The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) has voiced its concerns over the government’s planned constitutional reforms, urging for broad-based stakeholder engagement and national consensus to ensure a legitimate and lasting constitutional order.
The New Dawn Government has signaled its commitment to amending Zambia’s Constitution, with proposed reforms aimed at enhancing proportional representation for women, youths, and disabled individuals in governance institutions. Other suggested changes include the elimination of by-elections and the delimitation of constituencies to improve service delivery. While LAZ acknowledges the potential benefits of these reforms, the association has cautioned the government to approach the process carefully to avoid pitfalls that could compromise the intended benefits.
“Constitutional reform is a complex, time-consuming, and costly exercise that requires extensive stakeholder consultation and agreement—not only on the substance but also on the process,” LAZ stated. “The manner in which the Constitution is developed and amended is just as critical as its content. The process must be inclusive, legitimate, and reflective of the aspirations of the people.”
LAZ further emphasized that constitutional amendments should not be conducted in a piecemeal fashion but should comprehensively address key governance issues, including the expansion of the Bill of Rights to encompass economic and social rights.
As a key stakeholder in constitutional matters, LAZ expressed concern that the government has yet to share its proposed roadmap or draft Constitutional Amendment Bill with stakeholders. The association also warned against initiating constitutional reforms too close to the electoral cycle, as this could undermine the integrity of the process.
“Any constitutional amendment and reform should be initiated outside the electoral cycle to prevent political influences that could dilute the process,” LAZ advised.
The association has called on the government to ensure that all constitutional reforms are based on genuine and broad-based consultations to foster national unity and long-term governance stability. The statement comes amid growing national debate on the direction and scope of the proposed reforms, highlighting the importance of consensus-building in shaping the country’s constitutional future.
As Zambia moves forward with its constitutional review, LAZ’s cautionary stance serves as a reminder of the necessity for inclusivity, transparency, and adherence to democratic principles in governance reforms.
This proposed constitutional amendment has now become a poisoned chalice and should just be shelved until after elections. The credibility gap is just too wide…
Can we see the backyard proposal by the president? Was he bluffing when he said he has it ready somewhere? From the abundance of the mouth, the heart speaks.
Princess something says there’s no draft copy at all.
Meanwhile some newspaper screams: LAZ NODS TO CONSTITUTION AMENDMENTS.
Article 52, clause 6, appears innocent as it is full of human fillings showing humanism at its best.
Maybe Civil Societies should commit the Attorney General to Constitution Court for interpretation before we waste time and money in future. Independence is NOT a luxury but a committed life of fruitfully working for the betterment of our society, Zambia.
Unless it is a government of lies and liars. The outlier statements that he already had prepared the draft were out of this world. So unpresidential.
Constitutions are sacred documents for any country and live beyond the life span of a party or president. The amendment to the constitution must be done with a clear and clean conscience to serve the interest of the nation and its citizens and not the party and president in power.
Amendments must be debated and ample time allocated to hear out the views of various stakeholders.
Its also crucial for members of parliament to vote their conscious and not party lines.The ruling party must be absolutely transpaerent and never hide anything in the process to maintain the “sacradness” of the document.
Hope Mr HH will Respect and Honor this process.
Delimitation is good. Youth, women, people with disabilities being in government is good, but that is not the point. The point is that any amendment to the constitution must start with the people and end with the people. For clarity, a constitution is not a government document anywhere in the world. If there is a draft, when did the people, not government put up that draft. But what worries the most is to hear some people and some NGOs say don’t attack contents you have not seen, but the anomaly is that there should be no contents from government in the first place, any contents in which ever form, draft or not should come from the people
A Land of despair and warnings
The biggest scam of the earth is about to scam our nation as they try to turn Zambia into a Tongaland. Are we ready for this scam? We refused the same with PF and they were in the forefront. What has changed?