Govt told to iron out ambiguities in the Bill of Rights

MacDonald Chipenzi

Government has been advised to seriously consider ironing out ambiguities that have been detected in the Bill of Rights before subjecting it to a referendum.

Electoral Expert MacDonald Chipenzi is worried that if this is not done, the country might once again waste time and resources in reviewing the Bill once it is enacted into law in its current form.

In an interview with QTV news, Mr. Chipenzi has cited Article 14 in the Bill which criminalizes the discrimination of a citizen as once such provision that should be clarified.

Mr. Chipenzi says the manner in which this article has been drafted is unclear as an open ended statement which does not specify exactly what a citizen should not be discriminated against.

He has also cited Article 20 which talks about a citizen being free to manifest his own belief, religion and practices as another provision that has been drafted in an open ended statement manner.

Mr. Chipenzi states that these two articles are like blank cheques checks which do not indicate the amount to withdraw.