Joint Press Briefing of Civil Society on Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill 10 hosted by MISA Zambia Chapter

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JOINT PRESS BRIEFING OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS ON CONSTITUTION OF ZAMBIA [AMENDMENT] BILL 10 HOSTED BY MISA-ZAMBIA
MONDAY, 16 March 2020

Tomorrow, on Tuesday, 17th March, 2019, elected representatives of the 17 million Zambian will have an opportunity to consider and debate the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia Amendment Bill No. 10 of 2019 when it is presented for second reading together with the Report of the Raphael Nakacinda-led Parliamentary Committee that was scrutinising the Bill. This process is part of the steps to bringing to a close the amendment process of our Republican Constitution that commenced 3 years ago.

First, we want to acknowledge the bold decision taken by Cabinet to move proposals to amend the Bill so that the final product can reflect the views submitted by those in support and against certain provisions of the Bill. Those in favour or against the Bill are people of Zambia or represent a cross-section of interest-groups in our society.

As of this morning, we are aware that the Minister of Justice has finally filed a notice of proposed amendments with the National Assembly. Again, we commend this move as it reflects that Government is prepared to follow up on what the Minister disclosed that Government is committed to lead a campaign to amend the Bill at the Committee of the Whole House.

As we have stated earlier, this process commenced three years ago when some serious lacunas were identified in the Constitution. These include the confusing provisions on whether Ministers were to stay in office or not. Earlier, some lawyers had also argued that the 2016 Constitution does not allow political parties to sponsor candidates for positions of councillors and mayors, and they went to court to challenge sponsorship of councillors.

Immediately after the disputed 2016 elections, we saw serious problems emerging among lawyers, politicians and voters on interpretation of the 14 days for hearing a presidential petition after Mr. Hichilema challenged the election of President Lungu. This led to the petitioner’s lawyers walking out as they argued that the time for presenting the petition was not enough to hear it.

The list of the lacunas and inconsistences which have been challenged in this Constitution is endless. We can no longer bury our heads in the sand that these inconsistencies are grave and signal a constitutional dilemma we are in.

So for the last 3 years, our citizens, lawyers, institutions have debated what they want to see in the Constitution or what they want to be removed from Bill No. 10. We have now reached a point where almost everyone is okay with the suggested proposals to amend the Constitution. We believe that most key institutions are now singing the same song about provisions we ought to remove from the Bill.

Most importantly for us in civil society, we passionately want to see our Constitution which will increase the period for hearing a presidential petition from 14 days to 30 days as proposed. We want to see the provisions which will allow our women, youth and persons who are disabled to be represented in parliament and Councils, we want to see the provision that helps provide clarity on who we are as a people- the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation does that. We are also aware that our MPs – from all political parties without exception – want to have a say in decision-making at local levels which affect their constituencies, in addition to reducing by-elections at mayoral and council chairperson levels which have gobbled millions of kwachas in the last 4 years.

Based on the above, and taking into account that contentious clauses will be removed from Bill 10 at the Committee of the Whole House, we have every reason to call upon our MPs to now discharge their duty to unmake and make laws, which includes the Constitution. We believe well-intentioned Members of Parliament will give this Bill a chance to see if the Bill can be amended at the Committee of the Whole House stage, but will also fully support these positive clauses such as Mixed Member Proportional Representation system whose details will be spelt out in the new Electoral Systems Act.

As CSOs, we therefore call on our Members of Parliament (MPs) to recognise that they, and only them, are legitimate representatives of the 17 million Zambians when it comes to altering our Constitution. Our MPs must discharge this onerous but noble duty by participating in debating Bill 10 and cleaning it up to represent the views of the people who elected them to come make laws from our Parliament. The Constitution which MPs will be debating is not for the PF nor the UPND, it is not for those who took time to make submissions to the Ministry of Justice or those who crafted it at NDF, and the Constitution is not for us civil society leaders who spoke the loudest or lowest on radios and TVS over the last 3 years. The Constitution is for that old lady in Mugubudu; it’s for the young man in Bweengwa; it’s for that youth in Chilubi: The constitution is and must be an embodiment of the aspirations of all the people of Zambia regardless of tribe, ethnicity and indeed political affiliation.

The Constitution is for all the 17 million Zambians who are represented by the 167 Members of Parliament. We therefore call on Members of Parliament to fully participate in discussing Bill No. 10 and in amending it. We ask them to stay in the House tomorrow until when the right law comes out of Parliament than walk away from Parliament. Those who walk away must remember that they will be denying the voice of those voters who elected them to go to Parliament to make laws on their behalf.

We thank you.

SIGNED

Boniface Cheembe
Executive Director
Southern Centre for Constructive Resolutions of Disputes (SACCORD)

Hellen Mwale
Chairperson
MISA – Zambia

Francis Chipili
Chief Executive Officer
Zambian Institute of Governance and Civil Liberties Advocacy Platform (ZIGLAP)

Paul Lungu
President
National Youth Anti-Corruption Movement (NYACM)

Andrew Ntewewe
President
Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI)

David Mvula
Executive Director
Common Grounds Network (CGN)

Hyde Haguta
Chairperson
Constitutional Reform and Education Coalition (CRECO)