Golden Party Zambia – GPZ President Jackson Silavwe says the appointment of Mr Patrick Kangwa as Secretary to the Cabinet by President Hakainde Hichilema is in breach of the republican Constitution.
Mr Silavwe cited that Article 176 (3) of the current Constitution states that “A person qualifies to be appointed as Secretary to the Cabinet if that person has or had at least ten years experience as a Permanent Secretary or equivalent rank.”
He mentioned that Mr Patrick Kangwa is a fine and hardworking professional, unfortunately based on the Constitution, he has only 7 years Permanent Secretary equivalent experience.
“We advise President HH to seek further interpretation from the Constitutional Court to avoid legal ramifications in future over the Secretary to the Cabinet appointment,”” he mentioned
Mr Silavwe said that in 2012, President Sata and Vice President Guy Scot elevated the office of National Coordinator at DMMU to that of a Permanent Secretary, formerly it was equivalent to a Director in a Ministry, thus, Mr Kangwa served as DMMU National Coordinator from 2012 until his promotion as Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet in 2017.
He explained that Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (DSC) is not equivalent to Permanent Secretary, Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet is much higher than Permanent Secretary, Adding that the Late Chief Justice Ireen Mambilima in consultation with the then Speaker of the National Assembly did administratively advise then Republican President Edgar Lungu that Mr Kangwa did not meet the 10 years Constitutional threshold because Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet is not equivalent to the position of Permanent Secretary.
The Golden Party President said that on the other hand, Presidential appointments at the Electoral Commission of Zambia – ECZ is a very bad governance practice, stating that appointing a known United Party for National Development – UPND supporters and sympathizers to institutions of good governance such as Electoral Commission of Zambia is the same weakness UNIP had when making appointments.
“As such the current ECZ Commissioners cannot exercise any form of independence as they are bound to continue their biasness towards President Hichilema and the UPND. We surmise that the ‘new’ line up at ECZ now looks like the UPND National Management Committee (NMC) by extension,” he said
Meanwhile, the newly appointed Electoral Commission of Zambia – ECZ Commissioner MacDonald Chipenzi has allayed concerns raised by some sections of society over his appointment.
Concerns have been raised over Mr Chipenzi’s appointment on social media with people criticizing it saying he is politically inclined.
But Mr Chipenzi has assured Zambians that he will not conduct himself as he did before he was appointed and has further assured that he will apply credibility, transparency and accountability as he takes up his new role once ratified by Parliament.
He has said in an interview that although he is perceived to belong to the UPND, he is going to the Commission as a person who understands elections along with his team.
On Wednesday, President Hakainde Hichilema appointed Mr Patrick Kangwa as Secretary to the Cabinet in pursuant to Article 176 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia and in consultation with the Civil Service Commission. The President also appointed Dr. Mubita Kalabo as Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet in charge of Administration.
Additionally, President Hichilema also appointed Lusaka lawyer Mwangala Zaloumis as the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia and Mr Ali Simwinga as the Deputy Chairperson while Mr MacDonald Chipenzi was appointed as a Commissioner.
The President in exercise of the powers vested in him in Section 16 (1) of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 3 of 2012 appointed Mr Tom Trevor Shamakamba as Director General of the Anti-Corruption Commission.
The President also on recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission pursuant to Article 140 (e) of the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia appointed Mrs Caroline Zulu Sokoni as the Judge of the High Court for Zambia.
For ECZ appointments we should have a board independent of political affiliations. Main stream Church bodies , high court Judges and reputable NGOs can constitute this board. It’s this board that will be mandated by the people to appoint ECZ officials
Independence does not exist, what you need is systems that are stronger than the ill will of people. This is what has led to changes in governments in Zambia at least 3 times.
At 75 Mwangala will be 80 when we hold the next general election, what has she brought to ECZ. I hope she won’t insist on using the abacus to tally the results. There are many vibrant young advocates of the High Court that can easily fill up that vacancy. I don’t expect any positive reforms at ECZ. HH is a disappointment
Apart from being the first person from Southern province to be our Republican president there’s nothing else Mr HH has brought to the table…of course a lot of chaotic decisions.
Zambians very good at talkig..evry little thing they will talk. Look at the nuber of pipo commenting on these apointments. This country is full of empty tins….the country is poor bcoz of the mental quality of its ctizens nothing else. Especially the so called opposition its like they ar experts on everything.total rubish…….
I agree with you on one point about empty tins and the opposition. The UPND had been in opposition for over 20yrs, so they were the expert empty tins for that long and I doubt if they have attained any wisdom within 1yr in government. There are still a lot of empty vessels in the UPND. The ratio might 1,000 empty tins to half a person
So this Butete chap is not talking. His comment above must have been written for him, the case of empty tins, ahede
VERY USELESS APPOINTMENTS IF YOU ASK ME. WHERE WILL THE YOUTH AND OTHER YOUNG VIBRANT MEN AND WOMEN FIT IN IF ALL SUCH APPOINTMENTS ARE GOING TO VERY OLD PEOPLE?. OLD PEOPLE SHOULD ONLY BE SOUGHT FOR ADVISE, LET THEM REST AND ENJOY RETIREMENT WHILE IMPARTING KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM IN THE YOUNG.
Youth have to learn the ropes like everyone else. Kangwa joined the civil service as a young man and has earned his stripes. He is not being imposed but has gone up through the ropes. Stop being childish. Where will you get a young man with ten years of experience as a Permanent Secretary? And those requirements arent just dreamed up. They are neccessary. No young man can lead the civil service. Its not a playground for infantile experiments.
But if one holds the position of DSC surly he meets the threshold? Mr Kangwa, was originally an MMD party functionary and held the position of Mayor which is an elected post. He was then moved to DDMU after receiving his Masters, he is originally an Agro-economist as Director before the position was elevated to PS and later appointed DSC and now nominated for SC. It would be good for journalists to roll out the background qualifications of persons appointed to high positions. Try researching.
The appointments are a disappointment
ECZ, ACC, ZP are now fully UPND branches. I will not waste my time voting because the Dictator is dictating now. Thanks to the unemployed youths that gave us this hell by voting for Nkana red Devils.
This is one reason I have a problem with journalism in Zambia today. All they do is regurgitate a press statement from a source as if we Zambians cannot read for ourselves. When appointments are made, what a good journalist would do is to dig up the curriculum vitae (cv) of the appointees and inform the public about who the person is, where s/he comes from, what are his or her qualifications. But what we have are lazy journalists who just copy and paste.
Just look at this story. Its just putting together of lots of sentences like ifisoso gathered in a dustbin. One sentence doesnt flow from another. No interpretation or clarification. The reader has to make out what the reporter is saying
“A person qualifies to be appointed as Secretary to the Cabinet if that person has or had at least ten years experience as a Permanent Secretary or equivalent rank.”
The issue here is the meaning of “equivalent rank”. It is open to interpretation.
The framers of the 2016 constitution left it open.
Therefore HH is not in breach of the constitution.
Fimba upoke baba……
Kwena you are such a huge fool. Do you ever look into the mirror.
Why no join Dr. CHISUSHI KAMBWILI
Kwena , just wait and see, Kaunda and kapwepwe come and see leeloo kuno ku chalooo