The President of the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) struggled and failed to clearly explain to the Constitutional Court whether by inviting institutions and persons to make submissions, the National Assembly attempted to involve the people in the legislative process.

In a matter in which LAZ has challenged the enactment of the Constitution of Zambia Amendment Bill 10, Solicitor General Abraham Mwansa asked LAZ to read paragraph 8 of their Witness statement in which he stated:

“[8] I note that the Third Respondent in an effort to involve the public in the legislative process in line with the provisions of Article 89(1) of the Constitution wrote to the Petitioner and many other institutions and persons inviting them to submit memoranda on the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill No. 10 of 2019 (hereinafter referred to as the “Bill”)

When asked whether he agreed the National Assembly made efforts to engage everyone in the legislative process, including LAZ, Mr Mwitwa said the institutions and persons are not the people.

This prompted the Solicitor General to ask him to read the definition of persons in the Constitution and the question was repeated to him whether Parliament made efforts to engage the people including LAZ, to which he said he doesn’t know.

Another lawyer from the Attorney General, Francis Mwale asked the LAZ President to whether there was a standard procedure of amending the Constitution to which Mr Mwitwa responded by referring to the Technical Committee process preceding the 2016 amendments as the standard.

Mr. Mwitwa belaboured to explain processes which included consultative forums and conferences.

The Principal State Advocate Mwale asked him to explain which law provided for that process, Mr Mwitwa said there was none.

Mr Mwitwa also told the Court that when Parliament invited them to make submissions to the Parliamentary Committee scrutinising the Constitution of Zambia Amendment Bill, Parliament did not invite them to a legislative process but a consultative process.

When shown Article 89(1) of the Constitution on the provision for Parliament to engage in a legislative process, Mr Mwitwa maintained that the process to scrutinise the Bill by a Parliamentary Committee is not a legislative process but consultative one.

Former State House Press Aide Amos Chanda has failed to appear for questioning at the Drug Enforcement Commission.

And the Drug Enforcement Commission has confirmed that Mr Chanda had by broadcast time not availed himself for questioning and officers were still waiting for him.

According to the Commission, there has been no official communication from Mr Chanda on the reasons for his failure to appear for questioning.

Mr Chanda was yesterday summoned by the Drug Enforcement Commission to appear for questioning today and was expected to avail himself for questioning at 09 hours.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that the call out was in relation to alleged money laundering charges.

And reports indicate that Mr Chanda has expressed surprise that a call-out by the Drug Enforcement Commission Anti Money Laundering Unit was issued, highly circulated and publicized before he or his lawyers were served of the document.

Sources close to Mr Chanda said till today, no document has been served on him and was still waiting for official communication.

Media reports also indicated that lawyers to Mr. Chanda, Makebi Zulu &Associates had earlier in the day dispatched Mr. Jonas Zimba to liaise with DEC Anti-Money Laundering Unit to discuss suitable dates when Mr. Chanda was available and to appear before the Unit to attend to the details of the alleged investigations.

It is understood that Mr Chanda learnt of the call out from social media and was only able to return to Lusaka last evening when ZNBC broadcast a confirmation of the summon.

Mr Chanda was on a personal mission to Mazabuka.

The National Union of Public and Private Educators of Zambia has supported plans by the Lusaka Province administration to demolish structures built on land belonging to Munali Secondary School.

NUPPEZ General Secretary Nelson Mwale said in an interview that it is unfortunate that some people have started encroaching on land belonging to the Ministry of Education reserved for school expansion and other infrastructure.

Mr Mwale said the action by Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo is commendable and should be extended to all schools whose land has been encroached by developers.

He also appealed to government to utilize reverse school land to construct new classroom blocks or build Teachers houses.

Mr Mwale said the union is engaging government on the need to construct houses for teachers as is currently the case with Defense and Security wings but wondered where the houses will be built with the land encroached.

“We are dismayed that the public can keep on encroaching the land belonging to Munali Secondary school with impunity. This is disappointing”, he said.

Mr Mwale has urged Law Enforcement Agencies to ensure that those found wanting are brought to book and land repossessed to ensure that it benefits the schools.

The Opposition MMD has requested Members in holding on to the party vehicles to surrender them.

MMD spokesperson Dr. Cephas Mukuka said the exercise will go on for 5 days from yesterday and failure to surrender the vehicles shall be reported as stolen to the police.

Dr. Mukuka said those in Lusaka must bring the vehicles to the Party Secretariat in Kabulonga while those outside Lusaka should hand them over to our Provincial Chairpersons.

He said this important exercise closes on the 17th of November 2019, at 18 hours.

Dr. Mukuka said the vehicles Toyota Hilux belongs to the party and should not be in the custody of individuals.

He regretted that the vehicles which should be used for party activities have again been shared leaving the party without any vehicles for its activities.

University of Zambia Lecturer Sishuwa Sishuwa has described the state of infrastructure at UNZA as an eyesore.

Mr Sishuwa said both the Great East Road and Ridgeway campus have suffered many years of neglect.

In a series of Tweets, Mr Sishuwa said UNZA today looks like a fossil.

“Each time l enter University of Zambia, l can’t help noticing the contempt with which our present rulers regard what should be an institution that takes pride of place in our hearts. UNZA today looks like a fossil or bombing survivor: forlorn, abandoned, dilapidated, an eyesore.”

He added, “Like Zambia today, our main university is a dream in ruins. UNZA has a rich history. I hope that, one day, we will get a national leadership that will complete building this site of making critical knowledge, rebuild and restore it onto its right place and status in the country.”

“We have a long way to go to get to a better future, but we must go there! Most importantly, the provision of mass and quality education has to be a central feature of our imagined better future. We have work to do, lots of work, if we are to change who we are today.”

Mr Sishuwa charged that Zambians are not serious.

“How can we embark on building new universities when we can’t maintain existing ones? We expend an astonishing amount of effort and energy on trivial issues, ignoring major and pressing questions of national importance: education, health, housing and transport.”

He said, “The whole place is a mess. Many buildings that form the University of Zambia, both at Great East Road and Ridgeway campuses, look to be on the verge of collapse while some are engulfed by raw sewage from the institution’s long broken and effectively dysfunctional toilet system.”

“We all must do what we can to, in the end, rebel against the pitiful state of our sub-human existence.”

Dr Sishuwa said UNZA does not qualify to be called a university.

“It’s discretionary to continue calling the institution a university and miraculous that there is anything left to see at all. How sad to see what our main public university, which at one time was one of the leading higher education institutions in the region, has been reduced to.”

He also charged that the East Park in which UNZA entered into a long term lease agreement with private developers to construct a shopping mall on university land is a scam.

“The EastPark project is, simply put, a scam, one that demonstrates the frightening mediocrity of our leadership, both at university and national levels, and a unique kind of poverty: the poverty of vision.”