By Mubanga Mubanga
Historian Dr Sishuwa Sishuwa says President Hakainde Hichilema likes to do right things the wrong way.
Featuring on Hot FM yesterday, Dr Sishuwa asked why there was a rush by President Hichilema to amend the constitution.
He said the constitution did not need to be made for the next election, but for the next generation.
“I do worry Peter that President Hichilema likes doing the right things the wrong way. Even the right things is done the wrong way. This is a good thing the constitution reform process but there is no need to be so secretive about it. If you awant the bill 7 let them be used as the template for this kind of undertaking by the committee. Be transparent about, be transparent even in wrong doing, so that the public knows that this is the mandate of the committee, this is scope, this the timing that they have been given,” Sishuwa stated. “How much time are you going to do this? Is it one month for example. What is the rush for example. We should not make a constitution for the next election. We should make a constitution for the next generation. There is no need to rush the process.”
Dr Sishuwa said he was surprised when the technical committee was sworn minus the terms of reference being published or made public.
He wondered how they had accepted to be sworn without them knowing their duties and responsibilities.
“I was very surprised when they were sworn in because they were sworn in at a time when their terms of reference were not known or published. Even they didn’t know their terms of reference at the time when they were being sworn in,” Dr Sishuwa said. “There were two aspects there, one was about the appointing authority. Why are you swearing these people before you let them know the nature of their job? The duties and responsibilities that they are expected to uphold and for which they are taking in the oath of office.”
Further, Dr Sishuwa said the technical committee was supposed to ask President Hichilema to make sure that before they were constituted, the law in which he was relying upon to appoint them was “uncontestable”
“I think sometimes it has to do with how educated we are the ones who let ourselves down, who let the country down. Because if you have a President who is lawless like the President clearly was, by constituting the committee without a very clear legal mandate empowering him to do so, it is incumbent upon the lawyers on the committee, even that former supreme court judge, a retired one Mushabati. You could assist the president, and say … first give us the mandate. Can you give us, make sure that the law is very, very uncontestable, that you are relying upon us to constitute us. If you can’t do this, l am sorry l can’t accept to sit on the committee,” Sishuwa said.
However, Sishuwa said some of the people appointed on the technical committee had no business being there.
He stressed that some of them knew nothing about constitution making.
“The other issue is of a technical committee. We keep referring to them technical committee, but the word technical Peter possesses some kind of expertise, specialist expertise in a relevant or given area. In this case for example, we are talking about constitution making,” said Sishuwa. “So ask yourself what are these people that l am seeing on this committee bringing to the exercise? What is their expertise? There are so many people l know there, some are friends. You can’t say they are bringing any to the process.”
