail to apologise, he would respond in a manner that reflects the truth and corrects the record.
“I expect that you will issue the apology within 24 hours, failure to which I will assume that the false accusations made against me were done deliberately to injure my character. I hope you will find it within your personal dignity to reflect the truth on the statement in question,” Ng’uni stated. “As you know, sir, I’m not responsible for briefing you on the activities of ZCID. Therefore you cannot hold me responsible for the omissions of those who are tasked to brief you.
I’m sure that your representatives Messrs Tiens Kahenya and Winston Chibwe (UPND deputy secretary general) have availed you all the documents that ZCID has hitherto issued and you have had the opportunity to familiarize yourself with the contents therein. In particular, statement that was prepared on 8th July 2007 for public information on the ZCID roadmap.”
Ng’uni claimed that the UPND national management committee (NMC) had condemned him for having issued a statement on MUVI Television contrary to the ZCID position, but he had never appeared on MUVI Television.
On Thursday, Hichilema said Ng’uni’s statement that political party presidents had agreed on a roadmap on the constitution making process was not correct.
Hichilema said the presidents did not agree on any road map but that the constitution would be adopted although a constitutional conference.
Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, UPND, ZCID
Read more...
Oasis to petition Parliament over adoption of constitution
By Bivan Saluseki and Chibaula Silwamba
Thursday July 19, 2007 [04:03]
POLICE has granted the Oasis Forum and Collaborative Group on the Constitution a go ahead to picket Parliament over the adoption of the new constitution. And UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has said no political party in the ZCID will hoodwink his party in the constitution making process. Meanwhile, Patriotic Front (PF) spokesperson Given Lubinda yesterday called for reconstitution of the ZCID board.
Oasis Forum spokesperson Musa Mwenye yesterday said the picketing would start at 13:00 hours today. Mwenye urged political parties and individuals that support the Forum's stand over the constitution to turn up en masse at Parliament grounds.
He commended UPND for distancing itself from the ZCID roadmap. Mwenye said UPND had realised the danger in the ZCID roadmap.
"The party has woken up to the fact that ZCID roadmap is prone to manipulation," he said.
Mwenye said ZCID's roadmap could not represent the views of the people as contained in the Mung'omba Constitution Review Commission report, which even MMD as a party supported.
He said all political parties should adopt the Mung'omba CRC on the mode of adopting of the constitution as the only credible position.
"It's not too late for this extremely unnecessary acrimony over the constitution to be broken especially that the acrimony has been created by a few politicians' desire to hijack the process of constitution making that rightly belongs to the people," said Mwenye.
And Hichilema warned other ZCID members against having side meetings and issue press statements without the approval of all political party members.
Meanwhile, UNIP president Tilyenji Kaunda yesterday said political parties must not fail Zambians in their enthusiasm and search for a new Republican constitution.
Commenting on Zambia Center for Inter-Party Dialogue (ZCID) spokesperson Newton Ng'uni's statement that the recent presidents' summit agreed on a road map on the constitution making process, Hichilema yesterday said those that thought UPND could be hoodwinked were wrong and would not accept other members of the ZCID to be issuing statements that had not been approved.
"We are alert and awake, other groups in ZCID know that they can't use the UPND to push their agenda," Hichilema said. "Some people think that we are polite and can deceive us but we operate on the principle of being polite and firm. We reason through things."
He said ZCID should do the right things if it were to be relevant to the constitution making process. He said it would not help the ZCID for its spokesperson to be issuing statements that were 'incorrect' and not approved by the ZCID member political parties.
"How do you make statements that have not been approved by the whole group? That means you have other agendas. That statement is for the spokesperson and the people he is conniving with and not all political parties," Hichilema said. "We know that some people from the MMD will go to ZCID to preserve their positions but we are not there for that, we are there for the people of Zambia."
Hichilema said political parties and the civil society should work together with all Zambians in the process. And Tilyenji said the constitutional conference was an opportunity to make things right in Zambia.
"We as political parties must work hard to win the trust and confidence of all key stakeholder interests that we mean well and shall deliver a constitutional process whose outcome shall be acceptable to all Zambians," said Tilyenji at a press briefing at ZCID offices in Lusaka.
He said political party leader must be able to identify matters of national importance on which consensus among them was possible. Tilyenji said it was good for the public to know that on some particular issue of national importance all political parties were of one mind.
Tilyenji also said political party leaders had a responsibility to build bridges across party lines and to treat one another with courtesy and decorum. And Lubinda said ZCID board chairman Katele Kalumba should immediately convene a board meeting to resolve the impasse between the board and PF.
"If ZCID must succeed, then we have to reconstitute the whole board. The levels of mistrust are so deep that we cannot possibly sit and chat the way forward in any meeting under ZCID," he said.
Lubinda said PF would not participate on any ZCID activities for as long as issues of neutrality remained unresolved.
"We demand to be treated with respect and not to be ridiculed by a member of the ZCID board," he said in relation to a statement issued by Newton Nguni yesterday.
Lubinda said PF and UPND had 65 members of parliament in total and could not be controlled by small parties with only a total of eight members of parliament.
"When we were forming ZCID it was not our intention to create a monster which is ballooning day by day to a point where a few members of the board develop this notion that they are supervisors and spokespersons of political parties," he said.
Lubinda said the presidents' summit did not refer to the ZCID roadmap.
He said PF reserved its right to take whatever action it deemed appropriate, which included a total and irreversible pull out from ZCID.
And PF secretary general Edward Mumbi said there was unfaithfulness in ZCID hence PF's pull out. He said the PF had been vindicated as other parties like UPND were now distancing themselves from the ZCID roadmap. Nguni said Zambians must take note of the conduct of PF after agreeing to the roadmap both at board and summit of president's level.
"This shows that there is no guarantee that all stakeholders will support the referendum question," said Nguni.
"The oasis Forum would like guarantees that the new constitution would be subjected to a national referendum. If this is their only demand, then all differences should be resolved because that could be done without affecting the tow-stage enactment process outlined in the ZCID roadmap."
Labels: CONSTITUTION, GIVEN LUBINDA, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, MUSA MWENYE, OASIS FORUM, PF, TILYENJI KAUNDA, UNIP, UPND, ZCID
Read more...
UPND disassociates itself from ZCID's roadmap
By Masuzyo Chakwe and Bivan Saluseki
Wednesday July 18, 2007 [04:00]
THE United Party for National Development (UPND) has disassociated itself from the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID)’s roadmap. And the Oasis Forum says it would petition SADC heads of state during the summit over Zambia’s constitution impasse. UPND chairman for information and publicity Charles Kakoma said yesterday that the publication in the media was without their knowledge and approval.
He said the ZCID committed the UPND to a programme and roadmap without consulting it and therefore the said roadmap had no blessings from the party.
Kakoma said the party’s official position on the constitution was that it would support the adoption of the constitution through a constitution conference (CC) based on the understandings that the CC was the same as the constituent assembly (CA).
“We therefore do not agree with the ZCID’s position that the CC is different from the CA. There is no roadmap which was discussed and agreed upon at the Summit of political party presidents. The only agreement was to present a CC bill to Parliament. The issues of the roadmap and contents of the draft constitution were supposed to be referred to various political parties for further scrutiny before they could be presented to the second Summit of presidents,” he said.
He said UPND was opposed to the piecemeal amendment of the constitution as suggested in the ZCID roadmap.
Kakoma said their position was that the contents of the new constitution should be agreed upon and adopted by the CC, then subjected to a national referendum before presentation to Parliament for enactment in total.
“We are opposed to the piecemeal amendment of the constitution because that is what has been done to the constitution reviews since independence, resulting in the current bad Constitution that is not acceptable to the majority of Zambians in a multiparty democratic dispensation like ours,” he said.
He said the constitutional conference bill should be published and distributed to all stakeholders including the ZCID, political parties, the Oasis Forum before presenting it to Parliament.
“The contents of the bill should be agreed upon before presentation to Parliament. We do not agree with the ZCID’s programme of sensitising people countrywide before the contents of the CC bill are known and agreed upon. What we are going to sensitise the people about?” he asked.
Kakoma said there were no stakeholders who should be excluded from the constitution-making process as suggested by some political parties.
He said the party’s position was that all stakeholders including the Oasis Forum should be part of the constitution-making process.
“We wish to reaffirm our commitment to an inclusive constitution-making process that is acceptable to all stakeholders. We remain committed members of the ZCID. We however wish to strongly advise the ZCID that all major decisions should be discussed and agreed upon by member parties before implementation or publication. We wish to assure the public that despite what has transpired, the UPND will continue to participate in the ZCID activities,” said Kakoma.
And Oasis forum convener Rev Suzan Matale yesterday said the ZCID process was open to political manipulation.
“It is not surprising that some of the arguments advanced by ZCID for parliamentary supremacy, are the same arguments made by the Chiluba administration in rejecting the recommendations of the Mwanakatwe CRC. Some of the people involved in ZCID were in the Chiluba administration,” she said.
Revr Matale said the Forum would picket Parliament, march the streets, hold public discussions and petition even the SADC heads of state if need be.
“Our message to SADC is, do not wait until the constitutional impasse in Zambia becomes a major conflict before you start convening heads of state meetings and appointing special missions to Zambia,” she said.
Rev Matale said the Forum did not seek to earn a living from the process, but make a meaningful contribution to the country by having a constitution that represented people’s collective aspirations.
She said the government was working on the constitution conference bill without the broad involvement of stakeholders.
“We are fully aware that once a bill is tabled in Parliament, only government can withdraw and we do not want this complication and therefore demand that government should not introduce the bill before all stakeholders and interested Zambians have had a chance to scrutinise it and make comments,” said Rev. Matale.
Labels: CHARLES KAKOMA, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, OASIS FORUM, UPND, ZCID
Read more...
NGO’s out, says Levy
By WALLEN SIMWAKA
PRESIDENT Mwanawasa says political parties, and not civil society groups, will lead the constitution-making process. And President Mwanawasa has asked political parties to put aside their differences and dedicate their energies to issues that would improve the well being of the Zambian people. Speaking on arrival at the Livingstone International Airport yesterday, Mr Mwanawasa said if the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) wanted to participate in the constitution-making process, it was important for them to affiliate themselves to political parties.
NGOs did not have the people's mandate for them to start championing the constitution-making process, he said. He wondered why NGOs were concerned with matters of government instead of dealing with poverty and hunger.
"I feel the question of the constitution-making process should be led by politicians and not the NGOs.
If the NGOs want to contribute to the process, they should join political parties,” he said.
“We have never refused them from joining political parties. Why should they be concerned with matters of government? Instead of talking poverty, you have engaged yourselves into politics."
The President said it was a breach of the law for NGOs to abandon their responsibilities and engage in politics. He said Government had decided that political parties would lead the constitutional process because NGOs had continued to denounce him despite several meetings with them to share constructive suggestions on the matter.
"I have met many NGOs and although I have made constructive suggestions, they have gone out to denounce me by calling me a trickster and manipulator," he said.
Mr Mwanawasa also said political differences among parties should not stand in the way of national development. He said Zambia was more important than individual aspirations and that it was important for political parties to take a reconciliatory route.
He commended Livingstone member of Parliament, Sakwiba Sikota, for seconding his proposal at the inter-party summit on how the constitution should be dealt with. He also commended Mr Sikota for receiving him at the airport, saying the gesture was a symbol of reconciliation.
“The last time I spoke about Mr Sikota I said a lot of bad things against him and even challenged him to join me at a political rally so that I could dress him down,” he said. “All that is now history and we have reconciled and are dialoguing because Zambia is more important than Mr Sikota and Mwanawasa."
He said he respected the decision of the people of Livingstone to elect Mr Sikota as their representative.
Meanwhile, the President cautioned the Patriotic Front (PF) not to return to the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID) with a motive to cause confusion. Mr Mwanawasa hoped the PF was coming back into the ZCID to make meaningful and honest contributions on the constitution-making process.
PF had agreed to the constitutional conference as the mode of adopting the constitution at the ZCID summit of presidents, but changed their position a day later. Mr Mwanawasa said it was surprising that the PF president, Michael Sata, changed his mind on what was agreed and started denouncing him barely hours after agreeing.
He said the PF decided to pull out of the ZCID but when the Government of Netherlands started donating computers to political parties they returned to say they were still part of the group.
"When we first met at the ZCID summit, Mr Sata agreed with us and there was a picture where we were photographed with him on my right side like God and His Son Jesus Christ. But he changed his mind the following day and started denouncing me,” he said.
“Today if Mr Given Lubinda says we are in it, it is because they have come to eat. We hope PF will honestly contribute to the process. If he is coming to cause confusion, I suggest that he leaves and sits with the Oasis Forum and come up with their own roadmap.”
He asked Zambians to pray for political leaders so that God could continue giving them wisdom.
Labels: CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, CONSTITUTION, CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCE, GIVEN LUBINDA, NGOs, SATA, ZCID
Read more...
Levy has ruined sikota’s political career – Sata
By Bivan Saluseki
Friday July 13, 2007 [04:00]
President Levy Mwanawasa has ruined United Liberal Party (ULP) president Sakwiba Sikota's political career, Patriotic Front president Michael Sata said yesterday. But Sikota opted not to comment on Sata's statement over his reconciliation with President Mwanawasa. Sata said President Mwanawasa had a tendency of using and dumping people and the reconciliation between him and Sikota was not genuine.
"He is ruining the young man's political career. We don't know what opposition leg he will stand on," Sata said.
He said President Mwanawasa had confirmed PF's fears over Sikota.
"As a lawyer, he (Sikota) will always represent us. But politically, we will regard him as another appendix to MMD. We will think twice when dealing with him," said Sata.
During the 2006 general election, Sikota and Sata had entered into a pact and when PF was leading in most provinces, Sikota even declared he would be Sata’s vice-president.
Sata said he now knew ULP’s position. He said Sikota’s ULP had violently been opposing PF’s stand on Katele Kalumba’s participation in the Zambia Centre for Inter party Dialogue (ZCID). Sata said Kalumba’s hands were dirty and should not be on ZCID. However, Sikota said legally Kalumba was innocent until proven guilty. He said he even risked being debarred by the Law Association of Zambia if he started presuming people guilty and asking them to prove their innocence.
Sikota said even Sata was facing court cases bordering on defamation . But Sata said his cases were political while those for Kalumba were outright corruption. However, Sikota said there had been reports of thousands of dollars being confiscated by South African security personnel from Sata and no one had raised an issue.
“Was there anything political about that case? What kind of politics would the South Africans want from him?” asked Sikota.
Sikota said Sata had once faced charges of motor vehicle theft and despite going to court at that time, he was not barred from participating in elections. Sikota said there had also been issues of Sata going to Malawi but he had not raised contentions. He said there must be fairness.
“At which point do you draw the line? You can’t have it both ways,” he said.
Sikota said legal issues should be separated from moral issues and that the ZCID had its own structures, which he believed would handle the Kalumba’s issue.
On Sata’s statement that President Mwanawasa was ruining him, Sikota said he would comment today.
But Sata said Sikota was speaking the language of President Mwanawasa.
He said if Sikota was looking for a job, he should just get it with both hands instead of hiding in reconciliation.
Sata said the reconciliation had proved the MMD meeting, which was held and resolved to look for someone from Western Province to replace President Mwanawasa.
Sata said it was blasphemy for President Mwanawasa to compare himself to God.This was in reference to the group picture which they had during the president’s summit over the Constitution.
“Which crazy God can look like him? He is equating himself to God. That is the problem with him. He thinks he is God, which God can look like him? That is why he is even so rigid over the Constitution because he thinks he is God,” he said.
“He says that he looked like God and I looked like Jesus. Listen, I sat there like a head of state. He looked like a regional secretary. He was so excited to sit next to me. He has even delayed to go to England because I cured him by sitting there. It was a therapy. I never said anything to him but he was smiling. He was so excited.”
Sata said PF had built the ZCID although political mercenaries wanted to hijack it.
“We are still part of it on condition that Katele leaves because his hands are dirty,” he said.
Sata said it was him, UNIP’s Njekwa Anamela and Heritage Party’s Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda that started the dialogue process though it had now been hijacked.
He said PF was the strongest political party with members of parliament of high calibre who should not just be written off.
“Levy should know that we are even represented in his own government. We are 50 steps ahead of him. He would not succeed hoodwinking us,” he said.
Labels: MMD, PF, SAKWIBA SIKOTA, SATA, ULP, ZCID
Read more...
Hichilema urges UPND MPs to push for constitution conference Bill
By Mwala Kalaluka
Tuesday July 10, 2007 [04:00]
UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has asked party members of parliament to push for the constitution conference Bill in the National Assembly. Meanwhile, Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata told his party’s members of parliament to be in the forefront in pushing for the adoption of the constitution through a popular and broad participatory mode. In a message to UPND parliamentarians ahead of the resumption of Parliamentary sittings today, Hichilema said they should do the correct thing for the country.
“My message to all members of parliament is that go there and do the correct thing for the Zambian people and the correct thing is the enactment of the constitutional conference bill,” he said. “Go there and push for the constitutional conference bill and ensure that its composition is representative of the Zambian society.”
The presidents’ forum organised by the ZCID agreed to come up with a constitutional conference and government undertook to take the bill to this current session of the National Assembly. And Hichilema said the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID) risked being irrelevant if it insisted on working outside the people’s will on the constitution review process. Hichilema said the ZCID should be a platform for doing positive things – doing what people want - on the constitution-making process.
“If they are going to do things outside what the people of Zambia want, they will be irrelevant,” Hichilema said. “We want to have the right composition of the constitutional conference.”
He insisted that for the constitutional conference to conform to what the public expected the constituent assembly to do, its composition must be broad-based.
Hichilema said politicians that realised they made mistakes when they opposed the constituent assembly, the generally desired mode of adopting the constitution according to the Mung’omba report, should never use ZCID.
“ZCID is not a platform to marginalise the rest of society, it must be relevant to Zambians,” he said. “We’ve got to look at the concerns of the people.”
Hichilema also said he was in the process of consulting the other members of the UPND on what their final position should be over MMD’s Katele Kalumba chairing the ZCID. Hichilema urged UPND parliamentarians to do the correct thing for the people in view of the constitutional debate as they get back to the House.
Highlighting Sata’s address to the parliamentarians at a meeting in Lusaka, PF spokesperson Given Lubinda said the PF president told them to be in push for the adoption of the constitution through a popular mode.
“He cautioned his members of parliament not to follow the myopic view of other politicians who say that the civil society should be put in the second position in the constitution-making process,” Lubinda said.
He said Sata urged the civil society to continue taking a leading role in the constitution making process. Lubinda said Sata urged the parliamentarians to focus their attention on issues affecting the majority Zambians. Sata told the parliamentarians to ensure that they influence government policies.
“He commended the members of parliament on their performance during the last sitting of Parliament. He urged them to be more visible in the next sitting,” Lubinda said.
Sata said the parliamentarians did not have the capacity to research hence the party had resolved to set up the office of a permanent secretary at the party’s secretariat. Sata told the parliamentarians that the party’s permanent secretary would be researching on their behalf and keep them abreast with current debates so that they were equipped with relevant information for them to debate adequately in Parliament.
On the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID), Lubinda said the PF had been vindicated when it demanded that Kalumba should not be ZCID chairman because he was an interested party.
Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, PF, SATA, UPND, ZCID
Read more...
Zambia is in constitutional mess - Oasis
By Bivan Saluseki
Monday July 09, 2007 [04:02]
THE Oasis Forum says Zambia is in a constitutional mess because of politicians taking the lead. But Minister of Justice George Kunda yesterday said the government did not want confrontation because some people had no agenda. Meanwhile, Kunda said the drafting of the Constitutional Conference Bill had advanced. Oasis Forum spokesperson Musa Mwenya yesterday said the consultative group had resolved that the Oasis Forum meets the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Democracy (ZCID) today though its members would do more of listening than talking.
"We plan to bring it home to ZCID that the current constitutional mess we are in is as a result of politicians taking a leading role in constitution making since independence. We plan to do a lot of listening," he said. "We plan to reiterate our position on the Constitution and the fact that we are more concerned about comprehensive review of the Constitution," he said. Mwenye said the ZCID agenda had not been tabled to the Oasis but it would be listening to ZCID during the meeting. He said the Oasis would stick to the Mung'omba Constitution Review Commission recommendations, which were made after visiting 150 constituencies, foreign countries and wide consultations.
"There is a basis for those recommendations. For now we stick to the Mung'omba recommendations and we will make it certain to them and defend the Mung'omba recommendations," said Mwenya. But Kunda said some people wanted to create tension in the country. "Those who want to concentrate on bickering and arguments just wanted to delay the process. Let us not delay the process. There are certain people in Zambia who want to create tension in the country because they think that they should have that sort of agenda. We want peace. Some of these people now have no agenda. There is peace, we don't want confrontation. It's no longer necessary. Let's move with the Constitutional Conference," he said.
Kunda said there should not be any differences even over the name because ZCID came up with a neutral term. He said others wanted a national indaba while some wanted a Constitutional Conference but meaning the same thing. "So the use of the term is irrelevant. We will provide legislation for this body. We can call it anything. Why don't we call it insaka but we shall call it National Constitutional Conference," he said. Earlier at a briefing, Kunda said in the next few days, he would commence the process of consulting stakeholders regarding the bill. "Once Cabinet approval is obtained, I intend to present the bill in the next sitting of Parliament," he said. Kunda said the objective of the bill was to establish the proposed Constitutional Conference, define its powers, structures, procedures, functions, composition and provide for the allocation of financial resources.
"The Constitutional Conference will undertake the process of examining, analyzing, debating and adopting by consensus contents of the proposed Constitution. Agreed constitutional provisions will thereafter be presented to Parliament for enactment while those provisions which require a referendum like the Bill of Rights in Part III of the Constitution will be put to a referendum," he said.
Kunda said as recommended by the Mung'omba CRC on page 788, the body created would have no legislative powers and would merely adopt the new constitution. Kunda also announced that Cabinet had approved the launch of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process. Zambia acceded to the APRM on January 22nd, 2006. This is an African self-monitoring governance system, which requires a member state to voluntarily submit to an internal audit or national self-assessment of its political, economic, corporate and social economic governance systems.
Labels: CONSTITUTION, OASIS FORUM, ZCID
Read more...
Oasis asks ZCID for more time
By Bivan Saluseki
Friday July 06, 2007 [04:00]
THE Oasis Forum yesterday requested the Zambia Centre for Inter-Party Dialogue (ZCID) for more time before they could meet over the latter's proposed roadmap on the constitution review process. But FDD president Edith Nawakwi begged the Oasis Forum to engage the government properly because President Mwanawasa who had earlier shown unwillingness to have a Constitution soon has since changed.
On Wednesday, ZCID spokesperson Newton Ng’uni said ZCID had invited to the Oasis Forum for a meeting today.
But Oasis Forum spokesperson Musa Mwenya yesterday said no meeting would take place because the consultative group needed to meet first in order to come up with an agenda. He said the caucus would take place tomorrow and the Oasis had asked the ZCID to reschedule the meeting probably to Monday next week.
And ZCID executive director Chomba Chellah said the Oasis had informed him about their request to have the consultative group meet first before the ZCID meeting.
Chellah said the meeting might take place on Monday or Tuesday next week.
Ng’uni said the constitution conference would adopt the new constitution.
He said ZCID would not sideline any interest groups including the Oasis Forum and each interest group would choose and send their own delegates to the conference.
Meanwhile, Nawakwi has begged the Oasis Forum to engage the government properly and because President Mwanawasa has shown unwillingness to have a new constitution soon.
"We have achieved something. Let us give it a moral character," she said.
Nawakwi said the government and political parties through the Oasis Forum could not agree on several issues and much time had been lost. She said people should remember that President Mwanawasa who had been talking of having a new constitution by 2015 had been convinced and was now agreeable to having a new constitution by 2008.
"The government has finally agreed that they won't go beyond 2008," she said. "That is a major milestone. If there is a ray of hope, it's that ray of hope which must be exploited."
She said President Mwanawasa and politicians should be given a chance because they had shown that they were ready to dialogue.
Nawakwi said people should not make Katele Kalumba, Michael Sata, herself and any other politician a subject of unnecessary debates.
She was supportive of efforts made by ZCID because she said politicians, just like golfers, were free to have their own clubs.
Nawakwi said if having a constitution conference instead of a constituent assembly was the main issue, then all stakeholders should go back and discuss.
Nawakwi said as for herself, she was tired because in 1991 she had the multiparty battle, in 2001; she slept in the bush over the third term and the same in 2006.
"Everybody is tired. Let's get together. We want a constitution, yes, what's the restructure? What's wrong with politicians having a club?" she asked.
Nawakwi said politicians who had earlier been seen as being divided had at least come up with an agreement and the Forum could help debate the composition and other issues.
Nawakwi said PF president Michael Sata did not pull out over disagreements on the roadmap but because he wanted to make a vote of thanks during President Mwanawasa's launch of the ZCID.
"He threatened all of us. We were all waiting for him. The PF official present was literally on edge, pleading if we could allow him (Sata). That's when we all said this (no) in front of officials from ZCID," she said.
"We all refused including Kapita (UNPD vice president)."
Nawakwi said Sata's withdrawal from ZCID had nothing to do with ideologies.
"We can't be leading a country like that. It’s wrong. PF has not pulled out because it does not agree with the timetable. It has pulled out because he (Sata) demanded an opportunity, which was not given. This is the same president who went to the earlier meeting and he was there, he was happy," she said.
Nawakwi said ZCID was acting as an office for politicians because in the past those that had gone to meet President Mwanawasa at State House had been labelled as job seekers.
She said ZCID was acting as a neutral ground.
And Operation Young Vote president Guess Nyirenda has demanded that youths be represented during the constitution-making process instead of merely those coming from political parties.
He said without proper and acceptable representation of young people on the constitution conference, the whole exercise would be meaningless and a waste of time and national resources.
Nyirenda said it was unacceptable to exclude young people from participating in coming up with the new constitution.
Labels: EDITH NAWAKWI, FDD, NEWTON NG'UNI, OASIS FORUM, ZCID
Read more...
Time has come for honesty in politics
By Editor
Tuesday July 03, 2007 [04:00]
It is frightening that today the board of the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID) can defend Katele Kalumba over the corruption charges he is facing in our courts of law. In civilised societies, when politicians are facing serious charges against the people, the state, they usually relinquish their public functions until they are acquitted.
Yes, every accused person is innocent until proved guilty. This is not a matter of fact, it is an assumption of law. For the state to take Katele to court for corruption, there must be some reasonable grounds; there must have been some reasonable proximity to the crime levelled against him.
When Katele was elected national secretary of the ruling MMD, many people questioned the morality of his election and denounced the insensitivity of the members and leadership of this party. And for this reason, Levy Mwanawasa found it unreasonable or undesirable for Katele to be included in his Cabinet or take up any government position under his discretion. It is clear to us that corruption is not an issue with our politicians. It is something tolerable, it’s not a big deal. It only becomes an issue if somebody is imprisoned for corruption but when he comes out there will be no problems dealing with him politically.
This is the nature of our politics. This explains why the members of ZCID see nothing wrong with Katele Kalumba being their chairman. Hence the besetting temptation for all of them to defend Katele and to concern themselves only with the immediate present at the expense of the future.
It is clear that Zambia is in trouble today not because her people have failed, but because her political leaders have failed. And what Zambia needs are political leaders to match the greatness of our people. We must work unceasingly to lift this nation to a higher destiny, to a new plateau of intolerance to corruption or wrongdoing.
There is need to realise that if an issue is morally right, it will eventually be political. It may be political and never be right. It gets dark sometimes, but the morning comes. We shouldn’t surrender to the corrupt politics we are witnessing in our country today. Experiences like these breed character. And character breeds faith. In the end, faith will not disappoint.
Our country is not flourishing. The enormous creative and spiritual potential of our nation is not being used sensibly. This country is not short of decent men and women for us to cling to those facing criminal charges in our courts of law to be our leaders. But all this is not the main problem. The worst thing is that we live in a contaminated moral environment. We feel morally ill because we became used to saying something different from what we thought.
We learned not to believe in anything, to ignore each other, to care only about ourselves. Concepts such as honesty and humility lost their depth and dimensions, and for many of us they represented only psychological perculiarlities. When we talk about contaminated moral atmosphere, we are not talking just about our politicians grouped in ZCID who are defending Katele’s corruption charges today. We are talking about all of us. We have all become used to corruption and have accepted it as an unchangeable fact and thus helped perpetuate it.
In other words, we are all – though naturally to varying extents – responsible for this corruption; none of us is just its victim: All of us are also its core creators. Why do we say this? It would be very unreasonable to understand the sad legacy of the Chiluba era as something alien, which some distant relatives bequeathed us. On the contrary, we have to accept this legacy of corruption and the impunity that goes with it as the sin that we committed against ourselves.
If we accept it as such, we will understand that it is up to us all, and up to us only, to do something about it. We cannot blame Chiluba for all the corruption that is going on in our country today, not only because it would be untrue but also because it could blunt the duty that each of us faces today – the obligation to act independently, freely, reasonably and in an honest manner.
As we have stated before, let us not be mistaken: the best government in the world, the best parliament and the best president, cannot achieve much on their own. And it would also be wrong to expect a general remedy from them only. This calls for the participation of, and responsibility from, us all.
If we realise this, hope will return to our hearts. The heroes we were remembering yesterday – on Heroes and Unity Day – based their politics on morality. Let us try in a new time and in a new way to restore this concept of politics. Let us teach ourselves and others that politics should be an expression of a desire to contribute to the happiness of the community rather than of a need to cheat or rape the community.
Let us teach ourselves and others that politics can be not only the art of the possible, especially if this means the art of calculation, intrigue, secret deals and pragmatic manoeuvring, but that it can even be the art of the impossible, namely, the art of improving ourselves, our country and the world.
Let us not allow the desire to serve oneself to bloom once again under the fair mask of the desire to serve the common good. It doesn’t really matter what political party we belong to. The important thing is that all those in politics must be the best of us in the moral, civic, political and professional sense. The future of our country will depend on the personalities we select or appoint to our representative bodies. What we dream of is a republic of well-rounded people, because without such, it is impossible to solve any of our problems, human, economic, ecological, social or political.
We cannot achieve all this with men and women who are facing criminal charges in our courts of law for having abused their offices being in charge of our political processes.
If ZCID wants itself to be trusted as an organisation that can effectively contribute to our constitution review process, there is need for its members and board to change their attitudes towards corruption and abuse. It is very clear that our politics are contaminated with corruption and ZCID is not free from this vice. It therefore cannot be trusted as a vehicle for carrying out our constitution review process. This is probably why its members have been accused of all sorts of things, including being there for allowances.
Their attitude towards Katele does not engender confidence. What can one expect from an organisation whose chairman is facing criminal charges, corruption charges?
Time has come for us to demand honesty and integrity in politics! Politicians of the Katele type should have no place in our politics at all levels.
Labels: EDITORIAL, KATELE KALUMBA, ZCID
Read more...
Katele should be removed from chairing ZCID - Sata
By Brighton Phiri
Tuesday July 03, 2007 [04:00]
PATRIOTIC Front (PF) president Michael Sata has insisted that ruling MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba should be removed from his position as Zambia Centre for Inter-Party Dialogue (ZCID) chairperson. And Sata has said that President Levy Mwanawasa should brace himself for more humiliation and embarrassment if he continues to undermine the wishes of Zambians over the constitution making process.
Sata disclosed yesterday that the PF had directed its newly appointed representative at ZCID, Given Lubinda, to challenge the election of Kalumba as ZCID board chairperson.
Sata said PF as a stakeholder in ZCID would fight until a neutral person was given the task of bringing together all the stakeholders on the constitution making process and not Kalumba.
"We need a neutral and eminent person who can bring the Oasis Forum, other civil society groups and politicians together and resolve our differences, and not Katele Kalumba," Sata said.
"It is against this background that we are demanding for a neutral person to chair the ZCID deliberations. We have nothing against Katele Kalumba as a person, but we are against MMD's corrupt way of running the affairs of the country."
On Saturday, ZCID spokesperson Newton Ng'uni said the board of the centre met last week on Wednesday and unanimously resolved to maintain Kalumba as its chairperson.
Ng'uni said Kalumba was not guilty of any corruption charges he was facing in the courts of law and that he had not done anything wrong to warrant his removal from his position.
He warned Sata to stop 'insulting' ZCID board members.
And reacting to President Mwanawasa's statement that he was saddened with Sata's intention to embarrass him during the launch of the ZCID last week, Sata said President Mwanawasa should allow Zambians to cross-examine him on his proposal for a constitution conference if he must avoid being embarrassed and humiliated publicly.
"Mwanawasa can still avoid being embarrassed by providing answers to all the questions surrounding his proposed constitutional conference," Sata said.
"Mr. Mwanawasa should not be scared of being embarrassed if he means well on his proposal."
Sata said his party was keen to cross-examine President Mwanawasa over his proposed constitution conference.
"It was not right for the other parties to celebrate after Mr. Mwanawasa made his proposal because we need to have more details of the constitutional conference. We missed an opportunity to cross-examine President Mwanawasa on his proposal," Sata said.
"Remember this is the first time Mr. Mwanawasa has come out in the open to commit himself to the constitution-making process."
He said it was high time President Mwanawasa took an active role in reducing tension in the country.
Sata reminded President Mwanawasa that the British colonialists' arrogance brought the Cha Cha Cha uprising and that Dr Kenneth Kaunda's stubbornness yielded countrywide food riots.
He said it was wrong for President Mwanawasa to think he would achieve much by using politicians to drive the constitution-making process.
Last week, Sata disclosed that he wanted to embarrass President Mwanawasa during the official launch of ZCID, had the organisers of the event allowed him to speak.
In response, President Mwanawasa said Sata was free to attack him, but reminded him that he (the President) would be irrelevant in 2011 as he would just be a voter.
Sata said politicians should accept to be ruled and guided by people without political interest if they were serious in their service to the people.
"It is a storm in a teacup...if our colleagues see it the way we see it, we shall achieve a lot in reducing tension in the country," Sata said.
"Zambia is not short of eminent persons to guide politicians."
Sata said any action by the politicians that went against the wishes of the people risked being defeated by the people, who were in the majority.
He said politicians should not cheat themselves that they could easily hijack a people-driven constitution-making process.
"We politicians, in time immemorial, have not recorded any success in liberating the people...it is the people themselves that have fought battles and defeated their enemies," Sata said.
"We should not bury our heads in the sand and cheat ourselves that we can dribble the people on the constitution-making process."
Labels: GIVEN LUBINDA, KATELE KALUMBA, PF, SATA, ZCID
Read more...
