The Patriotic Front government has been warned to be cautious that the refined Constitution it wants to give the Zambian people will one day come to haunt them.
Senior citizen Dante Saunders is reminding the PF government to keep in mind that they will have only themselves to blame when they are out of power under such a Constitution.
Mr. Saunders says he has taken note that, while Zambians want a refined Constitution that protects everyone, those in government seem to be more interested serving their interests.
He has told QTV News that if anyone like him would come to power, after the PF government has been removed from office, he would use the same Constitution to deal with them ruthlessly.
Mr. Saunders stated that it will be then that they would realize how bad it is to have a Supreme law of the land that serves more the interest of those in government than the people
Mr. Saunders said that he remembered very well that the same thing actually happened to the then MMD government when it was removed from power because of a bad Constitution.
And Minister of Justice Given Lubinda has clarified that the Parliamentary Service Commission Act has not been brought into force.
Mr. Lubinda says the State Audit Commission Act is equally yet to be operationalized.
He has told QTV News that both Acts require the issuance of Statutory Instruments (SIs) before they could be brought into force.
Mr. Lubinda states that all appointments under the two commissions are therefore being done according to provisions of the Republican Constitution before the 2016 amendments
He states that this does not however mean that the government is not following the Republican Constitution.
Mr. Lubinda notes that Act 1 of 2016 does in fact provide for a transition from the old to the amended Constitution.
He says he does not therefore think it is fair for anyone to create an impression that government is applying the Constitution selectively.
Very bad and bitter words from someone who is suppose to be an elder citizen and a guide for future generations. Zambia doesn’t end with PF or any other party. We’ve had UNIP and MMD before and still Zambia has gone forward. Dante has selfish interests!! He is promoting the precedence of winner takes all which as a nation we must abash. Every political party in power must be recognised and appreciated for their contribution and not planning to persecute them. Remember how we lost all the good UNIP did because of this attitude??
@ Zambian Citizen, agreed Dante is an elder citizen and if you read him well, his is advice for ‘exercising caution’ for bad decisions to serve those in power could later turn to inflict on them the worst when tables turn!
Dante Saunders where were you all this time? You were missing from the political commentary box for a while.
Dante Saunders is HH’s cadre!!!So he cannot say anything good about PF Govnt!!
Moreover who told Dante that we shall need PF once it is removed from power?Zambians never vote for parties which have ruled before.UNIP AND MMD ARE HISTORY NOW IN ZAMBIA!!!PF will be the same but that could be in 2099 and not now because we very much happy with the works being done by PF Govnt!!!
I wonder what this Zimbabwean man is still doing in Zambia. This an acceptable, go back where you came from…
Mnangagwa won’t accept him.
What is senior about this Dante? How can you call a person senior citizen when he does not know what he or she stands for? Senior citizens are neutral; their role is to give genuine advice where it is needed. But people like Bishop Mambo and Dante they don’t know what they want. They are party inclined which means they have personal interests and intentions. May be bena Zukas can be labelled as senior citizens. As far as our memories can help us Dante is a proper cadre for UPND and his advice about the supreme law is fake because they are the same people who cried fowl when the 14 day provision hit them hard and yet the yelled loudest for the constitution to be released before elections. Eddy gave them one. Rubbish!!!!!!
All Mr Saunders is saying is that the constitution should be tailored to serve all citizens without advantaging any particular group of people. What we see nowadays are documents designed to protect the interests of people in power. This is the reason why we are now struggling with the interpretation of whether the President can stand in 2021or not. Clearly the architects of the new constitution were trying to allow Mr Lungu another go at the next elections. A constitution should serve all of us equally.
YOU YOUNGER ZAMBIANS LEARN TO CONTRIBUTE BY BUILDING OR STEPPING UP…..SHOW US THAT YOU THINK… TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE IN YOUR NEW CONSTITUTION….IF YOU THINK THE BEST PEOPLE ARE IN THE RULING PARTY YOU HAVE TROUBLE COMING YOUR WAY SOON……
Zambia is so nice that everyone can say anything anytime at any place. Saunders is expressing his opinion. ..take it or leave it.
Saunders madala. You are UPND cadre and lost the bit of respect you once had.