CiSCA advises the elite to learn from the Zimbabwean situation

CiSCA Chairperson Bishop John Mambo

CiSCA Chairperson Bishop John Mambo

The Civil Society Constitution Agenda (CiSCA) says the ruling elite in Zambia should draw a few lessons from what is happening in Zimbabwe.

In a statement, CiSCA Chairperson John Bishop Mambo has encouraged leaders in the PF to avoid making the same mistakes, but abide by the principles of constitutionalism for the greater good.

He says the unfolding political crisis in Zimbabwe arguably exemplifies the need for strengthened constitutionalism in Africa.

Bishop Mambo notes that in recent times Africa has seen a recession in constitutionalism and democracy after the wind of change from the one-party authoritarian dictatorships to multi-party democracy that swept through the continent in the 1990s.

He says time and again in Africa despotic leaders or oligarchies have consistently either ignored or manipulated the constitution to maintain their hegemony.

Bishop Mambo adds that in order to maintain the hold on power, the ruling class have detached themselves from the rest of the people who endure human rights violations sometimes leading to enforced disappearances and extra judicial killings.

He says the happenings in Zimbabwe illustrate in no uncertain terms that using constitutional provisions or ignoring them to oppress and suppress fundamental civil and political rights of citizens or a group of citizens is not sustainable and eventually people would be forced to restore the constitution even through unconstitutional means.

Bishop Mambo further states that the political crisis in Zimbabwe is also an indictment on the efficacy or lack thereof of African polity bodies such as the African Union and the Southern African Development Community whose sustainability is borne by ordinary tax payers money, but which have consistently failed to uphold the objectives, principles and standards they were set up for.

He states that un-constitutionalism is the breeding ground for anarchy and all the despotic African rulers scattered across the breadth of the continent would ignore or gloss over the Zimbabwean crisis at their own peril.

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