Thursday, March 28, 2024

Nothing good will come out of Parliament on constitution – Saunders

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Daunte Saunders speaking at the UPND news conference
Daunte Saunders

Political Activist Dante Saunders has questioned the motive behind the PF government’s decision to take constitution amendments to Parliament where they have a majority.

Mr. Saunders says what people must understand is that anything that goes to Parliament will be in the favour of the government considering that the ruling party has a majority of seats in the house with some opposition Members of Parliament on their side.

Mr. Saunders says nothing good can come out of Parliament which reflects the wishes and aspirations of the people.

DANTE SHe has emphasized that there is need to ensure that the Bill of Rights is enshrined in the constitution as well as ensure that the powers of the Republican President are reduced.

He adds that whatever the PF government does with regards the constitution, they should also make sure that some public institutions such as the Zambia Police, Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), Electoral Commission of Zambia (ZEC), Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) and other key institutions are given the powers to operate freely without interference.

Mr. Saunders further states that if government insists on taking constitution amendments to Parliament, they should also ensure that the Public Order Act is also revisited to suit the current situation in the country so that people will freely meet without being harassed by the Police.

Mr. Saunders has lamented that 50 years after independence Zambia is still using what he has termed as a ‘European Document’ that does not reflect the wishes of the people.

29 COMMENTS

  1. There must be agreements which are purely Zambian, not PF,UPND, UNIP, NAREP, MMD etc. Eg dual citizenship, running mate for Presidential election, Permanent election date- First Tuesday in September. Only issues that we do not agree can go to referendum Next year where all voters can have a say. These issues can be resolved by parliament next month.

    • I call upon all Zambians to march and demand the immediate resignation of Edgar Lungu as president.

      The drunkard has extremely failed to provide leadership to this country.

      I just 4 months, Lungu has earned him the title of being the most useless president to have ruled Zambia since independence.

    • Ba Saunders,ati key institutions should be given the
      powers to operate freely without interference…is your memory that short to forget that you’re one of the people that harassed an innocent driver after getting false intelligence from HH that the truck he was driving had pre marked ballot papers?The same laws you’re asking for will be broken by you, like what HH is doing with the Public Order Act which was enacted by UPND and MMD before PF had any MP.

    • PF and constitution, they promised to deliver in 90 days. They did not,so they are liars. They also promised to buy shoes for school children but now have decided to first deliver shoelaces.

  2. Its a shame that 50 years after independence we have Dante Saunders talking about Zambians constitution. Don’t we have competed Zambians who can baldly and passionately talk about this. I have never seen anything sensible coming from this geriatric so called political activities. The constitution is a Zambian matter and these impure half-cast

  3. OK Saunders. The thing is that Zambians are the worst enemy of themselves. How can a country train 323 Lawyers at ZIALE at great cost and only 75 are ALLOWED to pass. This is unacceptable for a poor country like Zambia. No wonder there are so few Zambian in international organizations.Zambia needs to train more people to serve the country and to bring earn money abroad and to bring it back to the motherland. It is as well that ZIALE is closed and government starts sending the trainee lawyers outside the country where people understand that training someone is an investment to the country and should not be left to the whims of egoistic fellows.

    • imwe ba ZIALE student,don’t bore us with your stories…..why did you pick a career you knew you would not manage to pass? Don’t bring irrelevant topics on this fora…..kabelenge and if you fail,pick another career and move on chapwa.

    • This shows that the Lecturers are not good enough to train and produce capable lawyers. With proper teaching I expect less than 10 to fail the exams. The people who passed the exams are geniuses. Others below the level of geniuses are suppose to pass the exams. This is why it is important for people who have just graduated from law school (university) to undergo lawyer in training for 2 or 3 years in order to acquire real world knowledge than to take them to NIPA for another theoretical training before sitting for Licensure Exams at NIPA. This only shows that the lecturers themselves are dull or ineffective or are not capable of delivering lectures in simplicity to ensure students have understood. In short the students learned nothing or the exam standard was set above what is taught

  4. My senior, please consider looking at the importance of issue at hand rather than focusing on the perceived obstacles which can easily obscure what is in the interest of Zambia and not the PF. What is being presented to Parliament is the Proposed Constitution for Zambia. My quick review of official draft doesn’t mention PF any where. All I can see are very progressive provisions that have been debated the past 20 years and that seek to give more power to the people and not the politicians. What is wrong with Government facilitating that we get such a Constitution?

    Sir, as a younger Zambian I’m looking towards you to provide leadership on such important issues as Constitutional development.

    Please try to refocus on the best we can get rather than what can go wrong.

    God Bless…

  5. PF just like MMD are scared to enact the constitution because they know they will lose. All they need is to be selfless on the matter for the benefit of Zambia.

    • No party in Zambia today can wine 51% majority. Zambia is far from being ready or mature for such a constitution lets be prudent. Its a correct dream but not yet time

  6. I do wonder why media Houses always call Dante Sounders as Political Activist . He is not an activist but UPND member . an Activist should balancing comments , observation , critics …………… not always on Oposition side that is why he is not fit to be activist. This foreigner is zambia. May be some one educate me on why he is bitter about the Government of the day.

    • It is not UPND that wants the new constitution, my foot. We Zambians want a new constitution. UPND is just like any party including the ruling party that is calling for a new constitution, only to grow cold feet when they get into power. What these political parties are afraid of are the ordinary people.

      That kind of cheap thinking is so irritating.

  7. Ba Saunders,ati key institutions should be given the
    powers to operate freely without interference…is your memory that short to forget that you’re one of the people that harassed an innocent driver after getting false intelligence from HH that the truck he was driving had pre marked ballot papers?The same laws you’re asking for will be broken by you, like what HH is doing with the Public Order Act which was enacted by UPND and MMD before PF had any MP.

    • @Change…

      Laws should not be made to target people.

      Who is Saunders or HH? So what if they break the law? They should be arrested if they break laws. Should that stop us from enacting laws that benefit the majority?Think. HH and Saunders will not live forever. Have they told you that?

      Your type belong to the stone age.

  8. imwe ba ZIALE student,don’t bore us with your stories…..why did you pick a career you knew you would not manage to pass? Don’t bring irrelevant topics on this fora…..kabelenge and if you fail,pick another career and move on chapwa.

  9. UKO Saunders mabala… Whatever it takes to get this constitution done with should be well come. I am tired of constitution this, constitution that… Since Chiluba’s regime imwe ba Zambia sure.

    Indaba after Indaba for the last 29.7 years… lets make sure we do it this time around PLEASE!

  10. OK Mr Saunders…….

    I mourn to see that people like you who still talk on behalf of ordinary Zambians are mocked and scoffed at by short-sighted parastic Zambians deluded by the thinking that the ruling Party represented by less than 10% of the Zambian population can dribble efforts of many years costing the poor tax payer so much.

    Who does not know that the PF Government u-turned on the new constitution immediately Zambians voted them into office on the same promises of giving them a new constitution? It may be recalled that the late President Sata and his Secretary General Winter Kabimba (now RP President) had started mocking any Zambians who had the courage to remind them of their promises on the new constitution. Cry beloved Zambia. Fed up with mockery from elected leaders.

  11. I don’t know why the likes of Saunders should not keep quiet, the stance government has taken on the constitution is an ideal one under the circumstances. Some of these people are just enemies of progress on constitution making in Zambia.

  12. Ba Chosen One. pf can as well marshall up vote to reject what they will present to parliament. Then we shall be back to square one.

    • kim,

      It is the same with referendum. 1st there is the issue of money, 2nd the issue of time (before 2016), 3rd the issue of VOTER apathy as witnessed just last Jan. 2015, etc. etc. These issues can still bring you back to square one. What is at stake is the constitution before 2016. That is the real issue. Saunders, upnd, even the Americans have no money to fund the referendum.
      There is no justification to talk loudly as if Sandals has a better option than that of the Government.
      Be careful with theses foreigners in the upnd Sandals, Patel etc. etc. will misinform.

  13. @Kim….

    Exactly. It is unfortunate that a political party is going to use its privilege to be in government to “swindle” Zambians out of getting a constitution we have wanted for so many years. The majority of Zambians are not partisan at all. They do not rely of jobs from the ruling party to survive. They till the land, raise livestock, seek honest jobs from both the government and private sector companies as well as self-employing while others go into the diaspora seeking a living there. They vote on the basis of the promises and misinformation. That is how 90% of Zambians make a living and perceive politics. The 10% depend on politics to survive and these are the manipulators. May God give us a selfless leader who will spare us even from corrupt politicians!! ECL has a chance…

  14. @Kim & @Let me, do you even understand what your argument is? Have you read the draft Constitution? Do you know how Parliament works? Government is sponsoring the Constituonal Bill so that 90% of the document can be enacted through Parliament. The Bill of rights and whatever remains contentious will be referred to the referendum for adoption, which is more difficult process than Parliament. The only key stakeholders that have opposed this process are the Grand Coalition and the UPND. Why? They want a refrendum for the whole Constitution which is a process that is more likely to fail. But this is not a PF or UPND constitution. It is a Zambian Constituonal. As a Zambian I’m interested in a process that will more likely get me this Constitution. I’m not interested in political gamesmanship

    • The Chosen One,
      You are the one. Tell them … this time slowly and in CAPITAL LETTERS that “Government is sponsoring the Constitutional Bill so that 90% of the document can be enacted through Parliament. The Bill of rights and whatever remains contentious will be referred to the referendum for adoption, which is more difficult process than Parliament.” They don’t know that the draft is the constitution that only needs to be approved through Parliament and the referendum. In other countries even in Botswana, the under fives and senior citizens are given free meals. People like Saunders (pair of sandals) who are above 65 should be told to sit down and wait for his share of free issue just as the under five hh. Impatience kills. It’s like speed…it kills.

  15. @ the chosen one @ black woman

    Educate these intelligent illiterates for me. Ba opposition so useless and unproductive in their brains.

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