Zambia : Special Assistant to the President for Policy and Compliance, explains the Constitution amendment
The United Party for National Development (UPND), through its 2021 – 2026 Manifesto on page 34, committed to establish a durable constitutional order that would catalyse the political, economic and social development of the country.
On the same page, the UPND committed to complete the constitutional reform agenda, anchored on a broad-based consensus among all Zambians.
In line with the commitment that the Party made, in black and white, five years ago, the Government of the Republic of Zambia has commenced constitutional reforms with the release of immediate areas that need to be amended in the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia.
Thirteen areas have been identified for revision or refinement in the current Constitution and a roadmap has been circulated to clearly show how the amendment process will unfold.
Unlike the Bill 10 of the Patriotic Front (PF) government, which went into the public domain with specific parameters of amendments already decided, the current process is different.
Under the current process, Government has not specified any numbers on anything. What the Government has done, so far, is to merely identify the areas of concern so that experts and other stakeholders can propose the specifics based on research, expert knowledge and experience, among other things.
At this stage, we expect citizens to give time to the Ministry of Justice to draft the Bill that will spell out the specific parameters of the Constitutional amendments.
The draft Bill will be made public so that citizens can see for themselves the specific amendments and debate from an informed position.
We urge citizens not to be swayed but to keep an eye on the process so that at an opportune time they will be able to contribute to the process from an informed position.
We also urge citizens not to compare the current Constitution amendment process to Bill 10 of the PF, as doing so is tantamount to comparing a stillborn baby to a baby still developing in the mother’s womb.
Joseph Lungu
SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR POLICY AND COMPLIANCE
