Thursday, March 28, 2024

Cabinet approves Constitution Refinement Forum Bill

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Givern Lubinda and Chief Justice Ireen Mambilima
Givern Lubinda and Chief Justice Ireen Mambilima

Cabinet has approved the National Dialogue for Constitution Refinement Forum Bill ahead of the commencement of the constitution refinement process.

Minister of Justice Given Lubinda has disclosed that he hopes to present the National Dialogue for Constitution Refinement Forum Bill to Parliament in the course of this week.

Mr. Lubinda has told Q-News that once the Bill has been enacted into law, it will be all systems go for the constitution refinement process.

He states that this entails that government is all set for the constitution refinement process.

And Mr. Lubinda has clarified that the K2 million required for the constitution refinement process is within allocations from the 2019 national budget.

He notes that besides funds government has set aside in the contingency, his Ministry was allocated some monies meant for legal reforms in the same national budget.

30 COMMENTS

  1. I just do not understand how Zambians have to put up with such stu.pidity from PF and EL, the same constitution that EL signed with his eyes closed because according to him it was too good and now after a short time it needs changes and more money to spend on it.

    • Just unbelievable that Given Lubinda a diploma holder from NRDC can now spearhead the complex constitutional amendment process. This could not happen under Levy Mwanawasa, but Levy was an accomplished lawyer unlike Edgar who was disbarred for stealing from a widow!!

    • DON’T BE OVER EXCITED BROTHER. THE PF DID NOT MAKE THAT CONSTITUTION IT WAS MADE BY EVERYONE INCLUDING THE OPPOSITION. WHEN SATA 7 KABIMBA DELAYED TO RELEASE THAT CONSTITUTION, THE PF WAS INSULTED BY THE OPPOSITION. I REMEMBER HH SAYING “RELEASE THE CONSTITUTION, SI YAKO”. THE PF GAVE YOU THE CONSTITUTION, THEY DID NOT CHANGE ANY OF IT. WHAT HAPPENED? EVERYONE STARTED COMPLAINING AGAIN. IT WAS NOT A GOOD CONSTITUTION. IT HAS MANY LACUNAS. EVERYONE HAS AGREED THAT IT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED, HENCE THE TALK ABOUT DIALOGUE.

    • @bantu, you people forget easily, right? Are you telling me you never followed how the current Constitution came to be signed by President Lungu? Or you are simply saying this to confuse the gullible.

      Please don’t tell me you don’t remember the fact that it is you the same people (especially UPND types) who insisted, first that the Constitution should be released, and then signed into Law without any changes. Right? Do you remember that? You accused Mr. Kabimba of all sorts of crimes even when he rightfully pointed out that the Constitution had too many holes/lacunas to be released in it’s current form. Are you telling me you forgot all this?

      And when Lungu was appointed Justice/Defense Minister by President Sata, he immediately released the Document/Constitution. This is at…

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      the time when Sata’s health was seriously declining. Unfortunately, not long after that Sata died. And I am sure you remember what followed after that, don’t you? Or you just want to sound intelligent when in actual fact you are being an HYPOCRITE!

      If you are being honest you will recall that people raised h3ll and dust. Again, mostly UPND types, the so called Church, and NGOs of every type and hue. Even threatening to sue Govt/Edgar or through the entire Country into chaos if the 2016 elections were not held under the NEW CONSTITUTION (which is the current one.) It is at this point that President Lungu said “if you think I am scared to have elections held under the new Constitution, please present that document and I will sign it with my eyes closed” (not the…

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      exact quote, simply paraphrasing here.)

      Remember, it was the UPND who was accusing Lungu of being scared of the current Constitution because of the 50% + 1 clause. HH thought he was so popular after Sata’s death. Wrongly thinking that he would easily win the 2016 elections with 59%+1 requirement in place. But he miscalculated! And that’s how we ended up with the mess we have in the current Constitution.

      Sorry for such a long response. But it is important that as Zambians we learn to tell the truth if we have any hope of solving our many challenges. That’s why even our News Media is such in a mess. Obscuring the truth for expediency sake helps nobody. So don’t EVER pretend you do not remember this history. You lose nothing by being honest!

    • @Obatala, the USA Constitution was not written by University graduates but it has stood the test of time just fine….Thank you very much! Even the 20+ amendments to the US Constitution that followed later were not all sponsored or written by people with University degrees….No! Many came out of the US Congress from Senators and House members with very limited education at the time. Constitution making ain’t Rocket Science!

      So the idea that the Constitution is so complicated only people with University credentials can write or oversee it’s creation or revision is simply not true and stup!d.

    • Yambayamba. PF doctored the constitution to the current document that is so disjointed as a result of removing some clauses to suit PF. Don’t mislead the people with your twisted information. The opposition back then wanted the constitution to be adopted as it was with the Bill of Rights but what did PF do? They removed the bill of rights and amended some clauses. Even this amendment is headed the same way – failure as PF thinks they can do away with anyone who has an opposing view yet the constitution is for everyone

    • Refining the constitution to suit 1 PF00Lish man (Lungu) is degrading it to toilet tissue status.

      It’s like the bible: if you remove 1 word to suit yourself, it ceases to be the word of God.
      2021= kuya bebele

  2. If the constitution amendment is in gd faith that’s fine.bt if it’s not, then someone is surely fooling thmslves to think they are clever to shut pipos freedom of choice of their leaders. Pf may evn rule for 30yrs bt if u didnt deserve it then it’s a sheer waste of yo life my dear. Examples aboud. Ask Yosef sir 4 hw many years did Mobutu,Mugabe, Mubarak,Gaddafi ,etc.stay in power. And hw was their exit.

  3. dont worry they will account for all this mess they are creating . time will soon come any winning political party will call for the explanations.

  4. Never take hh serious. Hes just a destructor.

    Mbwili is in roan campaign against his own performance as sitting MP and hh finds it normal.

    Come 11 April mbwili+hh are going down in ROAN. What an embarrassment.

  5. What national dialogue??? This is a parliamentary matter. full stop!!! If upmd are not prepared for the debate then PF in majority will push these amendments. Parliament is the true representative of Zambian aspirations as each member is voted in by Zambians from all walks of life.

    • The constitution is for us the Zambians and not PF, UPND etc. Hence the need to not to politicize this process.

    • And we the people chose our representatives in parliament. There’s is no other legally or constitutionally mandated body that can handle this issue except parliament. There’s no politics here but the law and truth. Any other suggestions like dialogue, church, CSOs ARE ILLEGAL AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

  6. #1 bantu, or is it trib.al, you conveniently forgot that it is the trib.al upnd non participation in critical national matters like constitution.making that has landed us all in these constitutional crises. The funny thing is that it hits the trib.als more than any other. Remember LAZ has reminded you that you are cry babies for things that you could have influenced to your own good. Upnd trib.als are more foo.lish than any other parties in Africa. Imagine in, Uganda, Kenya even Congo DR the opposirion there are sensible compared to trib.al Hacks andhis trib.al party and trib.al “strongholds” which are nothing but trib.al citadels.

  7. Any tinkering with the Zambian constitution should be done ONLY with approval of voters in a referendum.Cabinet is a useless self serving rubber stamp.

    • You just campaigned against the last referendum on the Bill of Rights, what makes you think this one would be any different!?

    • …But voters already spoke through the ballot by putting their representatives in parliament. The function of the legislature is to handle laws. Why have parliament if you are going to subject everything to referendums???

  8. Which parliament is representative? A partisan and praise singing parliament. We saw people fill Heroes stadium with musicians from all walks of life to sign the constitution against all advise not to. So what has happened from that constitution after spending so much money hiring musicians etc. But pa Z. May be they want to pass a quick one so that they remain in offices during elections and protect themselves from paying back mony obtained illegally.

    • Who advised against signing the Constitution again? Remind us the “forgetful”. But certainly it wasn’t the Opposition, LAZ (under Kasonde), the political Church, or any NGO. Except, of course, maybe Mr. Kabimba whom you insulted to no end. So, DON’T LIE!!!!!

    • SO WHO IS TO BLAME IF PARLIAMENT IS NOT REPRESENTATIVE? YOU CHOSE FOR YOURSELVES THE PEOPLE TO REPRESENT YOU. YOU LAID THE BED SO YOU MUST SLEEP INTO IT. VOTERS SHOULD THINK BEFORE THEY VOTE. MPS MUST DO WHAT THEY WERE ELECTED FOR. THEY MUST NOT RELEGATE THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO A “DIALOGUE”. THEY ARE BEING PAID TAX PAYERS MONEY FOR A PURPOSE. IF YOUR PARTY CHOSE DANDER-HEADS FOR MPS THEN IT IS YOUR OWN FAULT. THESE MPS MUST HAVE BEEN VISITING THEIR CONSTITUENCIES, HOLDING PUBLIC MEETINGS WITH THEIR ELECTORATES, NGOS ETC TO GET PEOPLE’S VIEWS ABOUT THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.

      IF YOUR MPS HAVE FAILED TO PERFORM THEIR DUTY, LET THEM STEP DOWN SO THAT WE CAN CHOOSE SERIOUS PEOPLE. WE CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY MPs SALARIES AND AGAIN ENGAGE IN A DIALOGUE PROCESS. FOR WHAT? MPS MUST HAVE…

  9. These power hungry PF think they can manipulate and play with our constitution in any way they like, approving something under party line or one party shoving their own version of a constitution will not work and it’s bound to be a short-lived amendment. Citizens don’t even know what these malicious people are inserting into it. Nothing good has come out of that cabinet, the same cabinet that stripped meal allowances will in no way take into consideration the will and interests of the people except their own.

  10. I agree with Yambayamba, you have told the truth full of facts not some of the people on this forum who have deliberately, chosen to ignore the true but barking with no substance.

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