YALI urges amendment to Article 79 before referendum

The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) says there is need to focus on amending Article 79 of the current constitution before holding the forthcoming constitutional referendum.

And the organization has also recommended that government must facilitate a consensus building process on the content of the Bill of Rights before hand, so as to limit the referendum to provisions of the Bill of Rights.

Briefing journalists in Lusaka this morning,YALI President Andrew Nthewewe says in this vein, his organization has submitted a proposal to President Edgar Lungu suggesting that government and stakeholders focus on the scope of the constitutional Referendum by amending Article 79.

Mr. Ntewewe says stakeholders should apply themselves to examine the position of Article 79 of constitution as it relates to the adopted constitution, as well as implications of the other provisions which were shelved from the Bill when parliament considered the constitution of Zambia Bill No. 17 of 2015.

Mr. Ntewewe says his organization has proposed a referendum on Article 79 of the current and adopted constitution and consensus building on provisions of the Bill of Rights.

He says there is also need to focus on building consensus on the Bill of Rights so that the provisions that are agreed upon are subjected to the referendum.

Mr. Ntewewe adds that YALI will concentrate its campaigns on amendment of Article 79 as opposed to focusing on the content of the Bill of Rights because as the law stands, there is no guarantee that government and Parliament will not exercise their prerogatives, to put it in abeyance.

And YALI Governance Advisor Isaac Mwanza has called on President Lungu to give the nation a clear direction on how the referendum will be conducted in view of the fact that the proposed Bill of Rights also contains issues that may be contentious.