THE National Constitutional Conference (NCC) has rejected articles in the Mung’omba draft Constitution which would subject members of the National Assembly to a recall when they are not performing to the expectations of their electorate.

The conference voted unanimously to have Article 188 and Article 189 deleted as they could promote anarchy in the country.

In the Mung’omba draft Constitution, Article 188 stipulates that the National Assembly may censure a minister by resolution, supported by two-thirds of the votes of all the members of the National Assembly.

And Article 189 specifies that the electorate may recall members of the National Assembly who hold a constitution-based seat in a constituency.

Contributing to the debate, Commissioner Lucy Changwe said the articles, if included in the new Constitution, would be a recipe for power struggles.
Ms Changwe said the process can also have an effect on policy implementation as many programmes can be disrupted.

She said allowing 50 percent of the registered electorate to petition the removal of an MP who fails to perform can also be retrogressive to national development because it will be betraying the majority of the electorate who are not in favour of the petition.

“I am in full support of having these articles deleted completely without making any changes because they are a threat to development,” Ms Changwe said.
She said MPs have a parliamentary code of conduct which regulates them, and there is no need for them to be recalled by the electorate.

Commissioner Daniel Munkombwe said adopting the article will be dangerous for the country because people will start to look for faults just to get rid of certain individuals in Parliament.

Mr Munkombwe said the electoral system provides for MPs to work for five years and that the electorate are there to make choices regarding MPs during an election.

“If an MP does not work according to people’s expectation, the electorate will be free to speak through the ballot paper instead of petitioning their removal before the elections are held,” he said.

Commissioner Benson Chingombe commended the committee members for deciding to do away with the articles, saying they are a threat to democracy.

Mr Chingombe said if the articles were to be adopted, Zambia would be headed for disaster.

Earlier, Commissioner Richard Mwitwa argued that the articles should be included in the national Constitution because this would make MPs accountable to their electorate.

Mr Mwitwa said if Article 189 is reinstated, the electorate will be given power to offer checks and balances.

“As it is now, MPs can choose whether to work for the people or not. I am in support of this article as people will have the authority to remove MPs who don’t perform,” he said.

[Zambia Daily Mail]

The company is providing funding for Stagecoach Driving Instructor Neil Rettie to spend 12 months helping to make driving standards in the African state better as part of Transaid’s Professional Driver Training Project.

Having spent three months in the Lusaka region of Zambia last year during which he trained more than 60 bus and coach drivers, Neil has now set off for a second three-month spell in the country where he will continue to deliver a “Safe and Skilled Driving” course to transport operators.

He will also be working alongside the Zambian Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) to help them develop and implement their curriculum.

Neil said: “I’m looking forward to getting back to Zambia. I’ll be working with some of the same companies as previously as well as some new ones, to try and help improve the driving standards of bus and coach operators.

“I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge and it’s a great opportunity for me to share my skills with others. We received very positive feedback the first time round and all the drivers are very keen to learn and to improve their skills.

“It’s so important to ensure that driving standards are high, not only to protect the drivers and their passengers but also to improve the safety of other road users.”

The aim of the project is to address the huge shortage of skilled drivers through improving driver training and safety standards, in order to reduce the number of road crashes which occur in the Lusaka region.

Road crashes are the third highest cause of premature death in Africa after HIV/AIDS and malaria.

In Zambia, the Road Transport and Safety Agency estimates that road accidents cost the country around £167million each year, which equates to around three percent of Zambia’s GDP.

Many accidents can often be attributed to poor driving skills and poor vehicle maintenance which Transaid’s project is trying to address

[STV]

A Copperbelt based political Sage has called on political parties intending to float presidential candidates next year not to go for upstarts because time for political experiments was long gone.

Mr. Humphrey Ngulube told ZANIS in Ndola yesterday that the 2011 presidential elections should not be peddled by political upstarts because leadership must always have a track record.

He said 2011 was a crucial year as the country will be going to the polls to elect a leadership cadre that should steer the developmental agenda of Zambia from its current stage to a higher one.

Mr. Ngulube said Zambians should be careful with the choice of leaders that will be parading before them for votes and should critically scrutinize each candidate with care.

He said even if Zambians should not be looking for perfection in the human beings that political parties will offer for presidency, they should be looking at a political leadership track record of honesty, integrity, accountability, tolerance, humility, openness and passion to see the country moving forward in unity.

He said leadership was about offering a service to the people and any leader who wanted a position in order to amass wealth; take advantage of the privileges of the position of leadership for personal aggrandizement was seeking a position for wrong reasons.

He said Zambia needed tried and tested political leadership that was driven by the passion and conviction rooted in the spirit of patriotism and national building.

Mr. Ngulube added that there was need to promote unity, respect and the underlying values of “one Zambia one Nation” because time for tribal politics and regional isolation was over.

He also appealed to the Church to pray for the right leadership which should emerge as a result of prayer and much seeking of God about the direction of the nation after 2011.

He said the Church had a critical role to play through preaching love and unity for the nation and praying for God’s direction for the leaders that would be chosen.

ZANIS

PATRIOTIC Front Mwense Member of Parliament Jacob Chongo has predicted that the United Party for National Development (UPND) and the Patriotic Front (PF) Pact will collapse four months from now because leaders of both parties are egoistic and want the presidency.

Speaking in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Chongo said it was because of the realisation that the pact would crumble that he was concentrating on campaigning for himself for the parliamentary seat and not based on either the PF or the UPND.

Commenting on reports that the UPND was considering to give the position of vice-president to a woman, preferably from Northern Province, to enhance its chances of winning the 2011 general elections, Mr Chongo said it was clear there was a rift in the pact.

“That pact will not hold, I am not worried about them and that is why I have ensured that I deliver to my constituency. I am campaigning for myself and not to wait for anybody,” he said.

Mr Chongo said PF leader Michael Sata and his UPND counterpart Hakainde Hichilema were egoistic and wanted the presidency at all costs.

Since none of the two was willing to serve under the other, Mr Chongo said that in the coming four months, the pact would be no more.

“The pact is definitely crumbling because the PF wants Mr Sata to be president and the UPND wants Mr Hichilema. Even the two leaders themselves are not ready to work under the other,” Mr Chongo said.

He said in 1991, people came up together to form the MMD on principle and not hatred for first Republican president Kenneth Kaunda.
Unlike in 1991 when the MMD was formed out of principle, Mr Chongo said for now the PF-UPND Pact was formed out of hatred for President Rupiah Banda.

The Zambia National Women’s Lobby Group (ZNWLG) commended the UPND for its decision to reserve a position of party vice-president for a female candidate.[quote]

ZNWLG executive director Tamara Kambikambi said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, the decision by the UPND was welcome and appreciated it. She said the decision was in conformity with the international conventions on gender.

Ms Kambikambi said Zambia was a signatory to international gender conventions while at the same time ratified the Southern African Development Community protocol on gender.

Ms Kambikambi said in other bodies like the National Constitutional Conference, the nation had done well to ensure that there was equal representation in positions of authority saying the same principle should apply in political parties

[Times of Zambia]