As the countdown to the official opening of parliament draws nearer expectations from stakeholders agitating for the release of the draft constitution are high as they call on president Michael Sata tackle the issue in his address to parliament on Friday.
Southern African Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) Executive Director Boniface Cheembe says it is of paramount importance that the president provides a road map on the constitution making process which he says has become a divisive issue when it is suppose to be a uniting as it seeks to provide for the well being of all Zambians.
Mr. Cheembe says the process has taken too long hence the need for the president to give a clear road map as he has all the authority to determine how the process proceeds.
Below is the full statement issued by the SACCORD Executive Director.
Presidential Speech
As the nation awaits the presidential address of the national assembly which we believe will set direction for the PF government’s governance and development agenda, we would like to share the following expectations from President Sata’s speech:
i. The constitution making process which has remained a divisive issue must be addressed and a clear roadmap must be presented by the president in his address to parliament on 19th September 2014. We believe that this is a process which should never be divisive but rather uniting in that it seeks to provide for the wellbeing of all human beings in Zambia. The process has taken too long and we believe that at this moment the President has all the authority to determine and direct the process.
ii. The president must reassure the nation on important freedoms such as Expression, Assembly and Association. Government actions such as threats to the media as well as restrictions on access to information, poor administration of the Public Order Act (POA) and violence against opposition supporters which is at times perpetrated by the law enforcement agencies take away people’s right to enjoy these freedoms. We therefore urge the president to recommit his government to ensuring that rights for all Zambians irrespective of their political affiliation are protected.
iii. In an effort to improve the general well being of the people, we hope that the President will share clear guidelines on how the country will continue to create employment for the many unemployed young people. It has now increasingly become apparent that youth unemployment creates a readily available pool of human resource that can be used for political violence which is not good for our communities, youths, and democracy.
iv. The President must show commitment and political will to ensuring that the revised decentralization policy in terms of its implementation is expedited. As SACCORD we believe that the revised decentralization policy is important in improving service delivery in the country and also in helping bring governance closer to the people. Therefore, we expect the President to highlight government’s intention to expedite the process of implementing the policy.
v. Parliament has been a witness to a number of submissions with regards to the abuse of government resources by people working in the government. The auditor general’s reports have consistently highlighted these abuses which have led to the nation losing billions of Kwacha as a result of poor transparency and accountability measures. We would like the president to address how the issue of government resources will be safeguarded from plunder and instead used to begin to benefit the people of Zambia.
vi. There have been continued periods of tension in the country as a result of lack of national mechanisms to resolve conflicts which arise from time to time especially in the political arena. We believe that political conflicts are a major threat to Zambia’s peace and need deliberate efforts to address them before they escalate into violence. We therefor want to urge the government to create national mechanisms for resolving conflicts. Time is ripe for Zambia to develop a National Peace Architecture which would work to resolve conflicts as well as prevent would be conflicts.
vii. We further expect parliament to take the president’s address seriously and ensure that the president and his government are held accountable for all the promises that are made. The speech to parliament must never be a formality and joking moment rather a serious time to give direction for national development.
“If you don’t know where you are going, every road will get you nowhere”- Henry Kissinger.
A clear roadmap and Sata don’t mix and this quote aptly describes his CNP governance full of useless ministers (his own words)
Sata doesn’t need to do everything you tell him. He has been resurrected, he is king now.
@Enka
You are right. I also doubt if chilufyanya can give us a road-map on the constitution.
I pray that he proves me wrong, Amen!
Sata nichimbwi chabe. He will demand you show him the animal constitution before he can give you a road map for a people driven constitution.
I am seriously beginning to entertain the idea of devo max or provincial autonomy so we can see which province can run their affairs better. I think we should start demanding for Scottish way to deal this PF madness.
Not clear road-map, but CLEAN road-map. PF is still messed up, full of dirty dirty dirty dirty anything you may think of, I can only except their respectable Female MPs, and Libongani.
There is nothing Sata will do which will be clean, he started government with 3 good ministers, and the rest where just a bunch hooligans.
Ba Sata……lets wait and see. Is there anything good tht can come out from ‘our’ patient ? Let him resign…why is he wasting our time !!!
Take whatever he will say with a pinch of salt. I have not known Mr. Sata to speak any other language besides lying. He lied his way to Plot One, has lied his way since and will continue to lie his way till he exits the system.
@Mei Matungu
And you seem to cherish his lies all the way don’t you? These are the kinds of politicians some you want to be ruled by is it not so?
To me such idoits like Sata need to be send to six feet under very quickly before many innocent people die as a result of their f00lishness.
@Wanzelu: You are like a cross-eyed javelin thrower. The imprudence I speak against in UPND is their failure to conceive a winning strategy, at least in places like Zambezi West and Mangango. For that, you think I vacillate. No, I don’t. I just happen to be independent.
I thought it was kudos for PF to have won 4 out of 6 by-elections. And for that, they deserved a pat on their back. I gave it to them. But that is not to say that I am oblivious to PF’s gaping and disgusting performance.
In the by-elections, I was horrified by UPND’s poor performance. I expected them to do better, at least this time while MMD are still lost in the woods. But again, it doesn’t mean that I hate UPND. I don’t. Please, don’t be like Fox News. Learn to call a spade a spade.
I highly doubt it ….but we are patiently waiting to see the deadwood president stand for more than 30 minutes.
This is were these NGOs show their true colours and reveal that they have other hidden agendas that are nowhere near anything that will benefit the ordinary Zambian. Are these chaps not currently in discussions with government over the same roadmap? If so why try and jump the gun? Selfish so and so’s
This is were these NGOs show their true colours and reveal that they have other hidden agendas that are nowhere near anything that will benefit the ordinary Zambian. Are these chaps not currently in discussions with government over the same roadmap? If so why try and jump the gun? Selfish so and so’s
In the first place why not have the face of Boniface instead of this guy? Boniface, you raise very pertinent issues here. I have been wondering whether you are also in the same sinking boat or now because you have been very strategic in your criticism of the govt. That’s not how Eastern Mennonite taught you. Your job is to continue to speak for many of us who have no voice, many of us who are hungry daily, are taken advantage, have no roof above our heads, no jobs to go to. That’s why organizations like your Boniface exist. It is not to be cheerleaders of the govt. They have enough of that already. As they say Time Will Tell if you will be able to stand the test of times and not sink with the boat
Good luck, he will only start talking about children and how they are suffering. He knows that is a sensitive matter and will mask his short comings.
Too many haters hiding behind your computers and hallucinating insults here, go to ell!
0PENING AND ADDRESSING PARLIAMENT IS NOT A SMALL MATTER.ALL MAJOR ISSUES IN THE COUNTRY SHOULD BE TACKLED AND A CLEAR ECONOMIC, POLITICAL,AND SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF OUR COUNTRY SHUD BE EXPLAINED BY THE HEAD OF STATE TOMORROW IN PARLIAMENT. THE PRESIDENT IS EXPECTED TO STAND FOR OVER AN HOUR TO GIVE US A CLEAR ROADMAP ON MANY ISSUES WHICH HAVE BECOME POINTS OF CONFLICTS IN THE COUNTRY.AFTER ADDRESSING PARLIAMENT HE SHUD HOLD A PRESS CONFERENCE AT STATEHOUSE AND EXPLAIN TO THE NATION WHY HE FIRED WYNTER IN THAT INHUMAN AND HUMILIATING MANNER.ZAMBIANS DESERVE TO KNOW WHETHER KABIMBA WAS TRYING TO OVERTHROW THE GOVT CONSIDERING THE MANNER HE WAS DISMISSED,,FROM HERO TO ZERO.
Isn’t it folly to mix Sata and clear road map in the same sentence?