The Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) in Livingstone has commended the Patriotic Front (PF) government through the Ministry of Justice on its decision to reject the applied six months extension of constitution making
process by the technical committee on drafting the republican constitution.
In a press statement made available to ZANIS yesterday, Livingstone FODEP Chairperson Gideon Musonda said the organization supports the decisions and agrees with the reasons advanced by the minister on the need to allow progression of the process and save the escalation of cost that can be used to finance other programs of equal importance.
Mr Musonda explained that the constitution making process has been extremely a long journey and has gobbled a lot of money adding that application for an extension should not be entertained by the government.
“People are anxious to see the conclusion of this process and the application for six months extension is not only too much but also exposed the inconsistence, lack of proper planning and defined budgeting on the part of the committee, “ said Mr Musonda.
He however said FODEP still have confidence in the committee but that it should re-adjust its programs and deliver the much awaited document to the Zambian people within the initially announced time flame of June 30th, 2013.
Mr Musonda also said government should continue to provide legal framework to guide the constitution making process.
“While the government has shown commitment to finance the current constitution making process, we still urge it to provide legal framework to this process and come up with a clearly defined roadmap that would guide the works for referendum to ensure that the process of adoption is participatory, transparent and inclusive,” Mr Musonda said.
He also said the country should strive to ensure that the golden opportunity of developing a Republican constitution that would stand the test of time is not wasted.
Yesterday Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba turned down an application by the technical committee drafting the republican constitution to extend the period for another six months to conclude the process citing high costs that the process has already gobbled that could be channelled to other needy areas of the economy.
ZANIS
