Thursday, March 28, 2024

Grade 12 clause is not PF’s; It was targeted at Late President Michael Sata-Jean Kapata

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Minister of Tourism and Arts Jean Kapata speaking at a panel discussion on Investment and Tourism in Africa on 8 Sept 2014 in New York. PHOTO | Chibaula D. Silwamba | Zambia UN Mission
Minister of Tourism and Arts Jean Kapata

THE Grade 12 certificate qualification for anyone aspiring for elective political office was initially targeted at president Michael Sata and it is unfair to blame the Patriotic Front (PF) for the political mistake that was made by the previous Government, Jean Kapata has said.

And Ms Kapata who is PF elections chairperson said the ruling party was not moved by the defection of Kafue member of Parliament Obvious Mwaliteta to the UPND because the ruling party was expecting mass defections from both the MMD and the UPND.

Ms Kapata said the PF MPs boycotted the National Constitution Conference (NCC) in 2011 because one of the contentious clauses at the time was the Grade 12 certificate which was largely an attempt to knock off president Sata from contesting the presidency at the time.

She said the PF was opposed to the Grade 12 certificate clause in 2011 because of the realization that the law was going to disenfranchise a lot of citizens from participating and contesting elective political positions.

Ms Kapata who is Minister of Tourism and Arts Minister said Mr Mwaliteta was ill-informed about the history of the Grade 12 certificate clause and should therefore not blame the PF as having knocked him out of the race to the National Assembly.

She said had Mr Mwaliteta taken time to find out the proponents of the Grade 12 certificate, he would have discovered that in fact the UPND was at the core of formulating and drafting such a discriminative clause. Ms Kapata said the UPND should be blamed for the inclusion of the Grade 12 certificate because the opposition political party strongly supported the clause during the last constitutional review commissions.

“It is shocking that Mr Mwaliteta would want to blame the PF for the Grade 12 certificate clause and have it as an excuse for defecting to the UPND. The PF had nothing to do with the Grade 12 certificate clause and that is why we boycotted the National Constitution Conference (NCC) set up by late president Levy Mwanawasa. We had realized at the time that the Constitution with such discriminative clauses was not going to be universally accepted. If Mr Mwaliteta cared to know the truth, he would have found out that in fact the UPND, his new found love were responsible for the clause,” Ms Kapata said.

She said Mr Mwaliteta should avoid temptation of demonizing the PF and President Edgar Lungu for his political woes but should appreciate that the ruling party gave him the rarest opportunity to serve the country as a deputy minister.

And Ms Kapata has charged that there was no way the UPND was going to win the August general elections and that the recent defections of the MMD MPs to the opposition party were not a sign that the party had become popular.

She said it was disappointing that Chilanga MP Keith Mukata had decided to resign from his position as Justice deputy minister when he was one of the first MPs to have been given the privilege of serving in the PF Government.

She said Mr Mukata was a leader who was not principled and that his act was nothing but opportunism and that the UPND should not be celebrating that they were gaining popularity.

“As PF, we are expecting mass defections from the UPND and the MMD and we are not moved about the defection of people like Mr Mwaliteta. These people have miscalculated that the UPND is forming government. There is no way the UPND is going to win this election because they have not become such a political force yet. We are continuing after elections and we have no permanent enemies in politics and some will come back,” Ms Kapata said.

39 COMMENTS

    • Ms Kapata you are not on record of having opposed this clause before you passed it. Chances you never read it! It’s time to taste our own medicine

    • The latest sequence of events is that UPND voted against selective passing of constitution clauses and the proposed road map, but PF overwhelmed them in Parliament knowing, or they ought to have known, that the Grade 12 Certificate requirement was in the Constitution they were passing. Stop passing the buck, PF; please own up to something!

    • Edgar has this talent which was common with Sata of surrounding himself with idi0ts.Honestly Kapata did you even read or think thru what you have just said.To me your comments clearly demonstrate why we should have literate pipo in government and Grade 12 clause should just be the beginning.Or tell me where you high on something before making the comments reported here?You are the same pipo who celebrated passing of this clause thru the 3rd stage,went on to lavishly spend on having it sighned and today you accuse the opposition?Time to pack has come Madam,i cant imgine any sane Zambian that you inspire.Do you even read papers?Your president said you f00ls should read.Seeing your comments he was referring to pipo like you.

    • I have always held a good opinion of Ms Jean Kapata, but her statement over the Grade 12 Section in the new Constitution shocks me. It is important that politicians have some integrity, be truthful and know some history. The Grade 12 proposal came from the Mung’omba Constitutional Commission. Michal Sata was just incidental in its effect. The public only reacted against it because it came at a time when Sata was becoming a real alternative to MMD. Once Sata was out of the picture, the Clause was restored by the Technical Committee. Is Ms Kapata suggesting that the Technical Committee was appointed by MMD. Ms Kapata, please learn to accept responsibility.

    • It is PF…….why then is PF playing the shifting the goal post game…….aaaaaaaaaahhh?…….Wrong approach my sister. You spent the whole night going through the clauses and then removed what you thought was in bad taste according to Kambwili’s wisdom. Stop telling stories that do not add up. You MUST face your own G12 music. Ni SUGO for you to be MP.

  1. Phiri phiri what kind of lying is? The grade 12 certificate clause is a baby of the pf coz the the draft constitution that upnd supported but later doctored by the mmd was thrown out by the national assembly during RB’s discredited time in office.

  2. Why didn’t you remove it then when you had the chance to do so seeing you have a majority in parliament? You uneducated and greedy fools! Couldn’t even read the draft constitution. All you do is eat and sleep. Time to go this August.

  3. ..this makes me wonder if any of the MPs had taken time to read the draft constitution before debating…..the only clause they all had in mind was 50+1 and that’s what they were approving…nearly all the MPs who have touched on this G12 thing including ECL…they all seem to be surprised that there was such a clause in the draft…..what a bunch of…..

    • It is said that if you want to hide something from a black person put it in writing or hide it in a book. Black people don’t read. This is the reason why the PF people are kicking themelves all over after passing a constitution that they never read. And then you call these clowns “lawmakers”? What a joke!!!

    • Ya ya ya…..but it is 50% +1 person. It is not 50% + 1%. These TWO are different. The Amended constitution says 50% +1.

  4. No wonder I am insisting on maintaining this minimum requirement because the things that come out of most of these cadres mouths makes me wonder if they have ever been to school let alone seen the inside of a classroom. How do we expect people to make laws and abide by them if they haven’t been to school? Just because the majority are illiterate does not mean you should cheat them that you can run a government with illiterates for councilors, illiterates for MPs and an illiterate president. Who are we kidding?

  5. Blame culture by our politicians! Ba Jean Kapata, the New amended Constitution 2016, was debated in Parliament and all the clauses were debated. PF and MMD Mps voted for this Grade 12 clause. The Grade 12 clause is good for the country, no need for you to disown it.

  6. Looks like this ***** has no grade 12 herself. So if PF did not want it in 2011 why didn’t they amend in 2016?

  7. THE GRADE 12 CLAUSE MUST STAY. LOOK AT THE DEBATE ON IT. IF WE HAD EDUCATED MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT THEY WOULD HAVE SPOTTED IT AND THUS HAVE IT REMOVED. NO MORE GRADE SEVEN MP s PLEASE.

    • Exactly the point and reason to have the G12 clause. Reading culture in Zambia has to improve. You voted for G12 clause and what has now changed within a very short period? The silence from ba Ejigar is very loud and he knows how embarrassing this shifting and self defeating approach could turn out to be. Ba Ejigar balefyaya ba SUGO to be in parliament to move Zambia forward.

    • Ba Lucy it is passing the BUCK not passing the BACK. We all live in glass houses and should not throw stones.

  8. What the MMD tried to introduce at the NCC was a degree requirement for a presidential candidate. That’s how sata obtained his degree from some obscure university in the USA. So Jean is lying.
    As for the G12 clause, that we need as a country. We need to improve our reading culture as well. Reading John Sangwa’s letter to the president it goes to show that even our lawyers & judges don’t read. But these are the people who have been sworn in to the constitutional court. Functional illiterates. What a shame.

  9. To the PF anything aganist the people’s will is not theirs: aka bunga ati ba opposition, Fuel ati global, Malaiti ati ni mulungu, manje na constitution ati ni opposition

  10. Please people the G12 clause is a very progressive one for our country. The argument of discrimination does not hold because anybody body who does not have it can enroll this very moment and start working on it. Let’s not accommodate laziness which breeds mediocrity! Viva G12!

  11. Why should gbm and mwsliteta stand in the way of the g12 clause. Forget these two buffoons. Lets look into the future and see how much benefits it will bring to Zambia.

    • ooooohhhhh….there are many caught in the web…….Siamunene, Davies Chama……the Minister of Higher Education…………….The constitutional court is now in place……..So bo Kaingu take the issue to the Constitutional court for your aptitude test entrance approach to your PhD degree. just from your language and the way you construct your sentences in English, it is easy to tell that you are not a SUGO.

  12. And this dull woman is Tourism Minister…no wonder trophy hunters and poachers are shooting at will in our parks

  13. cant wait to see how she will be walking the streets soon. not wishing her bad luck but just trying to make sure all these PF people who think Zambians are fools to vote them again will get a shock of their life in august.

  14. Can all those MPs and those wishing to stand who dont not have Grade 12 Certificates or its equivilent please start registering at http://www.G12NO.com so that we can help them. Zambia is over 50 years old and we have extremely challenging issues to debate other than G12 this G12 that. Here is the list
    1. Mwaliteta
    2. Kaingu
    3. Namugala
    4.
    5.
    6.
    please add your name for urgent help

  15. These ministers are daft…their lazy boss has stated that he wont sign it but they still carry on…it shows how they dont respect him!!

  16. This is a stupid gvt
    Why blame everything on UPND , mealie meal,load shedding,jobs, now constitution
    Is there anything of can claim responsibility
    Even fools are now tired

  17. If it took the majority to make up something and later on the majority blame the minority for having it passed. You have fools in a very large number.

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