THE Legal and Justice Sector Reforms Commission yesterday heard that the five-year ban on Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education (ZIALE) students who fail three examinations should be abolished.

George Silonda submitted that the law banning students after attempting three examinations should not be entertained because it was segregative and shattered future dreams for would-be lawyers.

Mr Silonda said ZIALE students already had a qualification from the University of Zambia (UNZA) and that in an event that they failed ZIALE examinations for three times, it did not mean that they were dull but it was clear that the move was meant to avoid saturating the market.

He also proposed that ZIALE should come up with specialised courses because it currently has too many courses, making lawyers not to concentrate and ending up failing because the school has too much work.

“ZIALE should have specified people as lecturers, examiners and people to specifically mark. As it is, it is compromising because the same people are lecturing, setting examinations and marking the same exams,” Mr Silonda said.

The petitioner also submitted that ZIALE should allow more tuition centres to be opened while it remained an examination centre.

Movement for Multiparty Democracy MMD Chairperson for Arts and Culture Elizabeth Chitika Mulobeka says the removal of basic education in the country’s school curriculum is disadvantaging the girl child in the country.

Ms. Mulobeka said the MMD brought basic schools to encourage girls attain basic education which was closer to villages before moving to secondary schools which are far and wide apart.

What the PF has done by abolishing basics schools is make girls drop out at primary level because they can’t walk long distances to attend secondary school

Ms. Mulobeka who is also former Kawambwa Member of Parliament said places such as Luapula province secondary schools are few hence abolishing basic schools without a contingent plan of how to handle the increasing number of pupils going to grade 8 is nothing short of a blunder which needs to be ratified by reinstating primary schools with basic schools statuses.

She noted that girls are not belt like boys who can endure walking long distances and that girls are made to do house errands which boys excluded hence making them walk long distances when they are still little (in grade 8) is another burden which can be avoided by ensuring that basic schools are reinstated.

Meanwhile Chief Puta of Chiengi District has praised the US government for the continued support his chiefdom is receiving in campaign against early marriages in the area.

His Royal Highness said the support the US government through the USAID is rendering has helped many under age girls return to school after being married off by their families.

The Chief said his Chiefdom has been battling early marriages for long time and that the support has helped his community sustain the program.

He emphasized the importance of educating a girl saying the nation will only develop if there is full participation of women at all levels and that; that can only be achieved if more girls were educated.

Complaints against police mal-practices and human rights abuse have characterized the ongoing Legal and Justice Sector Reform Commission ( LJSRC ) sittings in various Lusaka townships.

In all the four locations where the Commission has so far held its sittings, complaints against police conduct, abuse of authority, corruption and ignorance of the law by police are common during the sessions, respectively.

Police officers and judicial officers especially judges and prosecutors have in most instances been reported to be the most corrupt in the justice system.

On the other had the Drug Enforcement Commission, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Zambia Prison Service officers have been accused of being perpetrators of human rights abuse and mistreating suspects.

The Commission has so far conducted sittings at Lusaka’s Civic Centre, Chawama, Garden and Chilenje townships aimed at collecting views of the general public on how it wants the legal and justice sector to be reformed.

In all the townships, members of the public have complained of police corruption, intimidation and arrests of ‘ innocent’ people on flimsy charges without proper investigations which lead to courts failing to prosecute such cases for lack of evidence.

The conduct of officers in law enforcement agencies and the courts have attracted calls by the public to introduce cameras in these institutions to monitor their operations so that they do not abuse their authorities and officers when dealing with the accused.

Mr. Tomson Tembo, a retired Police Officer who was trained in 1975 has observed that corruption and ignorance in the application of the law by police of nowadays has reached alarming levels in Zambia.

Mr. Tembo stated that police officers deliberately misapply laws and violate people’s human rights without being questioned by anyone.

He has recommended to the commission that government should consider revising the training Programme for police officers especially in the area of criminal investigations saying the police currently rush to arrest suspects without conclusively investigating the matter for the cases to be tried in courts.

He revealed that even the police bond has been abused by police officers who use it as a fundraising venture as they request people who have been charged and ready to proceed to go to court to report back to the police once they are released on bond which he said should
not be the case.

He also noted that failure by police to investigate homicide cases has led to councils burying huge numbers of unclaimed bodies who could be claimed by relatives if the police had trained investigators.

The commission which is conducting public sittings in Lusaka district is remaining with Kabwata and Matero before it moves to Luangwa district in Lusaka Province.

The Zambian Voice has remained adamant on seeking an appointment to meet President Michael Sata at State House despite his recent appearances on television and still pictures.

Executive Director Chilufya Tayali says the idea is not to prove that President Sata is well and working as the government puts it, but that his organization wants to set a precedent that all public offices can be accessible to the general public.

Mr. Tayali says his organization wants to send a message to Zambians that State House is like any other public office that should be accessed by members of the public.

He has told Qfm news in an interview that his organization will extend such visits to other public offices such as government Ministries especially when there is a concern that specifically concerns a particular public office.

Mr Tayali says his organization wants to have a good and cordial discussion with the Head of State and does not want to give an impression that it intends to meet the President for an acrimonious confrontation.