Heritage Party (HP) president Godfrey Miyanda has said Chief Justice Ernest Sakala is not obliged to shake hands with Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata because greeting is a personal choice.

Brigadier General Miyanda also said that claims that the refusal by Justice Sakala to greet Mr Sata implied that the chief justice will scuttle Mr Sata’s 2011 presidential ambitions were off the mark.

The general also wondered why eminent people like Michelo Hansungule and John Mambo had joined the melee to add credibility to an otherwise empty noise at a funeral.
[pullquote]“What has happened to Zambia? Why should a mere greeting become a serious political issue and be turned into a national debate?

“There is no need for the chief justice to apologise to anyone unless he wants to. Since when did greeting become a duty?” he asked.[/pullquote]

He said to accept or not accept a greeting was a personal matter and that there was no need for Chief Justice Sakala to apologise to anyone.

General Miyanda was commenting on the greeting row that erupted after Chief Justice Sakala allegedly refused to shake hands with Mr Sata at the funeral of justice Peter Chitengi.

“What has happened to Zambia? Why should a mere greeting become a serious political issue and be turned into a national debate?

“There is no need for the chief justice to apologise to anyone unless he wants to. Since when did greeting become a duty?” he asked.

He said several opposition leaders had been rejecting President Rupiah Banda’s invitations to State functions because it was their right and that no one must make an issue out of it or make it a duty.

Gen Miyanda said Mr Sata’s statement that the chief justice would scuttle his 2011 dream was divisive and based on speculation.

“How can a refusal of a greeting interfere with ballots? Is it the chief justice who votes in all constituencies or does he carry ballots in his pockets? President Sata must provide cogent evidence or else withdraw this divisive statement,” said Gen Miyanda

He said Zambians must reject Professor Hansungule’s new definition of multi-party politics.

He said the idea of forming many parties suggests that people see matters differently and that they might reject even a greeting that they perceived not genuine.

He said Prof Hansungule was wrong to suggest that funerals were gatherings for reconciliation.

“We have several contentious issues facing our country, including the constitution-making process, the electoral process, security, tribalism, regionalism, poverty etc. Does the professor suggest seriously that we should all go to funerals to resolve these issues and for SACCORD to move its headquarters to Leopards Hill Cemetery?

If the 50 per cent plus one issue was tabled to be resolved at a funeral, there will be no reconciliation but fist fights and gnashing of teeth,” he said.

Gen Miyanda was also surprised that Bishop Mambo supported Prof Hansungule and added that a greeting might just be an act to dupe a naïve person into believing that one had found a friend.

“The bishop and most likely the professor know of one Judas Iscariot who hugged Jesus Christ just before he sent him to the gallows!” he said.

He said Zambians must remember the purported reconciliation between President Sata and late president Levy Mwanawasa.

“A lot of fanfare was made after the secret get-together. President Sata has declared that the reconciliation was a “gimmick”. Was Mr Sata’s greeting at St Ignatius also a gimmick?” he wondered.

He recalled that when Mr Sata went to greet him outside St Ignatius Church, he extended his hand voluntarily because he accepted the greeting.

“No one forced me that is how it should be although I did not like to be hugged,” he said.

He has called upon lawyers and Zambians to roundly condemn what he termed pettiness.
[ Times of Zambia ]

Government has announced that it intends to increase the number of beneficiaries of the Farmer Input Support Programme(FISP) from the current 500,000 to over 600,000 farmers for the 2010/2011 farming season.

Acting Agriculture Minister Dora Siliya told parliament that that Government will further increase the number of beneficiaries to over one million farmers by 2011/2012 farming season.

She attributed the bumper harvest the country has recorded this year to the increased number of beneficiaries of the Farmer Input Support Program (FISP) from previously 250,000 to 500,000.

Responding to a question in Parliament today by Mandevu Member of Parliament Jean Kapata who wanted to know whether government is considering increasing the number of bags from the current four bags following an outcry from farmers that it is not enough, Ms Siliya says people are happy with the intervention by government to reduce the number of packs in order to accommodate more people.

Ms Siliya told the House that the reduction in the number of fertilizer bags to four per farmer has enabled more people to access the fertilizer under the FISP.

She says government proved that four bags were enough to produce sufficiently and that beyond that people would be selling the fertilizer.

QFM

The Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) has observed that the failure by successive MMD administrations to manage national resources and tolerance for endemic corruption has greatly cost Zambia’s dignity and respect.

ADD president, Charles Milupi said the continued over dependency on donor funds and failure to manage public funds in a prudent manner by successive MMD governments has taken away the nation’s pride and dignity because Zambia is ever begging.

Mr. Milupi it was wrong for President Rupiah Banda to castigate the donor community who in the last few years the MMD has been in power have provided aid and helped in the implementation of various programs across the country.

He said President Banda should simply heed the donor community’s call for accountability in the utilization of their funds because they still remain a significant partner.

The ADD leader noted that donors contribute a significant percentage towards the country’s national budget hence they have the right to demand for accountability.

Mr Milupi who is former parliamentary public accounts committee chairperson said the uproar by the republican President and the government in general over the calls for accountability from the donor community is because the MMD government has not been able to appreciate the Auditor General’s reports.

Mr. Milupi said there is need for government to begin to address the various issues highlighted in the Auditor General’s reports to uphold transparency.
[QFM ]

By Henry Kyambalesa

Dear NCC Commissioners:

Comments on the NCC Draft Constitution

I wish to join other Zambians in acknowledging your extraordinary effort, determination and commitment to review the Republican constitution and give our beloved country a new constitution that is expected to stand the test of time.

In this connection, I wish to make a few comments and suggestions designed to make the new constitution more acceptable to the majority of Zambians, and more credible in the eyes of the international community.

1. The Preamble: The first three paragraphs of the Preamble should read as follows:

We, the people of Zambia, by our representatives assembled in our Parliament,

Acknowledge the supremacy of God Almighty;

Uphold the right of every person to enjoy that person’s freedom of conscience or religion; …

The Republican constitution should be a neutral document that should not appear to discriminate against atheists or pagans, or those who believe in Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, or Jainism. All these segments of Zambian society have a genuine stake in the Republican constitution and, therefore, deserve to be respected in spite of the fact that they are not currently as large as their Christian counterparts.

2. Christian Values and Principles (Article 16): This Article should be removed because “directing the policies and laws towards securing and promoting Christian values” or beliefs would be inconsistent with “upholding the right of every person to enjoy that person’s freedom of conscience or religion” that is enshrined in the Preamble. It is also not consistent with what is enshrined in Article 96(2)(a) of the Bill which states that a political party shall not be founded on a religious basis, among other things.

If it were permissible for the national government to generate “policies and laws towards securing and promoting Christian values …,” why would it be wrong for a political party to fashion its existence and contemplated policies and laws that would have a religious bearing?

If there is a compelling and absolute need for this Article to be retained, however, the “Christian Values and Principles” will need to be specifically defined in the same manner as Article 10 (Political Values, Principles and Objectives), Article 13 (Socio-Economic Values, Principles and Objectives) and Article 15 (Cultural Values, Principles and Objectives) are defined.

3. Promotion of Sport (Article 19): This Article states that “The Government shall promote recreation and sports for the citizens.” It could more appropriately and logically be incorporated into Article 13 (Socio-Economic Values, Principles and Objectives).

4. Qualifications of Presidential Candidates (Article 108): The requirements that presidential candidates should have a bachelor’s degree as a minimum academic qualification, and to have been resident in Zambia for 10 consecutive years preceding any given presidential election are clearly designed to exclude certain individuals from contesting the Republican presidency.

It is obvious that these two clauses could not have been recommended by the NCC if the MMD presidential candidate in the 2011 general elections — that is, Rupiah Banda — did not have a degree and had been working or studying in a foreign country over the last 5 or so years.

The degree requirement, for example, is undesirable and outrageous for the following reasons:

(a) It is not based on evidence from Zambia or anywhere else in the world suggesting that a president’s competence is directly related to his or her academic qualifications. In other words, it is mainly based on hunches rather than on facts!

(b) There is no academic degree offered anywhere in the world which can equip an individual with the qualities that are needed in political leadership, such as emotional stability, patriotism, selflessness, fair-mindedness, patience, compassion, tolerance, respect for the rule of law, and the ability to make compromises with people who have dissenting views.

(c) Most academic degrees are not designed to equip students with the requisite knowledge and skills relating to political or national leadership.

(d) The number of years which have passed from the year someone obtained a degree to the present reflects on the relevance of the degree involved. A degree obtained during the 1980s, for example, is generally useless if the holder is not engaged in teaching or other professions which require the application of the knowledge and skills acquired during the pursuit of the degree.

(e) The Republican president appoints qualified advisors to provide him or her with decision inputs in dealing with legal, economic, political, and other matters.

(f) The Republican president is expected to appoint competent government ministers and charge them with the responsibility of advising him or her on matters relating to national projects and programs, and spearheading the implementation of such projects and programs.

(g) The clause, if it is eventually included in the new Republican constitution, will inevitably require all office bearers (including the vice president) who are constitutionally expected to take over the presidency under special circumstances to be holders of academic degrees. And

(h) The kinds of national policies, projects and programs a presidential candidate promises to pursue are more important than his or her educational attainments.

There is, therefore, a need to retain Article 123 (1) (e) of the Willa Mung’omba draft constitution, which states that a person would only be qualified to be a presidential candidate if he or she had obtained the minimum academic qualification of a Grade 12 certificate.

With respect to the 10-year residence requirement, what is really the rationale for such a Clause? What is it supposed to achieve?

There are many reasons why Zambians temporarily reside in foreign countries, such as to pursue studies, to work for the Zambian government in foreign missions, to work at foreign-based branches of companies registered in Zambia, to pursue investment opportunities, or to seek employment due to the widespread unemployment currently obtaining in the country.

These are all good reasons why some Zambian citizens have, now and again, found themselves temporarily residing in foreign countries. Why, then, should their native country’s constitution deny them the opportunity to vie for the Republican presidency?

[pullquote]These are all good reasons why some Zambian citizens have, now and again, found themselves temporarily residing in foreign countries. Why, then, should their native country’s constitution deny them the opportunity to vie for the Republican presidency?[/pullquote]

There is a need to remove this requirement because it discriminates against citizens who temporarily live in foreign countries for good reasons.

Over the years, the people’s call for a non-discriminatory Republican constitution that is expected to stand the test of time has been loud and clear. Unfortunately, those who are entrusted with the noble task of delivering such a constitution to the people seem to have personal and/or partisan stakes in the constitution-making process.

I, therefore, wish to urge each and every member of the NCC to heed the people’s call for a Republican constitution that will meet their needs and expectations in order to save financial and material resources that are likely to be devoted to another constitutional review commission in future.

Thus far, Zambia has wasted a good portion of its meager resources on financing the Chona Constitution Commission, the Mvunga Constitution Review Commission, the Mwanakatwe Constitution Review Commission, and the Mung’omba Constitutional Review Commission. There is, therefore, a need for the NCC to put personal and partisan interests aside and give the people a more acceptable constitution this time around.

5. Appointment of MPs to Executive Positions: The Bill requires that the Vice President, Provincial Ministers and Deputy Ministers should be appointed from Members of Parliament (Articles 128, 130, 131 and 132). This is an outdated and backward requirement for a burgeoning democratic system like ours.

We, therefore, need Articles and/or Clauses which would provide for the appointment of the Vice President, Provincial Ministers and Deputy Ministers from Zambians who are qualified to be elected as MPs, but who are not MPs. Such Articles and/or Clauses are important for the following reasons:

(a) They can afford a Republican president or President-elect a larger pool of competent people from which he or she can constitute a Cabinet.

(b) They can provide for greater separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches of government.

(c) They can afford presidential aspirants enough time to identify potential ministerial appointees well before tripartite elections rather than waiting for parliamentary elections to be concluded. And

(d) They can reduce the apparent work overload on government officials who have to handle both ministerial and parliamentary functions.

6. Defence and National Security (Part XVI): There is a need to create an additional Article in this Part of the Bill relating to the Zambia National Service (ZNS).

Anti Voter Apathy Project AVAP Executive Director Bonnie Tembo has called on government to revisit areas that were not adequately covered during the mobile issuance of National Registration Cards NRCs.

Mr. Tembo noted that if this is not done, the ongoing voter registration exercise by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) is bound to be a failure.

He says government should honour its pledge to go back to the areas that were not adequately covered due to unforeseen circumstances.

Mr Tembo said for the voter registration exercise to capture the targeted number of 2.5 million news voters, there is need to revisit areas which were not adequately covered.

Meanwhile Mr. Tembo has bemoaned the inadequate publicity of the on-going voter registration exercise.
[QFM]

The Southern African Centre for Constructive Resolutions of Disputes, SACCORD, has called on the Zambian parliament to take national issues seriously.

SACCORD Information Officer, Obby Chibuluma, says as parliament resumed sitting yesterday, there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed by the legislature almost immediately.

Mr. Chibuluma said parliament must this time around follow up reports by the office of the Auditor General which have been bringing to light numerous cases of misappropriation of public funds.

He said these are issues parliament should address by ensuring that they are thoroughly debated on and a way forward found.

And Mr. Chibuluma has appealed to the parliamentarians to debate the constitution making process which he says has no clear direction.

He said the process is taking too long, adding that it is not clear as to when and how it is expected to end.

Mr Chibuluma has also called on parliamentarians to represent the people of Zambia genuinely.

He said SACCORD would want to see an effective parliament as the country approaches the 2011 tripartite elections.
[QFM]