HAS PRESIDENT HH BREACHED THE CONSTITUTION ON ABOLISHING/MERGING MINISTRIES BEFORE APPROVAL BY NATIONAL ASSEMBLY?
THERE is a raging social media debate on whether or not the President breach/violated the supreme law of the land by merging and or abolishing some ministries before approval by the National Assembly.
Their arguments are anchored on and pursuant to the provisions of Article 92(2)(d) of the Constitution which states that the *President can establish, merge and dissolve Government Ministries subject to the approval of Parliament*.
However, their arguments are oblivious of the provisions of Article 94 of the same constitution which somehow gives a condition to the above provisions in Art 92.
Art 94. (1) guides that *where the performance of an executive function-in thus case creation/merging/abolishing of new/old ministries/department-is expressed by this Constitution to be subject to approval by the National Assembly, as the case is in Art 92, the National Assembly shall, in the sitting next ( which is starting on 10th Sept 2021 in this case) after receipt of the request for approval, give the approval within twenty-one days of the commencement Assembly.*
The above provision in Article 94 does not suggest any breach of the Constitution by the President as the act/performance of creating/merging and or abolishing ministries/departments will be subjected to the National Assembly in the next sitting and the National Assembly will have 21 days to approve such a presidential request.
It is clear that this *subject to National Assembly approval* does not expressly mean before or after the performance of the act by the President but that as long as parliament has approved it within 21 days after a receipt of the request for approval from the President is done, the breach of the Constitution is farfetched.
Actually, precedences are there to point at during Michael Sata and Edgar Lungu’s reigns where ministries and departments were created, merged or abolished and people appointed before approval by the National Assembly but the President later requested the National Assembly to approve and it was done.
To this end, there is not ground for any to suggest for an impeachment of the President where there is no violation or breach of the Constitution which has been ocassioned by the President.
In my honest view, the President’s acts are within the law but the key thing however, is for the Presidential advisors to explain such things to avoid misleading notes spreading across the breadth of the country by some commentors.
I submit
McDonald Chipenzi