THE ZAMBIAN VOICE PRESS BRIEF ======================= Ladies and gentlemen I thank you on behalf of The Zambian Voice organization and indeed my own behalf for coming to this Press briefing. The Zambian Voice, an organization that wants to encourage people to actively participate in the affairs of the Nation, to promote Good Governance, Justice and Human Rights we would like to add our voice on pertinent issues currently beseeching our Nation. CONSTITUTION MAKING PROCESS Ladies and Gentlemen, The Zambian Voice advocates on facts and we would like to spell out some facts concerning the Constitution of our Country. It is fact that we currently have a Constitution which all Zambians (including our President Michael Chilufya Sata) have cited to be inadequate and in some parts archaic, therefore we need a new one. It is a fact that we have been on the road of getting a New Constitution for almost 50 long years. This has been due to the fact that the people we have entrusted to steer this process have been looking at their interests other than that of the Zambian people. It is also a fact that the Patriotic Front (PF) ascended into power as the True messiahs to take us to the Promised Land on many issues including that of the Constitution. In view of this the President constituted the Technical Committee (TC) which is composed of different stakeholders including Civil Society and the Church. Symbolically you would look at the TC as a bridge between the General public and the Government. The Zambian Voice protested to the composition of the TC and the manner in which the Government wanted to take the process. We looked at the process as lacking the prerequisites which would guarantee the enactment of a People Driven Constitution because the process was not consultative right from the start; there was no clear Roadmap, Time frame, Legal framework and Budget. However, it is also a fact that, the process was set in motion and many interest groups participated overlooking prerequisites and many important quality assurances, such as periodic evaluation of the process and audit to ensure that all submissions were taken into consideration. Ladies and Gentlemen, by the fact that different stakeholders were represented and others made submissions or deliberated in the conventions, they are part and parcel of everything that is going on right now. It is therefore important to take responsibility for what has transpired to-date with a view of taking a better approach going forward. It is a fact that the loud voices on the Constitution are those of the elites and not people from the grassroots. This may prove the assertions of others that the crusade is being propelled by only the Civil Society who are getting paid for it by donors with vested interests. One of our bloggers by the name of Peter Mpande said, “There is no people-driven constitution to enact. The Constitution has been written by the elites, with very little participation by the people. How many Zambians attended the District or Provincial conventions? Come on;” It is also difficult to argue to the point that, this crusade is politically inclined because the Civil Societies are now working with certain political parties that had earlier refused to be part of the process. These political parties are being perceived as opportunist taking advantage of the Constitution making process to ascend into power. In account of the above, ZV would like to make the following proposals to all stakeholders: 1. Positive engagement – We would like to see a spirit of dialogue other than confrontation because we are in this together. It is a fact that Government has repeated a number of times that they are still committed to enacting a new Constitution. However, they (Government) have not shown an open door to other stakeholders. This responsibility is heavier on the Ministry of Justice, who has to take the initiative to call for a roundtable. For this to happen the stakeholders need to put down their armors to allow for positive engagement. 2. We still demand for the prerequisites which are: a. Roadmap which will include the time to release the final draft, perusal and editions of the final draft and other relevant processes to enact a New Constitution. b. Time frame, we need to estimate how long this process will take. c. Legal framework This process needs to be protected by itself not the goodwill of human beings with their own weaknesses and interests. We appreciate the good will of the PF so far but we need the Law to guarantee the interests of all, just like a good man leaves a will for his family inspite of having a good wife, children and relatives. d. Budget: This venture is expensive, so we need to measure the water and the melie meal so that we can know if we have to beg for this process. 3. Inclusivity – We propose that as many Zambians as possible need to be involved in this process so that voices of people in the remote area of Nangweshi in Western Province and places like Kasheta in Eastern Provice can be part of the process. This is not a Lusaka based affair whereby people from Lusaka should be travelling to different parts of the Country to go and campaign for a New Constitution. This is an indictment on the CSO that people across the Country have not participated. THE DEPRECIATION OF THE KWACHA We are deeply concerned with the fast rate depreciation of the kwacha. The Kwacha’s volatility is worrying because the effects will be felt by the ordinary Zambians through cost of living. As you know Zambia depends on imports on food staffs, fuel and industrial inputs. The Bank of Zambia has projected an increase in inflation of almost 0.3% in the Month of April. Currently our inflation is at 7.7%. Certainly the increase in inflation can partly be attributed to the Kwacha depreciation. At the back stroke of this increasing cost of living, we have a wage freeze on public workers and a harsh micro-business environment to give ordinary Zambians a living income. This situation will definitely increase poverty. The most puzzling thing about the Kwacha depreciation is that no one is able to explain it to our satisfaction. The Minister of Finance needs to explain to the Zambian people in clear terms why our Kwacha is tumbling and for how long does he expect this rough ride to take. The press briefing by the minister could not articulate these issues and it is an indictment on his performance. Government should speak in clear terms not speculations. The statement by the Minister of Finance that the cartel is behind the depreciation of the Kwacha exposes him and Bank of Zambia that they are not in control. Instead other people are driving the economic matrix. In other words the minister was admitting failure. REVOCATION OF THE STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS 33 AND 55. As Zambian Voice, we would like to put it clearly to the Minister of Finance that we do not understand his logic of revoking statutory instruments number 33 and 55 which were meant to protect the value of our Kwacha and the control of exports to protect our income respectively. The two SIs were introduced and revoked in the same manner, without consultation. This type of Governance is worrisome and puts the citizens of the nation at risk of being manipulated by scrupulous people and undeserving politicians. President Micheal Sata should not take chance on such delicate issues to show the door to ministers who clearly show and confess their failure openly. The inefficiencies of some of these ministers expose his leadership as the bat rests on him. MELIE MEAL PRICES We would like to welcome the new Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Wylbur Simusa and we hope his presence will help to change things at the ministry especially on the current escalating prices of melie meal. This issue needs to be arrested. We don’t seem to understand why the price of melie meal is going up when we had a good season. The former minister kept on assuring us that he had things under control but the reality was different. With the new minister we hope the agriculture sector will receive the greatest attention in crop diversification, efficient farmer input distribution, better crop collection and marketing. We have so much land and it is a shame that we should have people going hungry in our nation when we should be fighting obesity. THE SUCCESSION DISPUTES IN THE BEMBALAND We have noted with sadness, that the issue of Paramount Chief Chitimukulu is being discussed in the public domain by many people without much knowledge on the subject. It is a fact that traditional leaders must conduct their affairs accordingly, however, we have a Constitution to which all other laws are subservient. The Government has a responsibility to protect the Constitution and implement it where it seems to be failing. It is for this reason that traditional disputes at times end up in our courts of laws. Our little research on the Chitimukulu reveals that both Bashilubemba and the Government need to sit down and resolve this issue in the spirit of give and take. There is no tradition that cannot be ironed out when mistakes are made. In the past succession disputes have risen and they were resolved, why is this one being so sacrosanct. Government on the other hand should not be having vested interests in traditional affairs but simply administer the law accordingly. We would like to urge interested groups including CSO to desist from taking sides on this matter because there is a long history and schemes in the succession of Mr. Sosala as Chitimukulu. Unfortunately some of these issues cannot be discussed in public hence people who are not supposed to be victims assume that state. ACCESS TO JUSTICE As Zambian Voice, we also look at access to Justice and Human rights and in this vein, we would like to thank the ministry of Justice for appointing the judicial reforms commission to reveal our justice system. We are confident of the people appointed and we wish them all the best. However, we are concerned with the prolonged stay of the Acting Chief Justice especially that this important office has to be dragged in the courts for determination of the validity of the bearer. We wish a more dignified manner can be used to resolve the issue. We need a fully functional and free of dispute office of the Chief Justice to disperse Justice which is an integral part of democracy and good governance. THANK YOU. CHILUFYA TAYALI Executive Director
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 10:29:39 +0000
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