The Political Parties Bill has been withdrawn from the National Dialogue Forum following the resolution that article 60 of the Zambian Constitution be amended.
The objectives of the Bill were to provide for registration and regulation of political parties, the establishment of the board of political parties, the establishment and management of a political parties’ fund and the sources of funds for political parties.
NDF spokesperson Isaac Mwanza said Political parties at the Forum agreed that there is no need for them to be funded hence the decision to withdraw the Bill.
He said because of that decision, it was agreed that there is no need for a law on funding of political parties if that law has been taken away from the constitution.
And Mr. Mwanza told a Media briefing that Kitwe Mayor Christopher Kan’gombe remains innocent on the charges labeled against him despite being sent away from the Forum.
He said even as Mr. Kang’ombe or any member of the Public is appearing before the standing Committee, he is being treated as innocent until proven guilty.
Slowly, some smoke screens are lifting up after sober considerations.
Proves that the speed at which this was brought into law and the hidden agenda was to catch citizens unawares and pass laws suiting the hijackers. Otherwise how can one explain oversight of such implications?
This whole thing about ” Firing, suspending etc” Kangombe stinks. Why should anyone be “Fired ” from a Dialogue meeting? What was so unruly about his assertion? Also, bringing into the fray the possibility of Deputy Ministers goes against What ECL himself said at the beginning of the NDF ; You should not take away from what the Citizens want> Frankly, because of this , I can see why some people / organisations stayed away.
SO FAR THIS HAS BEEN A WELL BALANCED DEBATE WITH ALL MATTERS BROUGHT UP ANALYSED, MODIFIED, THROWN OUT OR TAKEN WHOLE. IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT PEOPLE CHOSE TO ABSCOND.
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The definition of a political party in Zambia baffles me. Some of these groupings of two or three people coming together and register themselves as a political party makes even those parties without a following earn the same status with those that have a huge following and have a good number of Mps sitting in a given parliament. This makes the government of the day masquerade with those parties in name only and appear to be giving them perceived rights yet they fully know that such parties are nonentities. Our Constitution should safeguard against this by putting in provisions for any grouping to qualify as a political party. For example to be called and registered as a political party there has be to proof that a party has 5000 registered members belonging to that party from each…
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of the ten provinces in the country and fully established with offices in all the ten provinces of Zambia. There source of income and revenues must also be well established. For a grouping to registered as a political party there has to be proof of intra party democracy and holding of National conventions where all positions in the party are subjected to an election. There has to be proof of gender balance in their rank and file. e.t.c. only then we shall have genuine political parties that might contribute meaningfully to the democratic dispensation of Zambia
These amendments are going to spell doom for PF, especially the bringing back of deputies and many useless things thrown in which benefits no one but PF. The ruling party is its own worst enemy. So they think money won’t be an issue 2 years before another election clearly when you failing to pay people, lMF is constantly warning you and you go ahead and bring deputies