EVEN with the fact that his ascendancy to power was one that
was least expected, even by him, President Edgar Lungu has pledged to leave a
legacy befitting to make future generations proud.
Infrastructure development is at the core of his
administration. Notable among them is the Lusaka – Ndola dual carriage way, the
new Ndola International airport that is under construction and also the Lusaka
Specialised hospital, among others.
But none supersedes the feat he pulled off on the January 5,
2016 at the Heroes National Stadium when he put pen to paper, to assent to a
piece of legislation that would eventually reduce his powers, which he didn’t
have issues with by the way.
“I have no qualms about reducing presidential powers because
it is not about me, but about all of us today and posterity,” he said as he
addressed the multitude that trooped to the stadium to witness the ceremony.
In his own words, president Lungu said: “the reduction of
presidential powers, achieves the aim of ensuring that power is commonly
distributed through subjecting leadership to legal restraint that replaces the
rule of men with the rule of law.”
The day of assent was also declared a half working day by
government, a gesture that lent credence to the importance of the assenting
process itself and to also show how historic the achievement was in the
constitutional making process which had divided the country in recent years.
French ambassador to Zambia Emmanuel Cohet marked the
occasion as a landmark in the political life of the country.
"The assenting of the bill marks a significant
milestone for the people of Zambia. The next step is the referendum which will
be held in August which we hope will also be a success," Mr Cohet was
quoted as saying.
Alex Ng’oma, a political analyst applauds President Lungu
for being courageous enough to assent to a constitution bill that his
predecessors had for a long time avoided.
He says despite the debate currently going on resulting from
the same piece of legislation, President Lungu will be remembered as “one of
the most democratic” leaders Zambia has seen.
“You see, that piece of legislation is very cardinal to the
democratic dispensation of the country. Even with the debate around it, it
offers a breath of fresh air in the many new clauses it came with such as the
running mate and also the 50% plus one,” he said.
Constitutional development in Zambia can be traced back to
the British colonial times, especially from the beginning of the 1950s.
Following the dissolution of the Federation of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland in 1963, a new constitution based largely on the Westminster model
was designed at independence in 1964. The constitution that resulted from the
negotiations at Lancaster house was conceived in a multi-party political
dispensation.
Among its bill of rights, every person in Zambia, regardless
of race, place of origin, political opinion, colour, creed, or sex shall enjoy
fundamental rights and freedoms.
But in 1973, Zambia became a one-party state with the
justification being that it was a practical way to prevent ethnic rivalries and
promote national unity.
The independence constitution was largely viewed as a
colonial vestige which many leaders that followed promised to either change to
one that truly reflected the aspirations of the Zambian people.
In 1969, a referendum was held which gave power to the
legislature to amend the constitution and consequently, on 30th March, 1972,
President Kenneth Kaunda appointed the Mainza Chona constitutional review
commission.
After 18 years of one-party rule, the people of Zambia
demanded change consistent with the “wind of change” that was blowing across
the continent. Government then went on to reform and amend the 1973 constitution
by repealing article 4 to allow for the return to multi-party politics.
Government also announced its intention to make
comprehensive amendments to the constitution, and consequently, appointed the
Patrick Mvunga constitutional review commission. However, the 1991 constitution
that followed the Mvunga commission was perceived as a transitional one to meet
the immediate demands of the multi-party system. Thus, on 22nd December, 1993,
two years after the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) came to power,
late president Frederick Chiluba appointed the John Mwanakatwe constitutional
review commission.
The commission made many recommendations, amongst others,
that a presidential candidate must receive 50 percent plus one of the valid
votes cast for the candidate to be declared winner among others.
But again, government rejected most of the commission’s
recommendations.
Then late president Levy Patrick Mwanawasa went on to
appoint the fourth constitutional review commission, which was chaired by Mr Willa
Mung’omba.
Significantly, the Mung’omba constitutional review
commission which in the main sought to super-impose a constituent assembly over
parliament. But government rejected it on account of the
constitution of Zambia vesting the legislative power of the republic solely in
parliament, among other reasons.
In 2010, another attempt to amend the constitution was
entered into. Again, the attempt to enact the constitutional
amendment bill adopted by the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) failed because
the bill could not garner the two-thirds parliamentary majority required at
second reading.
When the Patriotic Front ascended to power in 2011, it
undertook to deliver a constitution in accordance with the wishes of the
Zambian people.
Thus, on 16th November 2011, the late president, Michael
Sata, appointed the Silungwe Technical Committee on drafting the Zambian
constitution whose terms of reference included examining the recommendations of
all previous constitutional review commissions in order to ensure that the
proposed constitution took into account the views of the people.
On 23rd October, 2014, the draft constitution was tabled
before the national assembly as “an Independence anniversary gift” to the
Zambian people, but it too failed to go through.
Among the various issues that many people demanded and which
have been provided for in the constitution amendment bill, include the election
of a president with over 50 per cent of the valid votes cast and the provision
of a running mate to a presidential candidate.
The bill also provides for the establishment of the
constitutional court and the court of appeal, the implementation of a devolved
system of government and the general strengthening of accountability among the
various organs of the state.
There have also been persistent calls for dual citizenship,
especially from Zambians living abroad. The new constitution provides for that.
It has also removed the uncertainty associated with the date
of elections by clearly stating that the general elections shall be held on the
second Thursday of August in an election year.
In the same vein, Zambians would know in advance who the
successor would be, should the office of the Republican President fall vacant
for one reason or another, as the vice president who is now elected alongside
the president as a running mate automatically takes over.
Contentious clauses such as the parentage clause have been removed.
The new constitution amendment bill has also seen the
provision for the rights and obligations of political parties and the
establishment and management of the Political Parties'
Fund; revision of the provisions relating to the Executive in
order to, among other matters, provide for the election of the Vice-President
of the Republic as a running mate to a presidential candidate in a presidential
election and the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries in an effort to
enhance good governance.
Other reforms include the revision of the provisions
relating to the Judiciary in order to provide for the establishment of the
Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court and revise the jurisdiction of the
superior courts.
On December 15, 2015 in Kasama, president Lungu may have
said that, “under the new Constitution, when it comes I shall sign it with eyes
closed because that is what Zambians wanted”, but January 5, 2016 told a
different story.
He appended his signature to the piece of legislation that
Zambians had cried for, for many years with so much ease and ‘open eyes’.
He will undoubtedly go down in the country’s history as the
one that gave the people that which they had for a long time been crying for –
a legacy to be remembered for many years to come.
This article was also published in the Zambia Daily Mail newspaper, sometime in November 2017.
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