CSO-DAN calls for political will in expansion of Bill of Rights

The Civil Society Organization Decentralization Alliance Network (CSO-DAN) says it is anxiously looking forward to the new dawn government to demonstrate political will to expand the bill of rights the same way it has done with the decentralization agenda.

 CSO-DAN national coordinator George Chimembe tells Q news that the recent launch of the booklet on human rights courtesy of the European Union is a timely reminder for the new dawn government to demonstrate political will to seriously initiate the process of holding a national referendum to expand bill of rights.

Mr. Chimembe says the new dawn government’s transformative agenda on decentralization must target expansion of the bill of rights to include social and economic rights as these will enhance citizen’s rights to social accountability which is key in empowering their participation at local level.

He is concerned that currently government at both central and local level can easily abdicate with impunity its mandate of providing social services to citizens because the social and economic rights are not part of the bill of rights.