Grand Coalition condemns President Lungu’s proposal

The Grand Coalition on the Campaign for a People Driven Constitution has condemned the proposal by the Republican President Edgar Chagwa Lungu to unilaterally alter the contents of the draft constitution by deleting Article 296 of the final draft constitution.

Grand Coalition Chairperson Fr Leonard Chiti in a statement says it is unbecoming, undemocratic, disrespectful and unacceptable for the Republican President to unilaterally make a decision to drop any provisions in the draft in clear disregard of the will of the people of Zambia who put those provisions in the draft.

Fr Chiti says this dictatorial tendency by the President must be stopped immediately.

He states that this vindicates the concerns of the Grand Coalition that the current government cannot be trusted over the constitution reform process and that if left unchecked, they can alter the whole document to suit their selfish motives.

Fr Chiti says the Grand Coalition will not just sit and watch the people’s rights being undermined and trampled upon by a callous government that pretends to listen but choose to go it alone.

He says the Grand Coalition is concerned that without a legal framework to guide the process, there is no guarantee that the interests of the people will be respected and protected.

He states that if the President can unilaterally drop a provision in the draft, nothing will stop him from dropping everything else that he does not like.

Fr Chiti says the PF government will diminish and mutilate the draft document to suit their selfish motives.

He says the Grand Coalition warns the government to refrain from such selfish manoeuvres and prioritise the interests of the people.

Fr Chiti notes that the only way of protecting the content of the draft constitution is to facilitate its adoption through a national referendum.

Meanwhile the Zambia Land Alliance (ZLA) says it fully supports the calls by Chiefs to have Clause 296 removed from the current draft Constitution.

ZLA Chairperson, Eugene Kabilika says the clause as it is may take away the powers of the Chiefs as administrators of customary land.

Mr Kabilika has however pointed out that there is need for the government to the follow the same consultative process before removing anything from the draft as the contents are as a result of wide stakeholder deliberations.

Mr. Kabilika says removing the clause is a very welcome move which must not be a mere promise but implemented.

He says Zambia Land Alliance commends Government through the President for listening to objections raised by traditional leaders against the clause.

Mr. Kabilika explains that vesting all powers in the President reduces the Chiefs to mere observers in the land sector instead of custodians.

He further states that vesting all powers in the President through the Constitution poses a threat to the existence of customary land because Chiefs may not have a say on allocations and conversions.