Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Caritas Zambia has raised questions on the proposal by government to amend the current Constitution by including non contentious clauses contained in the final draft constitution before the 2016 tripartite elections.
Caritas Zambia Executive Director Samuel Mulafulafu in a statement to Qfm news has questioned how the non contentious issues will be identified and what mandate Parliament will have in enacting the amendments.
Mr Mulafulafu has also questioned whether Parliament will be free to debate the non-contentious issues brought before it and choose and pick what they want.
He fears that thi
s is likely to once again take the country back to the history of white papers that undermined the will of the people.
Mr Mulafulafu has also questioned whether the bill being drafted to provide the legal framework to the constitution roadmap will be subjected to public scrutiny and consensus and what guarantee is there that government this time around is sincere in its dealings on the Constitution making process given its record of insincerity in the past.
He has also wondered how the ECZ will manage the complexity of adding the referendum vote to the already overloaded tripartite 2016 elections.
He notes that the ECZ has a whole load of work to do before the 2016 tripartite elections among which is registration of voters, delimitation exercise and conducting the several by-elections that are still pending.
Mr Mulafulafu further wonders what the public will be attentive to and give priority in their participation between the elections and the referendum.