By Mubanga Mubanga
A consortium of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have challenged the UPND government to come up with a legitimate and independent constitution review process.
In a joint statement read by Tl-Z executive director Maurice Nyambe on behalf of Alliance for Community Action ((ACA), Chapter one Foundation, Corporating partners and other CSOs, at the Civil society and media engagement which was held at Mikango Hotel on Thursday, Nyambe said the UPND are supposed to show that they can do things differently.
“We therefore challenge the UPND administration to show that they will do things differently by ensuring a legitimate and independent Constitutional review process that will respond to the wishes and aspirations of the people of Zambia. As the CSO coalition on this subject, we stand ready to support the government in this endeavor through our work, such as raising awareness of the reforms, once they begin and providing civic education on the form and manner of the said reforms,” Nyambe stated.
He also urged all stakeholders to work collaboratively towards a reformed and strengthened constitutional framework for Zambia.
Nyambe said that the government should focus on key areas during the constitution review process.
He said a key issue affecting the fight against corruption in Zambia was the overarching power of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), which entailed that the DPP could override any prosecutorial decision of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), and yet it was established as an autonomous and specialised institution with the constitutional mandate to fight corruption.
“We therefore recommend that the prosecutorial powers of the DPP and the ACC should be harmonised,” Nyambe stated.
He said that CSOs were of the view that the DPP and ACC director general should be selected following an independent, transparent, competitive and meritorious public process, adding that this would enhance accountability and public confidence in the process.
The CSOs further recommended that the constitution should provide for the regulation of registration of political parties, public funding of political parties, intra-party democracy, youth and gender, and disability quotas within parties as a requirement for funding of parties.
Nyambe also recommended that the threshold for campaign spending, auditing of political parties, disclosure of party financing, restrictions on what public funds for political parties could be used for and enforcement mechanisms based on inclusion of youth, gender and people with disabilities.
Nyambe said that key institutions such as the Office of the Public Protector, Human Rights Commission (HRC), Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Judicial Complaints Commission (JCC), Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) and Office of the Auditor General, the constitution should provide for a transparent, independent, and inclusive public and merit-based appointment system for key leadership positions in these institutions.
He said that there should be clarity on the removal procedures for these office holders in a manner that did not undermine their institutional autonomy.
“We also wish to recommend that the financial autonomy of these institutions be enhanced by ensuring that their grants are appropriated directly from the national budget through Parliament,” Nyambe stated.
He urged the government to include fundamental human and media freedom.
On fundamental human rights, including media freedoms, the CSOs recommended the inclusion of socio-economic rights, administrative justice rights, and the expansion of remedies available for the violation of human rights.
Nyambe stated that related to this, they recommended the expansion of existing civil and political rights such as freedom of expression to include internet freedoms and protection of journalists.
On the structure and powers of the executive and separation of powers, the CSOs recommended enhancing the accountability of the executive to Parliament.
Nyambe also proposed changes in the manner senior staff like commissioners and the chief electoral officer at the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) were appointed.
“We recommend that the appointment of ECZ commissioners and the Chief Electoral Officer be based on an independent public, inclusive, and merit-based process. Further, the ECZ should enjoy financial autonomy as proposed earlier for other institutions of governance,”Nyambe stated.
Nyambe further said that the election should not be cancelled when a candidate simply resigns or withdraws from the race.
He said that members of parliament who caused by-elections by crossing to other parties should be ineligible from standing in the resultant by-election.
“Furthermore, we recommend that an inclusive electoral system to foster the participation of women, youths, and persons with disabilities based on quotas number of parliamentary seats should be based on the delimitation of constituencies carried out periodically based on equal representation of people,” said Nyambe.
