By Wesley Ngwenya

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) last week announced the commencement of voter registration on 21st June, 2010. This registration will be open to anyone who is eighteen years old or will turn eighteen before 31st July 2011. This registration will run for an initial period of ninety days.

Although the registration has come a little late ECZ should be commended especially for extending the registration to those who have not yet turned eighteen years old. Adverts are running in the media informing the public about this registration process. However, there are a few questions to consider as ECZ embarks on this task.

Firstly, how are voters in rural areas informed regarding this voter registration process considering that they have no access to newspapers, televisions and radios? Are there other medium that ECZ should consider so that they can reach this rural population?

[pullquote]What ECZ should have done is set up registration centers in all primary and secondary schools. They could also have used colleges, hospitals, rural health centers, post offices, markets and banks. This is where Zambians are found who are eighteen years and above. [/pullquote]

Why are they using mobile registration? The adverts are telling us to check the internet and see where their mobile vans will be at a particular time. Are you serious you expect us to get on a bus pay K7,000 round trip to town so we can go online to see where your van will be? Besides, what technology are you using to ensure that you can monitor the vans at all times?

Why did ECZ have to spend so much money using these ineffective vans? Was this the most efficient and effective method to reaching out to voters? Were the stakeholders consulted before it was decided on whether or not to use registration mobile vans? Could it be that this method was chosen because it was more porous and easier to get kickbacks?

What ECZ should have done is set up registration centers in all primary and secondary schools. They could also have used colleges, hospitals, rural health centers, post offices, markets and banks. This is where Zambians are found who are eighteen years and above. Setting up registration centers in these places would be much less expensive compared to the opted method. Besides, this would be more efficient and effective. I am willing to show and challenge ECZ that using mobile registration vans is more expensive than using permanent centers.

Mobile registration is certainly ideal for rural areas where schools and clinics are few and people are spread far apart. In addition, to permanent centers, mobile centers can be used too so as to better deliver the service to the Zambian public. But using mobile registration centers in Lusaka does not make sense at all when ECZ knows where people live, go to work, or go to school.

The Electoral Commission is asking for people who lost their voter’s card to provide a police report before registration. This is clearly a bad move on part of ECZ. How many Zambians will be able to afford to go through the tedious process of obtaining a police report, let alone pay K22,000 for it? Before writing this article, I sampled roughly about twenty people who lost their cards and none of them can afford to pay the required amount to obtain one. Maybe what they need to do is provide free police reports for all those who have lost their cards.

[pullquote]Zambians may not be interested in voting because they actually do not see the use. Yes, it is the constitutional right of every Zambian who is aged eighteen and above to vote. However, there are more pressing issues in the hearts and minds of many Zambians.[/pullquote]

The issue of registration hits home to me because in 2008 I was denied the opportunity to register as a voter simply because I was not in the country in 2006. Electoral Commission of Zambia failed to update voters’ registers so that people like me could equally have voted during the presidential elections. I have kept an eye in my neighborhood to see if I will ever see these vans but nothing yet.

It has been over a week since this registration supposedly started but I have not heard anyone who has registered yet. Will it be another week or another month before we see the registration vans? The chairperson for Electoral Commission of Zambia Florence Mumba, this weekend, blamed the politicians for the low turnout of prospective voters. Personally, I think what she should have said was ask the politicians to appeal to the Zambians to register to vote.

Zambians may not be interested in voting because they actually do not see the use. Yes, it is the constitutional right of every Zambian who is aged eighteen and above to vote. However, there are more pressing issues in the hearts and minds of many Zambians. There are poverty, diseases, and unemployment issues. Voting for people who look the same, speak the same language but are using different slogans is not one of them. As for me, I keep watching so that when that van passes my neighborhood I will register. I am eagerly waiting to cast my vote.

Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha has described as childish and irritating United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema’s remarks that President Banda should apologise for allegedly misbehaving and extending his bullying tactics to the donor community.

Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha said Government is not surprised with Mr Hichilema’s outbursts because he is ignorant of governance issues.

He said Mr Hichilema should tone down and develop the habit of respecting President Banda.

“Let Mr Hichilema tone down because he should remember what the Bible says, that what you do unto others is bound to happen to you.

“The unpalatable language which Mr Hichilema has continued to use against President Banda is unacceptable and demeaning to the head of state,” he said.

Gen Shikapwasha said President Banda should be respected because he was elected by the majority of Zambians.

He said Mr Hichilema should study how politics is conducted because he is still new in politics.
[pullquote]“Let Mr Hichilema tone down because he should remember what the Bible says, that what you do unto others is bound to happen to you.

“The unpalatable language which Mr Hichilema has continued to use against President Banda is unacceptable and demeaning to the head of state,” he said.[/pullquote]
Gen Shikapwasha said Mr Hichilema might fool members of the UPND-Patriotic Front (PF) pact with his outbursts, but his conduct will be judged by the majority Zambians.

“What Mr Hichilema and his PF counterpart, Mr Michael Sata, should concentrate on is trying to find solutions to the many challenges the pact is facing as opposed to attacking President Banda,” he said.

Gen Shikapwasha said President Banda’s recent statement on donors has been blown out of proportion by some people who are trying to gain cheap political mileage.

He said there is no cause for President Banda to apologise over the recent statement as he was merely expressing his views over the matter.

Gen Shikapwasha said the relationship between Government and donors is still cordial, contrary to assertions by some members of the public and opposition political party leaders.

He said Government is working hard to deliver development and social services to the Zambian people, but that its efforts are being obstructed by unnecessary criticism by the opposition.

Mr Hichilema was quoted by yesterday’s edition of The Post newspaper as saying that President Banda owes donors and Zambians an apology for misbehaving.

And Gen Shikapwasha said Government is ready to dialogue with the donor community on issues affecting the country.

He said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that Government’s doors are open for the donor community to sit down and discuss issues of national interest.

“The administration of President Banda stands ready to discuss anything which concerns donors and any other issues which will benefit Zambia as a country than using the media,” Gen Shikapwasha said.

He said it is important for donors to seek audience with Government when need arises.

“The donors that have intentions of seeking an audience with Government are more than welcome to do so at any given time,” Gen Shikapwasha said.

On Monday, British High Commissioner to Zambia Tom Carter said he will seek an audience with President Banda to discuss the use of aid in the country.

Mr Carter said the partnership between donors and the Zambian government is of key importance.

“The partnership with the Zambian government is significant as we all try together to deliver the long-term goals of reducing poverty in Zambia and achieving the Zambian government’s target of reaching middle-income status by 2030,” he said.

President Banda recently advised diplomats accredited to Zambia to stop meddling in the internal affairs of the country.

Mr Banda said diplomats should not be made to interfere in the internal matters of Zambia because the country is a sovereign state.

“There has been too much peddling of stories in the media by diplomats who feel that because their respective countries are donating to the road or health sector, they can use that as blackmail,” he said.

The President said the diplomats should appreciate the spirit of warmth being given by Government instead of resorting to public statements regarding funding to Zambia.
[ Zambia Daily Mail ]

Heritage Party (HP) president Godfrey Miyanda has said Chief Justice Ernest Sakala is not obliged to shake hands with Patriotic Front leader Michael Sata because greeting is a personal choice.

Brigadier General Miyanda also said that claims that the refusal by Justice Sakala to greet Mr Sata implied that the chief justice will scuttle Mr Sata’s 2011 presidential ambitions were off the mark.

The general also wondered why eminent people like Michelo Hansungule and John Mambo had joined the melee to add credibility to an otherwise empty noise at a funeral.
[pullquote]“What has happened to Zambia? Why should a mere greeting become a serious political issue and be turned into a national debate?

“There is no need for the chief justice to apologise to anyone unless he wants to. Since when did greeting become a duty?” he asked.[/pullquote]

He said to accept or not accept a greeting was a personal matter and that there was no need for Chief Justice Sakala to apologise to anyone.

General Miyanda was commenting on the greeting row that erupted after Chief Justice Sakala allegedly refused to shake hands with Mr Sata at the funeral of justice Peter Chitengi.

“What has happened to Zambia? Why should a mere greeting become a serious political issue and be turned into a national debate?

“There is no need for the chief justice to apologise to anyone unless he wants to. Since when did greeting become a duty?” he asked.

He said several opposition leaders had been rejecting President Rupiah Banda’s invitations to State functions because it was their right and that no one must make an issue out of it or make it a duty.

Gen Miyanda said Mr Sata’s statement that the chief justice would scuttle his 2011 dream was divisive and based on speculation.

“How can a refusal of a greeting interfere with ballots? Is it the chief justice who votes in all constituencies or does he carry ballots in his pockets? President Sata must provide cogent evidence or else withdraw this divisive statement,” said Gen Miyanda

He said Zambians must reject Professor Hansungule’s new definition of multi-party politics.

He said the idea of forming many parties suggests that people see matters differently and that they might reject even a greeting that they perceived not genuine.

He said Prof Hansungule was wrong to suggest that funerals were gatherings for reconciliation.

“We have several contentious issues facing our country, including the constitution-making process, the electoral process, security, tribalism, regionalism, poverty etc. Does the professor suggest seriously that we should all go to funerals to resolve these issues and for SACCORD to move its headquarters to Leopards Hill Cemetery?

If the 50 per cent plus one issue was tabled to be resolved at a funeral, there will be no reconciliation but fist fights and gnashing of teeth,” he said.

Gen Miyanda was also surprised that Bishop Mambo supported Prof Hansungule and added that a greeting might just be an act to dupe a naïve person into believing that one had found a friend.

“The bishop and most likely the professor know of one Judas Iscariot who hugged Jesus Christ just before he sent him to the gallows!” he said.

He said Zambians must remember the purported reconciliation between President Sata and late president Levy Mwanawasa.

“A lot of fanfare was made after the secret get-together. President Sata has declared that the reconciliation was a “gimmick”. Was Mr Sata’s greeting at St Ignatius also a gimmick?” he wondered.

He recalled that when Mr Sata went to greet him outside St Ignatius Church, he extended his hand voluntarily because he accepted the greeting.

“No one forced me that is how it should be although I did not like to be hugged,” he said.

He has called upon lawyers and Zambians to roundly condemn what he termed pettiness.
[ Times of Zambia ]

Government has announced that it intends to increase the number of beneficiaries of the Farmer Input Support Programme(FISP) from the current 500,000 to over 600,000 farmers for the 2010/2011 farming season.

Acting Agriculture Minister Dora Siliya told parliament that that Government will further increase the number of beneficiaries to over one million farmers by 2011/2012 farming season.

She attributed the bumper harvest the country has recorded this year to the increased number of beneficiaries of the Farmer Input Support Program (FISP) from previously 250,000 to 500,000.

Responding to a question in Parliament today by Mandevu Member of Parliament Jean Kapata who wanted to know whether government is considering increasing the number of bags from the current four bags following an outcry from farmers that it is not enough, Ms Siliya says people are happy with the intervention by government to reduce the number of packs in order to accommodate more people.

Ms Siliya told the House that the reduction in the number of fertilizer bags to four per farmer has enabled more people to access the fertilizer under the FISP.

She says government proved that four bags were enough to produce sufficiently and that beyond that people would be selling the fertilizer.

QFM

The Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) has observed that the failure by successive MMD administrations to manage national resources and tolerance for endemic corruption has greatly cost Zambia’s dignity and respect.

ADD president, Charles Milupi said the continued over dependency on donor funds and failure to manage public funds in a prudent manner by successive MMD governments has taken away the nation’s pride and dignity because Zambia is ever begging.

Mr. Milupi it was wrong for President Rupiah Banda to castigate the donor community who in the last few years the MMD has been in power have provided aid and helped in the implementation of various programs across the country.

He said President Banda should simply heed the donor community’s call for accountability in the utilization of their funds because they still remain a significant partner.

The ADD leader noted that donors contribute a significant percentage towards the country’s national budget hence they have the right to demand for accountability.

Mr Milupi who is former parliamentary public accounts committee chairperson said the uproar by the republican President and the government in general over the calls for accountability from the donor community is because the MMD government has not been able to appreciate the Auditor General’s reports.

Mr. Milupi said there is need for government to begin to address the various issues highlighted in the Auditor General’s reports to uphold transparency.
[QFM ]

By Henry Kyambalesa

Dear NCC Commissioners:

Comments on the NCC Draft Constitution

I wish to join other Zambians in acknowledging your extraordinary effort, determination and commitment to review the Republican constitution and give our beloved country a new constitution that is expected to stand the test of time.

In this connection, I wish to make a few comments and suggestions designed to make the new constitution more acceptable to the majority of Zambians, and more credible in the eyes of the international community.

1. The Preamble: The first three paragraphs of the Preamble should read as follows:

We, the people of Zambia, by our representatives assembled in our Parliament,

Acknowledge the supremacy of God Almighty;

Uphold the right of every person to enjoy that person’s freedom of conscience or religion; …

The Republican constitution should be a neutral document that should not appear to discriminate against atheists or pagans, or those who believe in Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, or Jainism. All these segments of Zambian society have a genuine stake in the Republican constitution and, therefore, deserve to be respected in spite of the fact that they are not currently as large as their Christian counterparts.

2. Christian Values and Principles (Article 16): This Article should be removed because “directing the policies and laws towards securing and promoting Christian values” or beliefs would be inconsistent with “upholding the right of every person to enjoy that person’s freedom of conscience or religion” that is enshrined in the Preamble. It is also not consistent with what is enshrined in Article 96(2)(a) of the Bill which states that a political party shall not be founded on a religious basis, among other things.

If it were permissible for the national government to generate “policies and laws towards securing and promoting Christian values …,” why would it be wrong for a political party to fashion its existence and contemplated policies and laws that would have a religious bearing?

If there is a compelling and absolute need for this Article to be retained, however, the “Christian Values and Principles” will need to be specifically defined in the same manner as Article 10 (Political Values, Principles and Objectives), Article 13 (Socio-Economic Values, Principles and Objectives) and Article 15 (Cultural Values, Principles and Objectives) are defined.

3. Promotion of Sport (Article 19): This Article states that “The Government shall promote recreation and sports for the citizens.” It could more appropriately and logically be incorporated into Article 13 (Socio-Economic Values, Principles and Objectives).

4. Qualifications of Presidential Candidates (Article 108): The requirements that presidential candidates should have a bachelor’s degree as a minimum academic qualification, and to have been resident in Zambia for 10 consecutive years preceding any given presidential election are clearly designed to exclude certain individuals from contesting the Republican presidency.

It is obvious that these two clauses could not have been recommended by the NCC if the MMD presidential candidate in the 2011 general elections — that is, Rupiah Banda — did not have a degree and had been working or studying in a foreign country over the last 5 or so years.

The degree requirement, for example, is undesirable and outrageous for the following reasons:

(a) It is not based on evidence from Zambia or anywhere else in the world suggesting that a president’s competence is directly related to his or her academic qualifications. In other words, it is mainly based on hunches rather than on facts!

(b) There is no academic degree offered anywhere in the world which can equip an individual with the qualities that are needed in political leadership, such as emotional stability, patriotism, selflessness, fair-mindedness, patience, compassion, tolerance, respect for the rule of law, and the ability to make compromises with people who have dissenting views.

(c) Most academic degrees are not designed to equip students with the requisite knowledge and skills relating to political or national leadership.

(d) The number of years which have passed from the year someone obtained a degree to the present reflects on the relevance of the degree involved. A degree obtained during the 1980s, for example, is generally useless if the holder is not engaged in teaching or other professions which require the application of the knowledge and skills acquired during the pursuit of the degree.

(e) The Republican president appoints qualified advisors to provide him or her with decision inputs in dealing with legal, economic, political, and other matters.

(f) The Republican president is expected to appoint competent government ministers and charge them with the responsibility of advising him or her on matters relating to national projects and programs, and spearheading the implementation of such projects and programs.

(g) The clause, if it is eventually included in the new Republican constitution, will inevitably require all office bearers (including the vice president) who are constitutionally expected to take over the presidency under special circumstances to be holders of academic degrees. And

(h) The kinds of national policies, projects and programs a presidential candidate promises to pursue are more important than his or her educational attainments.

There is, therefore, a need to retain Article 123 (1) (e) of the Willa Mung’omba draft constitution, which states that a person would only be qualified to be a presidential candidate if he or she had obtained the minimum academic qualification of a Grade 12 certificate.

With respect to the 10-year residence requirement, what is really the rationale for such a Clause? What is it supposed to achieve?

There are many reasons why Zambians temporarily reside in foreign countries, such as to pursue studies, to work for the Zambian government in foreign missions, to work at foreign-based branches of companies registered in Zambia, to pursue investment opportunities, or to seek employment due to the widespread unemployment currently obtaining in the country.

These are all good reasons why some Zambian citizens have, now and again, found themselves temporarily residing in foreign countries. Why, then, should their native country’s constitution deny them the opportunity to vie for the Republican presidency?

[pullquote]These are all good reasons why some Zambian citizens have, now and again, found themselves temporarily residing in foreign countries. Why, then, should their native country’s constitution deny them the opportunity to vie for the Republican presidency?[/pullquote]

There is a need to remove this requirement because it discriminates against citizens who temporarily live in foreign countries for good reasons.

Over the years, the people’s call for a non-discriminatory Republican constitution that is expected to stand the test of time has been loud and clear. Unfortunately, those who are entrusted with the noble task of delivering such a constitution to the people seem to have personal and/or partisan stakes in the constitution-making process.

I, therefore, wish to urge each and every member of the NCC to heed the people’s call for a Republican constitution that will meet their needs and expectations in order to save financial and material resources that are likely to be devoted to another constitutional review commission in future.

Thus far, Zambia has wasted a good portion of its meager resources on financing the Chona Constitution Commission, the Mvunga Constitution Review Commission, the Mwanakatwe Constitution Review Commission, and the Mung’omba Constitutional Review Commission. There is, therefore, a need for the NCC to put personal and partisan interests aside and give the people a more acceptable constitution this time around.

5. Appointment of MPs to Executive Positions: The Bill requires that the Vice President, Provincial Ministers and Deputy Ministers should be appointed from Members of Parliament (Articles 128, 130, 131 and 132). This is an outdated and backward requirement for a burgeoning democratic system like ours.

We, therefore, need Articles and/or Clauses which would provide for the appointment of the Vice President, Provincial Ministers and Deputy Ministers from Zambians who are qualified to be elected as MPs, but who are not MPs. Such Articles and/or Clauses are important for the following reasons:

(a) They can afford a Republican president or President-elect a larger pool of competent people from which he or she can constitute a Cabinet.

(b) They can provide for greater separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches of government.

(c) They can afford presidential aspirants enough time to identify potential ministerial appointees well before tripartite elections rather than waiting for parliamentary elections to be concluded. And

(d) They can reduce the apparent work overload on government officials who have to handle both ministerial and parliamentary functions.

6. Defence and National Security (Part XVI): There is a need to create an additional Article in this Part of the Bill relating to the Zambia National Service (ZNS).