Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Article 31 Declaration Relating to Threatened Emergency

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President Edgar Lungu reads the Constitution of Zambia while Chairing a Special cabinet Meeting at State house in Lusaka.
President Edgar Lungu reads the Constitution of Zambia while Chairing a Special cabinet Meeting at State house in Lusaka.

Article 31 [Declaration Relating to Threatened Emergency]

(1) The President may at any time by the Proclamation published in the Gazette declare that a situation exists which, if it is allowed to continue may lead to a state of public emergency.

(2) A declaration made under clause (1) of this Article shall cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of seven days commencing with the day on which the declaration is made unless, before the expiration of such period, it has been approved by a resolution of the National Assembly supported by a majority of all the members thereof not counting the Speaker.

(3) In reckoning any period of seven days for the purpose of clause (2) no account shall be taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved.

(4) A declaration made under clause (1), may, at any time before it has been approved by a resolution of the National Assembly, be revoked by the President by Proclamation published in the Gazette.

(5) Subject to clause (6) a resolution of the National Assembly under clause (2) shall continue in force until the expiration of a period of three months commencing with the date of its being approved or until revoked on an earlier date of its being so approved or until such earlier date as may be specified in the resolution.

(6) The National Assembly may by resolution, at any time revoke a resolution made by it under this Article.

(7) Whenever an election to the office of President results in a change in the holder of that office, any declaration made underthis Article and in force immediately before the day on which the President assumes office, shall cease to have effect on the expiration of seven days commencing with that day.

(8) The expiration or revocation of any declaration or resolution made under this Article shall not affect the validity of anything previously done in reliance on such declaration.

28 COMMENTS

    • Release HH you fool…just watch how the economy will sink down like your poop..you are destroying the country with your stupid short cuts…

    • This is the weakest presidency ever in Zambia. Why explain and justify to the nation what constitution says about state of emergency?
      Declare it for 2 weeks!
      Why go to court?

  1. Release HH you fool…just watch how the economy will sink down like your poop..you are destroying the country with your stupid short cuts…

  2. At the end of the day who cares because its your own people doing it to incriminate UPND. You running away from real issues. Your corrupt ministers.

  3. Zambia will only see peace when lungu is put to rest. When we said that Zambia was a failed state with poor security we were called names. Now lungu who u worship has just told u that he has failed to govern because majority do not recognise his illegal regime. Only way forward is to petrol bomb lungu.

  4. Ikali iyi ba UPNDonkey. Just to interpret it for you thick donkeys, just a few salient points:
    1. It is with immediate effect
    2. It will last 7 days but if parliament approves it then it will go on for 3 months
    3. When it is finally revoked, any person that is already arrested under it and locked up will continue to be locked up as if it was not revoked
    4. The measures to be taken may include detention without trial
    5. “Genocide” or “armageddon” suspects can be arrested and this includes bloggers on LT or Zambian watchdog, even Kaili#1 underfive can be arrested while he is in correction. Very soon we shall see a sober nation!
    6. It is superior to and supercedes and suspends the article on human rights, so UPNDonkeys should not be cheated out of their money by any lawyer – takuli…

  5. …..ýIt is superior to and supercedes and suspends the article on human rights, so UPNDonkeys should not be cheated out of their money by any lawyer – takuli ifya bu Jack mwiimbu or martha mushipe, takuli ifya bail, takuli ifya kutalika naba Judge, you Donkeys
    7. With reference to 2 above, it would be nice to hear UPNDonkeys argue that similarly to the petition, this declaration does not expire after 7 days period but will continue in perpertuity like what they claimed about the 14 day election petition that it has no expiry date!

    Now let me hear you squeak, UPNDonkeys?

    • The UPNDunderheads have brought us this mess… now that they have caused this they should not cry foul when the law visits them

  6. The reason for declaring state of emergency is purely to keep HH in prison for as long as it takes. Silence the reasoning voices, even the lawyers for HH will be immobile.
    It seems a great move to the supporters and PF base. However , state of emergency will be felt by every Zambian regardless of political affiliations. KK did the same and the experience was horrible and terrifying. However Zambia was bombarded by South Africa and Ian Smith governs. It was inevitable and acceptable. Current happenings in Zambia are hallmarks of the five acts of terrorism. 1: blackmailing, 2:propaganda 3:saboteur, 4: kidnapping 5: assassinations
    The reasons PF LEADERSHIP is doing all these acts are to instil fear, amounting to panic resulting in divisions among Zambians losing hope for bright future or…

    • That was kks time. 2 centuries ago. This is 21st century. No relationship to kk. All those suspects will be picked from their bed at midnight and thrown in prison. No court appearances. I will report 3 upnd 1diots to go and suffer.

  7. Terrible even you a pf supporter can be arrested if you do not follow the party line. Rsmember the state of emergency covers ALL Zambians not just those not supporting the government.
    When you reflect later in life you will realise, hopefully, that rants on social media didnt help the political stuation
    It actually helped to inflame. Also reflect that in a true democracy divergent views are tolerated.
    Lets pray that zambia gets thru this period and becomes a more tolerant nation with greater respect for each other.

    • @Masalamuso you are a wise man, take note that Terrible, Peter, Overhead and a few others are paid PF trolls. They are consistently spewing the same anti HH-UPND vile poison 24/7.

  8. Brothers and sisters take a chill pill. Please. If you are a peace loving person read this….

    There is no justification towards whatever has been happening in our country thus far. Let us learn to put ourselves in the shoes of the directly affected with their families before we issues any comment. Because we allow levels of selfishness to escalate to greater heights, we push the person in the driving seat to take drastic measures, like the one we have now. It is not trues that no one has information about the perpetrators of these hideous vises but they chose to turn a blind eye to them just because it is affecting another person.

    Country men and women let us learn to be resolute and take responsibility of our speech and actions. In whatever has been happening, it is the power…

  9. Stup1t cadres saluting what a brainless president wants to do. It is your families who will suffer. Tourists will shun Zambia too and Zambian workers in tourist places will lose their jobs. Brainless PF cadres don’t understand this.

  10. Friends, the president invoked article 31. Now article 31 IS NOT STATE OF EMERGENCY, rather it is a THREATENED STATE OF EMERGENCY which is under emergency act. In layman’s language, it is an alert to the nation that we have a situation which if allowed may lead to the state of emergency. Life will continue as usual, but security wings will be on alert. It is intended to protect citizens, investors and other stakeholders, to give them comfort of mind that they are safe. This happens in all countries, for example UK had terrorist attacks recently and they declared an alarm

    • Why are you telling us? We already know. UK terror threat level was once raised to ‘CRITICAL’ before they brought it down to ‘Severe’ which is the second highest threat level . However, in our situation I see this article being abused by our Law enforcement agencies. There will be high levels of corruption to say the least.

  11. Why are investors not scared in the UK, US even in the midst of terror attacks and RED ALERTS declared….when Zambia raises its security profile to deal with a security threat it becomes dictatorship

  12. The move towards the state of emergency has been on PF agenda for sometime now it has just been delayed because the expected riots did not take place after the perceived rigged elections. Zambia is now confirmed a BANANA country. If arrests before the state of emergency were brutal what more now. HH could have been eliminated that night if he did not have a safe room. Let those that are temporary in power know that there is a God who will provide justice at an opportune time to those that have been unnecessary persecuted by PF. The day of reckoning will surely come.

  13. HH u hv bn too mch delelesheni to the top man the President EC Chagwa make sure deal with them.

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