‘NCC to decide constitution ‘

Government is determined to enact a new constitution or make substantial amendments to the current one on the basis of what the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) will decide, Minister of Justice George Kunda has assured.

“The conference will also decide on whether the whole constitution should be put to a referendum. The NCC is structured in a democratic manner and participants will have a wide latitude on how to proceed,” Mr Kunda said.

He said this at the Zambia Institute of Mass Communication in Lusaka in a major statement to a four-day media workshop on advanced political reporting on the constitution-making process.

“The new constitution or part thereof will have to be enacted by Parliament eventually and later consented to by the President, whether or not it passes through a referendum,” he said.

Mr Kunda said it was not too late for those who had boycotted the NCC, like the Oasis Forum, to come along and participate because the process was all-inclusive.

He said should the Oasis Forum stick to their boycott, Government would accept their democratic right and proceed with those willing to participate.

“We shall get there and enact a new constitution,” he said.

He said the quorum of the NCC would be 50 per cent of the total membership and, therefore, any proposed boycott by any member would not render the process invalid.

Mr Kunda said the majority of the invited stakeholders were willing to participate and had since given Government an overwhelming response on the nomination of their representatives to sit on the NCC.

He said the Oasis Forum’s shifting of goal posts was amazing and wondered whether the organisation and its supporters had a genuine intention to improve the constitution.

“Some of these people, from our assessment, are using the constitutional review process as a political agenda because they have no other meaningful political agenda to pursue,” he said.

He said it was now time to move forward and stakeholders must focus their arguments on contents of the draft constitution rather than the composition of the NCC.

He said claims by some stakeholders that the NCC’s composition was skewed towards Government were an afterthought, as they did not raise such issues before the parliamentary committee that fine-tuned the proposed Bill.

He said the NCC’s composition, as finally enacted, followed what the Mung’omba Constitution Review Commission (CRC) had recommended, except that some adjustments had been made to improve the composition.

Mr Kunda said while Government had accepted establishment of the Constituent Assembly to adopt the new Constitution, the CRC’s recommendations that its decisions should be final and legally binding was in conflict with Articles 62 and 79 of the current constitution and, therefore, not acceptable.

“Of course, the CRC contradicted itself when it observed that the CA would have legislative authority but at the same time recommended that its decisions should be final and legally binding,” he said.

Mr Kunda said the CA was an institution normally used to make or adopt a constitution in emergent states, especially after a revolution, grant of independence or dissolution of an illegitimate system of government.

He said the neutral term “Constitution Conference” which the government had settled for accommodated those who had been advocating an indaba, national convention or the CA.

“Our position as Government is that the NCC which we have opted for has the same characteristics as the CA proposed by the CRC,” he said.

He said the NCC Act was the only legal basis for constitutional review and would guide the nation in enacting a new constitution.

The NCC would deliberate on the CRC draft constitution and make decisions on various aspects. He urged potential NCC members to study the draft constitution and report.

Mr Kunda urged journalists to be objective and avoid sensational reporting on the constitutional review as recklessness or misinformation could cause irreparable damage to the process and the nation.

“The manner in which journalists present their stories and views greatly influence public perception or opinion on any subject,” he said.

“The constitutional review process is a sensitive and emotive subject which requires a high standard of ethical reporting,” he said.

Government expected journalists to be motivated by genuine national interest and the desire to promote the country’s democratic dispensation.

He emphasised the importance for journalists to embrace divergent views in their reporting.

“Such a method of communicating makes it easy for a reader to make a good decision on what the issues are in the constitution-making process, thereby enhancing the exercise of a person’s freedom of choice,” he said.

Mr Kunda said although various media organisations had their own unique policies, the common factor should be pursuit of truth, justice and fairness.

“As a lawyer, I must also add one requirement, that is, in whatever we do as journalists, we should be conscious of the laws of Zambia and the rights and liberties of the people we report on,” he said.

He said media reporting should not be targeted at the elite and that it was necessary for the media to reach people in all types of different settings and orientation.

“This includes persons in rural areas, the illiterate and other vulnerable or disadvantaged populations,” he said.

Daily Mail