The National Dialogue Forum (NDF) has rejected the proposal to merge the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court into one court and maintained the status quo with an addition that the Chief Justice will be allowed to sit on both Courts.
The Forum has also adopted the resolution to amend Article 81 of the Constitution of Zambia to allow Members of Parliament run for a full term of 5 years until the general election.
NDF spokesperson Isaac Mwanza said there has been general observation that some provisions which provide for detailed matters must be relegated to subsidiary legislation to be enacted through an Act of Parliament.
Mr. Mwanza said these provisions included provisions such as proceedings of the National Assembly, removal of Clerk of the National Assembly as provided in Articles 75 to 80 of the Constitution of Zambia.
He said the Forum also resolved that matters which are connected with amendments that have been provided such as reintroduction of Deputy Ministers be discussed extensively as part of secondary matters.
Gospel Envoys Presiding Pastor Pastor Choolwe Mudenda has warned delegates attending the National Dialogue Forum not to temper with the Christian Nation clause.
In a statement, Pastor Choolwe warned that delegates at the NDF don’t take the country backward.
“You dare touch the Christian nation clause you will find out that we are meek but not weak. We have so many options from praying you out to literary mobilise to vote against you irrespective of party,” he said.
“And some of you shameless NGOs be warned. We know some of you sometimes speak from your bellies not your conscience . But even if you are poor and speaking for your sponsors have enough dignity to preserve morals and our identity.”
“We closed this Christian Nation vs Secular State thing in President Mwanawasa’s time. The Willa Mung’omba team received enough spiritual and intellectual grounds as to why the so called secular proposal is total confusion.”
Pastor Choolwe warned delegates that the Church is watching what they are doing.
“We are watching and for defending the cause of the Lord we will speak, we will mobilise and we will act. Do not mistake our silence for being docile. Far from it. Choose what to play with. Ask Nebuchadnezzar or Herod if you deem yourselves so powerful. I hope what we are hearing is not true,” he dared.
There clauses in the constitution that do not need touching e.g. changing the name of the country and declaration of Zambia has a Christian Nation because they both speak to who we are and what we have accepted to guide us. The fact that your father or siblings commit crime does not change the family name to crime. If it is Banda it remains like that because a generation will rise in due course that will uphold the good name of the family. So its not the politicians who wants Christian declaration its the people. Besides Zambia has been a Christian nation from independence Dr Chiluba only returned the nation back to God after Kaunda went to worship the Eastern gods, the maharishi.
Not only at independence. …from the time the WORD was brought to this land which we came to call Northern Rhodesia and Zambia. The declaration was just to confirm the status quo.
Whoever attending the thing NDF should know that they are commiting treason.
Why have they made their own national assembly?
NDF is a sham…whoever is taking part ..is partaking in this crime on the Zambian people. Deputy Ministers were a waste and just cadre jobs for small boys. Christian Nation clause is a farce and imbecilic just look at what is happening today in Zambia where even ministers with po.rno on phones or corrupt cases never get suspended. In Britain Gavin Williamson was sacked as defence secretary over a leak in Zambia..this would be laughable.
The most dangerous people in the world are people who have little knowledge of their own religion.
That is why their likes crucified the very Person who wrote the law which they accused Him of breaking. That is how dangerous religiosity is.
Jay Jay I agree with you on this one.
There is nothing christian about this nation
You must as well say there’s nothing Christian in churches. What people do is done by individuals. The idea is more important than what people do. Do as I say not as I do. We have priests who have betrayed their vows but the Church still remains.
Pastor Pastor Choolwe Mudenda, well spoken sir. We shall go to the Lord and kneel pama kufi yamfumu, YWHW.
Hypocrites!
This is exactly what stakeholders such as the three church mother bodies,upnd and others feared not to participate in the NDF. Already some members are pulling out like UPPZ president citing baiseness from the chairperson of the NDF and others are regretting the way the proceedings are taking place like Chilufya Tayali.Why Would you want to bring back Deputy Minister when we all agreed that they were just a drain on the treasury?This is pf for you,always crooked,they dont mean well for mother zambia.
The Christian Nation declaration is in the preamble to the constitution and is therefore not part of the constitution as it is in conflict with other clauses such as the right to belong to any religious faith other than Christianity.
So how do you counter these if you don’t attend. The idea is to argue, convince and agree. It’s not about Upnd saying this and everyone says yes. Your assertion is dictatorial and primitive. People are discussing not dictating.
The Christian clause should be removed because we have Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and no believers. We should be referred to as a secular nation, not everyone believes in a religion that was brought to our country by a Whiteman on a boat. Colonisation has really done us badly as a nation to the extent that we have been forced to worship a white Jesus, what about our own? What would have happened had the Muslims colonised us? We would have all been muslims.
What is the difference between witchcraft and religion ? Are they not both forms of superstition? Why is Pastor Choolwe so concerned about a declaration and not about it`s substance ? Zambia in deed and reality is in fact not a Christsn nation. Zambia especially under PF is as close to hell as countries get.
Foolish Pastor trying to make political capital. We all know that the Christian nation is not under discussion. Chap just wants to come and claim he warned the delegates against dropping it thats why its still in the constitution. Cheap politics. Cheap publicity seeking !
These chaps also want to bring back deputy ministers ati ‘to save govt resources’ My PF friends can you interpret the logic of bringing back Deputy Ministers as a way of saving govt resources?
Mergers are strategic moves. Mergers can be justified by lack of adequate financial and human resources. Mergers can be justified by need to remove distortions, including dublication, overlap, dispersal, etc. There is nothing wrong with merging Constitution Court and Supreme Court as long as the need for the merger is founded on rational considerations. Today, Faculty of Humanities; Today Faculty of Social Sciences; Tomorrow, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Even vice versa. What matters is achievement of efficient and competent. The context and contingent must always be borne in mind. If you do not like mergers, then leave others to proceed with the merger.
Regarding debt, the cause-effect paradoxically lies in the area of precarious economies: environmental vulnerability, leading to drought or floods. The cost of drought is high, including electric power, food deficit, low export, corrupt. In addition, the distress affects financial markets. That is the reason why economic policy must be predictable and stable in order to reassure investors, local, regional and especially international.
Firstly, i wish to let you know that even Africans worshiped God before whites came.
This religion was not Christianity. Even Japanese worshiped God and they still do. Worshipping does not just have to be the way whites worship.
Therefore, Zambia should be a country of all religions and this should include Christianity, our ancestor’s religion and so many others. Our ancestors also worshipped God the way they knew him. God did not hide himself from Africans only to be revealed by Europeans. If he did so, it would mean that he is not God of Africans.
Let us learn to preserve our own religions just like other races have done. No religion is better than others. Even Christianity has been improving over the years. In the old days, priests used to kill people. This information is there…