PRESIDENT HH, UPND SHOULD DIALOGUE WITH THE LEADING CATHOLIC VOICES.

Issued: 29|05|23

I urge President Hakainde Hichilema and the UPND leadership to immediately engage and dialogue with the leading voices from the catholic church. The continued political grand standing is not good for the entire country.

Historical Context

Having being part of negotiating team of the failed dialogue process of 2018 and 2019 between then Republican President Lungu and UPND’s President Hichilema, such political postures achieve nothing except fuel toxicity and increase political tension in the country.

It is worth noting that the current political grand standing is the same exact replica of what existed in 2018 to 2021 between the leading voices from the catholic church and the PF government. The PF members and political parties affiliated to them took a militant state just as President Hichilema and UPND have done now.

In the aftermath of the failed dialogue process, in late 2020, then I was chairperson for all the political parties under the Zambia Center for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID), when the Commonwealth (supported by the UNDP) called on me to chair a peace process before the 2021 general elections. I made it very clear to all my political colleagues on the ZCID board and outside that we needed the church to co-chair the entire process.

Although suspicion between the politicians and the Church was at its highest at that time, we still engaged directly with the leaders from the three main church mother bodies (EFZ, CCZ, ZCCB), held several meetings and consequently agreed to work together for the good of our country.

Together with the Church and other stakeholders such as the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) we managed to put up the biggest coalition of political parties and civil societies organisations (CSO’s) and compelled the political parties participating in the general election to sign a peace pledge at mulungushi conference center. The process was a huge success.

My Humble Advise and Call

President Hichilema needs the church thus he should engage the leading church voices across the church spectrum. The President should further instruct all the structures in UPND below him to stop commenting and responding on the sentiments expressed by the clergy to avoid undesirable comments in public that may make dialogue impossible.

If both parties are willing to dialogue, I humbly make myself available based on my little experience in these matters to make it (dialogue) a reality for the sake of our Nation.

Silavwe Jackson
President
Golden Party Zambia
(GPZ).

COMMISSIONS IN ZAMBIA – ARE THEY REALLY INDEPENDENT?

By Isaac Mwanza

SINCE 1964, Zambia has been a constitutional democracy, which is alleged to be governed by the rule of law. However, adherence to the Constitution and enforcement of constitutional provisions is quite questionable and demonstrably weaker in Zambia than in other similarly described countries such as Kenya and South Africa.

In 2016, Zambians made extensive changes to the Constitution of Zambia Act, 1991. These changes led to the establishment of 18 independent Commissions and other offices under Part 18 of the Constitution.

This article focuses on why Zambia has independent commissions and offices established by the Constitution, and what their roles should be in a democracy.

Among the 18 independent Commissions, 7 are Service Commissions and 3 are investigative Commissions, which in in our daily life we loosely refer to as law enforcement agencies.

The remaining 8 Commissions cover elections, human rights, gender, emoluments in the public service, land, audit, complaints against police actions and complaints against judges of our superior courts in their individual capacities on matters of their conduct.

The Office of the Public Protector and Auditor-General are other independent offices created by the 2016 constitutional amendments.

But there are also other statutory commissions established in Zambia by ordinary law. Such commissions include the Zambia Law Development Commission (ZLDC) and the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC).

The others are Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and National Food and Nutrition Commission (NFNC).

The repealed provisions of Article 109 clauses (2) and (3) of the 1991 Constitution and later Article 123 of the 1996 Constitution provided a foundation upon which the National Assembly established those statutory commissions. Those provisions no longer exist in the current Constitution.

Although Commissions are a drain on limited public resources, President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration has advanced its ambition to also establish the Minerals Regulation Commission (MRC).

Our Part 18 Institutions are called independent commissions and offices. They were created with the intention of taking them outside the control of the political establishment and the Executive branch of government.

Article 216 of our Constitution is what gives these bodies independence to ensure their impartiality and fairness in the discharge of their functions.

They are therefore a group supposedly free from political control so they can work towards a specific goal for the country or state. They are not to be influenced or dictated by politicians, senior bureaucrats or any other person or institution, including the President and his ministers.

We can call these Independent Commissions and offices as the fourth arm of the State considering their autonomous nature.

In Kenya, these Commissions and offices are referred to as Chapter 15 Institutions while South Africa calls them Chapter 9 institutions. In these countries, independent bodies have brought about fundamental changes in the values and practices of state officials and the nature and objectives of the state.

When it becomes necessary to protect their constitutional mandate or advance their interests, these institutions do sue other institutions and members of the executive or judicial arm of government.

In the face of the fact that Zambia has both Commissions created by the Constitution while others are established by statute, a thin or blurred line exist between these two types of Commissions.

It is understandably not easy for laypersons and lawyers (including some of our jurists) to distinguish and appreciate the importance of these independent bodies from statutory commissions.

One notable difference between constitutionally-established commissions from statutory ones is the modus operandi of their functioning. These Independent commissions are established based on the need to remove political, tribal, regional or partisan control over these institutions.

This was to mark a break from a historical past of their excesses, secrecies, mysteries and partiality in the discharge of functions since independence. And in the exercise of their everyday functions, independent bodies are bound by constitutional principles and values such as constitutionalism, good governance, non-discrimination, accountability, transparency, among others.

However, just like the Judiciary, factors that adversely affect the independence of these Commissions include how their members are appointed or removed from office. Appointments to independent Commissions are engraved in Articles 240 and 173(1) of the Constitution as read together with Section 4 of the Service Commissions Act.

We as citizens remember – even if leaders from our three organs of Government do not – that the Constitution itself require the appointment of members to these commissions to be done on the basis of merit, equal and adequate opportunities. In addition, the law also requires qualification, competence, suitability, relevant experience and good behaviour as a prerequisite for appointments.

Those who are being appointed as commissioners ought to have declared their assets and liabilities, which is not happening in blatant violation of our Constitution.

It is true to state that when persons are being considered for appointment using the ancient practice shrouded in secrecy and mystery, political stooges get to be appointed while independent minds are left out.

The question on removal of members of independent commissions has also sadly been left to subsidiary legislation.

Once appointed, a commissioner can be removed by a process that again gives the President and other bodies a major role – threatening the Commission’s independence. Members of independent institutions are dismissed at the instance of a sitting President or Minister.

Commissions such as the Judicial Complaints Commission do submit to the wishes and demands of a powerful executive President.

It is now a persistent trend in Zambia that members of independent bodies get unconstitutionally removed and discriminately discharged out of a political vendetta or on very flimsy reasons.

It should however be clear at this point that together with a strengthened judiciary, independent Commissions and offices should have represented a significant restructuring of Zambia’s key State institutions that were once weak.

Sadly, independent Commissions and offices have continued to operate in a way which is similar to how they did during the one-party era. The environment under which these bodies operate remain the same.

All bodies in Zambia, regardless of whether they are independent or statutory, have been forced to continue serving and acting on behalf of and under control of the politicians who may be in power at a particular time.

The superiority of independent bodies in Kenya and South Africa over the ones in Zambia has much to do with the constitutional roles that those bodies perform and the security of tenure which their members enjoy in those countries.

Under Article 181 of the Constitution of South Africa, Chapter 9 Institutions have a clear mandate of protecting and strengthening South Africa’s democracy.

In Kenya, independent commissions and offices are constitutionally designed to protect the people’s sovereign power, ascertaining that all state organs observe democratic values and principles.

In those countries, independent bodies are protected in different ways by the Constitution. The courts in Kenya and South Africa boldly enforce independence of these commissions and offices even when it may be attractive and rewarding to make decisions that please the executive arm of government.

It is not easy in Kenya to dismiss members of independent bodies in those countries because their constitutions have demanded a procedural dismissal process.

On the other hand, the salaries of members of these independent commissions and offices in Kenya are at the same scale as those of judges of the superior courts and are a charge on the consolidated fund. This means that they are not voted on annually or discussed in Parliament.

How then can we make our independent commissions responsive in Zambia?

The courts ought to play a vital role in ensuring that independent commissions and offices are made and operate subject to the Constitution first before any other law as required by Article 216 of the Zambian Constitution.

Our courts have a big role to protect constitutional principles and values, including Article 173 values, which binds national, provincial and local government levels as well as all State organs and State institutions.

Secondly, there must be true political will to ensure each independent commission becomes a self-accounting institution which deals directly with the Ministry of Finance.

There should be adequate funding for these commissions to enable them effectively perform their functions.

Thirdly, non-state actors and the Commissions themselves must rise to the occasion to ensure that they are legally protected as independent bodies which are fully discharging their constitutional functions.

The task thus remains with persons and institutions to do their part.

In this decade, civil society groupings in Zambia can learn from their counterparts in Kenya and South Africa and step into the ring.

NGOs ought to abandon their constant roles of being voices for never-ending processes of amending the Constitution. They must instead seize the opportunity provided by the Constitution itself to present their grievances to competent courts of law.

We must never tire out in demanding for institutional reforms, adherence and respect for our Constitution, and its principles and values.

[For any feedback and contributions, write to isaacmwanza14@gmail.com]

Published by the Daily Nation, May, 2023

AN OPEN LATER TO THE PRESIDENT..

It’s an open truth from the Bible that when the righteous rule, the people will rejoice and all leaders come from God with these words from the Bible how can someone separate the church and politics?

It’s very unfortunate that Mr President you want to pick a fight with the reality on the ground, those graphs might mean something yes.

But one thing you must understand is that, that voice from father salangete is not just a mere voice but a voice of that poor Zambian down there who is struggling to buy a 25kg bag of mealie meal who can not afford three meals a day and may not have an opportunity to speak.

One thing you must Bear in mind Mr President, is that politics affects everything including the church. If you can stand in church, talk about CDF, free education, Napsa partial withdrawal etc.. why being agitated when others criticize you through the church..?

We have numerous challenges as a country, and it’s that bitterness and arrogance you are carrying which is hindering the much desired progress in this country.

It’s close to two years, without clear intent where you are steering this country with your administration sir. Because right now the major outcry on ground is that there is no medicine in hospitals, poor distribution of farming inputs to the farmers which has greatly affected the yield of 2022-2023 farming session and failing to buy soya beans from farmers after encouraging them to grow soya beans that the government has ready market for it.

The unresolved KCM, MOPANI issues which has prolonged. And over 2000 ex miners who retired in 2019 and 2020 in KCM are still fighting for their SATURNYA REGINA, as I speak over 30 ex miners from CHILILABOMBWE, CHINGOLA and NAMPUNDWE.

These people are sleeping in the cold at UPND secretariat who have been fighting with some of senior UPND officials and the mines minister PAUL KABUSWE in order for them to seek your audience Mr President but it been proved futile. Looking at above challenges Mr President, do you expect the majority poor Zambians to wear smiling faces..?

Lastly but not the least I would like to appreciate the little bit of progress you have scored like employing of civil servants, free education though it started in the previous regime you just up graded it up to grade twelve and the much pronounced CDF though without impact on the ground also the Napsa partial withdraw which is just a pain killer.

But all these are over shadowed by your bitterness and arrogance by failing to recognize the efforts of the previous regime and the high cost of living bwana. Also applying the rule of law with an animal farm principle, where all animals are equal but some are more equal than others. Therefore, it’s time to heal and focus on things that will unite this country because vengeance belongs to God.

Abraham Simpamba
Ichalo Lutoshi

Yo Maps runs to meet Lungu after ‘filling up’ Heroes Stadium

TWO days after Lusaka’s National Heroes Stadium teemed with football lovers who went to see Ronaldinho and his Barcelona contemporaries, the same venue was last night filled up by lovers of Yo Maps’ music and other legendary singers.

Under the fill up Heroes Stadium tagline, Elton Mulenga, otherwise called Yo Maps, launched his Try Again titled 20 track album, cheered by thousands of ecstatic fans.

He was backed by seasoned vocalists like Danny, Mampi, JK, Macky 2, Wezi and Petersen, an addition that helped fans voluntarily withstand the chilly night.

Ticket holders to the event started entering the 60, 000 seater capacity stadium before normal supper time and by 21:00 hours, even gatecrashers had started making their way into the country’s biggest football facility.

Yes, with gatecrashing in sight, security got compromised, especially at the entrances, and maybe into the venue.

But with or without guaranteed security, committed Yo Maps fans were focused on the mission – dance and noise along to his songs.

That they did and, maybe, they are still in bed now, trying to compensate for lost sleep hours and their energy, which was used up to wriggle as well as to scream up to the roof of Heroes Stadium.

As if to further hype the show or maybe to raise the fans’ emotions, Yo Maps, draped in a Zambian flag, regurgitated songs of deceased artistes like Lilly T, PJ and Daev.

He then got back on track and dropped one, two, three, four and many other popular songs from his album.

As a matter of attestation to Yo Maps’ musical acumen, some fans talked to by Kalemba described him as great.

Such accolades were the same on social media platforms.

“A huge congratulations to the king himself. Yo Maps Yo for making history of filling up the biggest stadium in Zambia,” wrote Allan Mwita on Facebook.

Meanwhile, as if to lay bare his workaholic attribute, Yo Maps chose to visit former president Edgar Lungu this
morning, at the expense of sleeping.

Lungu congratulated Yo Maps on his hard work and successful concert.

By Melony Chisanga

Kalemba May 28, 2023

HICHILEMA HAS PUT THE MINING SECTOR AT THE BACK OF THE ENVELOPE-HACHIPUKA

…using funds meant for debt service on CDF and other programmes must be explained…

● …Whatever Hichilema does he must remember that the country is not his alone but the major…
●…He should desist from surrounding himself with “yes bwanas”. Time is running out…

●….No individual shall be regarded as God in this Republic….

●..Is Hichilema held captive by local and foreign sponsors?…

Emmanuel Hachipuka writes ✍🏾* ….

I have of recent times, simply read articles and not contributed to public debates.

I think the tragedy of most African Presidents lies in their use of the “Authority” bestowed on them.

Take for example the Late President Mugabe, while he used his authority to take land from the whites and give it to the black indigenous owners, the method used, in my view, was very cruel to the whites.

Most of them were born in Zimbabwe 🇿🇼. He did not also take into account the effect it would have on the Zimbabwean Economy. Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 was a food basket of the region. We all lost out in the end.

It is not the sanctions alone that have negatively affected the Zimbabwean Economy. It is the manpower exodus into the diaspora.

Besides, why have the Zimbabweans ignored the volume of wealth he was able to acquire around himself ? Does a President have to become that rich in a country where some people can not have one meal a day?

This brings me now to Zambia’s current position .

HH became President because he is educated and intelligent like many more in Zambia 🇿🇲. He persistently wanted to become one. He enherited a strong political party called Upnd. The persecution by the ruling party further popularised him. The performance of PF and its President provided a perfect platform for none Upnd voters and some members of the public and Pf to cast vote in favour of Upnd in protest to oust Pf from government.

Offcourse there are many more reasons why Upnd was voted in including many office bearers in government such as the civil service, the armed forces including the intelligence who wanted Lungu and his PF out of government . I could go on with reasons but these are the only ones that come to mind right now.

Remember my colleagues that the Zambians resolved that no individual shall serve as President beyond 10 yrs. No individual shall be regarded as God in this Republic.

In this decision the majority clearly now know what and where their country ought to be.
It is not only HH that can decide the country’s direction alone. Whatever he does he must remember that the country is not his alone but the majority shall decide the country’s direction. At every election, the majority Zambians will decide through an Election .

This brings me now to the issue of whether what he has done so far is good enough.

Those of you who have read what Laura Miti has said in her latest posting will agree with her that there many good things our Government has done well compared to the failures. This is a good thing. But HH must learn to listen to the country. The country has a say in the way he governs his people. Public opinion matters and so does the church ⛪ and major segments of our society.

He should desist from surrounding himself with “yes bwanas”. Time is running out.

For example, the most important aspect of our lives is the Mining Industry which he has put at the back of an envelope. The Copperbelt is more important than anything else to all Zambians and is bigger than life. To continue behind doors without a visible effort to reopen the Mines, HH and Upnd could pay a high price in form of political popularity loss.

The approach to Debt restructuring he has used is causing severe delays. I am not sure who his consultants are on this subject. At least I can safely refer you to President Levy Mwanawasa and Magande period when Zambia’s Debt was cancelled.

For most of you who do not know. We are not repaying debt, ie capital or interest thereon. Meaning all the cash ZRA is collecting in taxes and any new loan releases from the World bank, this is the money we are using to keep national programs oiled. We are appearing to have money for CDF and many more because we are not servicing debt. We are postponing the doomsday.
I am worried for HH, Upnd and the whole financial metrics of our country as it will unfold at a time near Elections . We are losing time and time to next elections is slowly disappearing.

With all of this said, is HH so enveloped/held hostage by our sponsors which could include outsiders and the team around him such that they can not see the impact of what is ahead of us?

THE OPPOSITION IS PLEASED WITH USE OF THE PRIESTS TO SPEAK AGAINST THE HEAD OF STATE …***

By Stembridge Sikalundu

Democracy on free expressions goes to the church , what are the priests defending themselves from ?, foolish democratic rights return to the pulpits . Why are we seeing only two catigoriese of priests being agitators of a more direct deposit of public political aggression on the head of state ? . If this stand off is not looked at very critically , regionalism is at play and the priests may be sending a very irrational symptomatic approach to create divisions in the country on behalf of the PF party , let’s not forget that divide and rule is what some former politicians believed , some priests may just be tour guides on this game of thrones .

Previously in zambia there used to be a quotation that no one can be president in Zambia if he or she is not catholic or supported by the Catholic church . We have to remind each other that these reasons have prevailed since time in memorial . When the police stormed the community house with teargasses , the priests were silent , but immediately the police went to search ECL’s house a voice came out from the church priests . When president HAKAINDE HICHILEMA escaped an attempted assassination attempt , the church priests were quiet .

We all know that president HAKAINDE HICHILEMA is a seventh day Adventist , is it about the religious beliefs that has brought a political stalemate ?. Since 1964 the Catholic church has existed in zambia under many govts , the challenges this country has undergone are not borm of now to be CRITICISED by the church because the president is Mr HAKAINDE HICHILEMA. Zambians are witnesses of the damage the PF party did to this country when the priests watched with smiles while they concentrated to preach the word of God . The creation of unsustainable debt on the country , the priests were rejoicing .

We have not forgotten the most difficult episode of politics under the PF govt , if the Catholic priests are genuinely representing the people of zambia , why didn’t they criticise ECL when he was creating the damage on the country than criticising president HAKAINDE HICHILEMA who promised to implement a damage control program , we all know that it is not a days event to work on the economic recovery , we all have to trust the process .

The people who destroyed the country are celebrating with the priests from what they are doing in the churches against the president , we have a very interesting scenario of political direction , it has become rather difficult to exercise opposition politics in Zambia against a practical president like Mr HAKAINDE HICHILEMA , coming on board using the church is another scheme we have to be very careful with because of using priests from certain specific regions .

Priests are human beings that can use their emotions to express their own political views , but it is important to realise that the same church priests requested to rig elections in order to avoid Mr HAKAINDE HICHILEMA become president of this country , the church took sides to suggest ECL was supposed to retain the presidency , is not obvious that this rage is manifesting because of the bitterness and hate that PF is out of power and order ?. Let’s wait and see how the priests are trying to help PF bounce back . God bless mother Zambia .

I CRY ZAMBIA IS MY BELOVED COUNTRY

GOVERNMENT MUST DEAL WITH MINING ISSUES AS OPPOSED TO DWELLING ON PETTY ISSUES – MUSUKWA

….says mining industry is in a crisis under UPND government.

LUSAKA….. Sunday, 28 May 2023 (Smart Eagles)

Former Minister of Mines Richard Musukwa says Government must concentrate on dealing with issues in the Mining Industry as opposed to dwelling on petty issues.

Hon Musukwa says the Mining Industry is in a crisis and the people are losing confidence every day.

He has also dispelled talks that the PF Government destroyed the Mining industry.

Hon Musukwa said the Patriotic Front had a system on how to navigate the Challenges of KCM and Mopani mines.

He has elaborated on the decision the PF Government made to put KCM under Liquidation and not Receivership.

Hon Musukwa said at the time KCM was being put in liquidation, it was sitting on debt of 1.6 billion dollars

He said such was a problem caused by the company running the mines and not the Government.

“The liquidation process at KCM was well managed by this young man they have been harassing Milingo Lungu. He ensured that suppliers were paid among others so that the mine is kept afloat. The Liquidation process allowed the young man Milingo Lungu Instead of stripping the assets and selling because of Government policy, he made the mine operate despite the credit portfolio because when you are in Liquidation you are supposed to sell assets and pay the debt.

This man was selling whatever he could, re-invest in production and repay the debt. Because it meant that when you are in receivership, the money made was going to the debt, primary target was debt and not the workers. I am glad that President Hichilema has not vacated liquidation at KCM. He knows that if he vacates Liquidation at KCM, debtors would have called on KCM and the Mine would be a shell,” he said.

Hon Musukwa said Former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu must be commended for ensuring that the interests of the workers were upheld.

“President Lungu then made a decision that our people must not be a sacrificial lambs throughout this process. The Issue of ensuring that KCM works is in the interest of all Zambians,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hon Musukwa said it is shocking that to date the country is still struggling with Mopani.

He said under the PF Regime the intention was to ensure that Mopani was a mine of choice.

He is therefore hopeful that Government will find Mopani Investors and move forward.

PARAMOUNT CHIEF MPEZENI APPOINTS DR. CHRIS ZUMANI ZIMBA AS NSINGO MUSEUM BOARD CHAIRMAN

Chipata, Sunday (May 28, 2023)

PARAMOUNT Chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni people of Eastern Province has appointed former President Edgar Lungu’s Political Advisor Chris Zumani Zimba as Board Chairman of the Nsingo Museum.

Nsingo Museum is the historical site where all Ngoni heritage is kept for present and future generations.

Speaking to Journalists in Chipata, Sunday, Paramount Chief Mpezeni’s Induna, Ambassador George Zulu, said the Ngoni Royal Establishment Supreme Council (NRESC), appreciates Dr. Zimba’s contribution towards the preservation of the Ngoni heritage.

Ambassador Zulu said Nsingo Museum was officially established in 2017 by the Ngoni Royal Establishment Supreme Council in partnership with the Govenment of the Republic of Zambia through the National Museum Board.

He said the Museum is located at Feni Village in Chipata District, close to Ekuphendukeni Palace.

Ambassador Zulu said the Museum is also home to King Mpezeni I’s graveyard and all his direct royal lineage members.

“In my 2023 speech at the Ne’wala Ceremony, I proclaimed that Ngoni people will with immediate effect start celebrating 5th February each year as Nsingo Day.

Ambassador Zulu said Ngonis requested government to declare 5th February a National Holiday dubbed Nsingo Day because it is the day when Nsingo was executed for the only sin of defending territory autonomy and sovereignty.

He said the Nsingo Museum Board working with the NRESC will ensure that the royal declaration is operationalized and both Prince Nsingo and the Museum are put on national and regional map.

Ambassador Zulu said Zambians must know that Prince Nsingo was the first local brave leader in the Anglo-Zambian war, the first freedom fighter in the country, and the first political martyr in this land we all call home.

“Today, us the modern Ngoni people want Prince Nsingo to be remembered and recognized as such hence, naming this museum after him and want the Board to action our desire. Hence, the choice and the urgency of appointing a new and suitable Nsingo Board Chairman,” he said.

Ambassador Zulu said Dr. Zimba is a respected Political Scientist as well as a Ngoni son who hails from Chief Kapatamoyo.

He said Dr. Zimba’s PhD research was on “Exploring the opportunities, challenges and possibilities of democracy as practiced in Nzamane, Madzimawe and Kapatamoyo Chiefdoms of the Ngoni Kingdom of Zambia’.

“Besides being an active Technical Resource to the Ngoni King’s office for years, Dr. Zimba’s dissertation on the above topic is also deposited in the Nsingo Museum, the only PhD thesis on Ngoni heritage,” he said.

Ambassador Zulu said Dr. Zimba’s consistent support and commitment to promoting Ngoni history and heritage is both commendable and appreciated by the NRESC.

“For more administrative and policy programs of the Museum, please feel free to contact the new Board Chairman on 0973-153815. I wish him God’s blessings in the important assignment and pray for the growth our only Ngoni Museum,” he said.

HICHILEMA’S ABOLITION OF CRIMINAL DEFAMATION OF THE PRESIDENT

BY DR. O’BRIEN KAABA

On 23rd December 2022, President Hakainde Hichilema assented to the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill No 25 of 2022 which repeals section 69 of the Penal Code and effectively abolishes the crime of defaming the President.

The provision was introduced by the Kaunda regime soon after independence to stave off increasing criticism from Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula’s ANC and almost immediately led to the arrest, conviction and sentencing to a term of imprisonment of Mungoni Liso, the ANC secretary general. Ever since, a litany of citizens has been jailed for the offence.

The abolition is a momentous development, considering that all previous presidents rationalised the need for this law, and more importantly, the Judiciary as guardian of constitutionalism, abdicated its responsibility and joined the retinue of praise signers, churning out dangerous jurisprudence that elevated the president above constitutional limitation.

I argue in this article that the decision by the Hichilema government to abolish the crime exposes how defective and incompetent the Zambian judiciary has been at holding the Executive in check as the abolition now shows how defective the collective ‘jurisprudence’ of the Zambian judiciary has been. Instead of declaring the provision unconstitutional, as several common law jurisdictions did and for good cause, the Zambian Courts abandoned all sense of constitutional adjudication and crafted an intellectually impoverished jurisprudence insulating the president from scrutiny, criticism and irreverent language.

In explaining the role of the judiciary in the destruction of constitutionalism in Africa, human rights lawyer Chidi Odinkalu asserted: “The first question of the constitutions and Bills of Rights in common law Africa was destroyed not so much by the intolerance of the executive as by the enthusiastic abdication of judicial responsibilities by the persons and institutions mandated under those constitutions to perform them, coupled with a readiness to share across national borders the wrong models and bad precedents.” This rings true of the Zambian judiciary, as demonstrated by their handling of the constitutionality of section 69 of the Penal Code.

The courts have often vacated their role as a co-arm of the state, enforcer of constitutional norms and reduced themselves into presidential soothsayers and sycophants. In the case of M’membe and Mwape v. The People (1995 – 1997) ZR 118 (SC) challenging the constitutionality of section 69, for example, the Supreme Court readily accepted mere assumption and wild speculation by the lower court that the trial judge “was not in error when he considered that section 69 was reasonably required, in effect to forestall a possible unpeaceful reaction from the citizens and supporters and to protect the reputation of the first citizen” and went further to rationalise: “I do not consider that there can be any who would seriously dispute that side by side with the freedom of speech is the equally very ‘important public interest in the maintenance of the public character of public men for the proper conduct of public affairs which requires that they be protected from destructive attacks upon their honour and character’.” As if this is not enough, the Court went on to sing: “The election of any person to the office of President, I would have thought to be self-evident, has legal and constitutional consequences, quite apart from any other result.

The Constitution itself ordains that he become Head of State and of Government; that the executive power of the state vest in him and that he be endowed with the various matters, powers and functions described in the Constitution.

I do not see how it can be argued that the President should stand before the law equally with the rest of us when, for example art 43 grants him immunity from civil or criminal suit while he occupies that high office.

If the Constitution itself makes the President not equal to everyone else, how can the accused’s arguments be maintainable?” The sad consequence of such decisions has been to elevate the President, from being a servant of the people, to being an elected emperor, with little effective means of keeping him or her in check.

This is by no means an isolated case. It is the entrenched culture of the judiciary, that has manifested itself in several other situations. In many cases involving citizens insulting or crudely criticizing leaders, the Zambian courts tend to always decided in favour of leaders, throwing away the dictates of liberal democracy and seeking refuse in some nebulous cultural beliefs.

Two examples can be given here. The first is the case of Attorney General v Roy Clark (2008) 1 ZR 38, involving the deportation of Roy Clark, who had written a satire in the Post newspaper, depicting the figure of an elephant he named Muwelewele, described in un-flattery language, taken by some to refer to President Levy Mwanawasa.

The Supreme Court was not pleased with the use of such language, and stated in part: “What we ourselves find irritating and offending are the reference to the concerned person’s physical appearances in crude language.” The Supreme Court considered the use of crude language by Clark to be “un-Zambian,” suggesting that this is something alien to the Zambian culture.

It stated: “The Respondent is also an old man, who has insulated himself from the realities of the Zambian cultural environment and is impervious to the cultural values and norms of the Zambian people, who, according to the learned trial Judge, the Respondent has lived for over forty years.” The Court went further to say: “In Zambia, one can criticise or poke fun at the Head of State and government leaders or indeed elders but this must be done in felicitous language and not in the crude language the Respondent used. We have no doubt that in every other country you cannot say and write things using words and expressions that are not in consonance with the cultural values and norms of the people of that country.”

Another case involving irreverent language is that of Fred M’membe and Bright Mwape v The Speaker of the National Assembly, the Commissioner of Prisons and the Attorney General. The applicants in this case allegedly used irreverent language in criticising ministers and parliamentarians in the National Assembly, through newspaper articles. Fred M’membe was alleged to have referred to one parliamentarian as follows: “Ernest Mwansa’s underwear is an imitation” and “Ernest Mwansa must shut up.”

The High Court held that the use of such language was contemptuous, especially when used when referring to an adult. The justification, as in the other case, was that such language offends Zambian culture.

The judge stated: “As a Zambian myself, I find it to be insulting and abusive language in Zambian society for anyone to refer to underpants of a grown-up man or woman. Such language degrades, dishonours, and reduces the respectability of the person referred to by the term. Similarly, telling an honourable member of parliament and a minister to shut up is humiliating, though on a lesser degree than the mention of his underpants.”

The claims by judges in these cases are not based on truth or any verifiable facts. There is no Zambian language that does not contain insults. For whom are those insults intended? Just for ordinary mortals but not leaders? There is no evidence that African or Zambian language forbids use of irreverent language on leaders. In many traditional societies, leaders were the target of the wrath of society and often recipients of crude scathing criticism.

The late Nigerian lawyer and political scientist, Claude Ake argued that in many traditional African systems, accountability was stricter than even in modern Western societies and chiefs were sternly criticised and insulted: “Chiefs were answerable not only for their own actions but for natural catastrophes such as famine, epidemics, floods, and drought. In the event of such disasters, Chiefs could be required to go into exile or “asked to die.”

Perhaps a better known demonstration of democracy in traditional African societies is to be found in Nelson Mandela’s autobiography (“Long Walk to Freedom”). Mandela was raised by his uncle who was a chief/regent.

In describing how decisions were made, Mandela notes that no conclusion was forced upon people but instead all the people were heard, regardless of how stern their language was, and a decision was taken together. Mandela narrates how this was done: “Everyone who wanted to speak did so. It was democracy in its purest form.

There may have been a hierarchy of importance among the speakers, but everyone was heard, chief and subject, warrior and medicine man, shopkeeper and farmer, landowner and labourer. People spoke without interruption and the meetings lasted many hours.

At first, I was astonished by the vehemence- and candour – with which people criticised the regent. He was not above criticism – in fact, he was often the principal target of it. But no matter how flagrant the charge, the regent simply listened, not defending himself, showing no emotion at all.” (Emphasises the author).

The same can be said about many Zambian traditional societies. Use of crude or lewd language was not generally proscribed and on some occasions was in fact encouraged.

Dale and Smith, for example, in describing the Ila culture indicated that there were “occasions when lewd songs are not only permitted but are regarded as essential to the ritual…”

In fact, in many Zambian cultures and beyond, insults were institutionalised, often accompanying major rites and developments in life such as birth, puberty, marriage, ascension to the throne and other important social events. Moses Nii-Dortey and Edward Nanbigne have demonstrated that “nearly all cultures have contexts that elevate verbal and non-verbal insults to a ritual and institutional necessities.” To assert, as Zambian courts have, that insults are not part of Zambian or African culture, or that they would lower the status of the President, is simply not true.

What then is the basis of the decisions made by judges if they cannot be based on Zambian/African culture? Haynie has argued that such jurisprudence emanates from a judicial culture of timidity and sycophancy, in which judges see themselves as having a role in protecting the reputation of those in power.

In such circumstances, says Haynie, “judging is not black and white- judging is a process by which the grey is given the appearance of black and white.” Judges in such situations simply elevate their political sympathies to the status of law.

Such decisions damage the capacity of the judiciary to hold leaders accountable. By elevating leaders beyond the reach of ordinary people through crude criticism, leaders are divinised and insulated from their own people.

This should not be the role of a judge in a democracy. As former South African Deputy Chief Justice, Dikang Moseneke remarked, “a good judge does not suck up to authority or to anyone.”

In fact such crude language has a role in fostering constitutionalism and enriching democracy. Insults may often be the only tool available to the citizens to speak truth to power and in that sense have a powerful role in advancing constitutionalism and democracy.

As stated by Albie Sachs, a retired judge of the South African Constitutional Court: “A society that takes itself too seriously risks bottling up its tensions and treating every example of irreverence as a threat to its existence. Humour is one of the great solvents of democracy. It permits the ambiguities and contradictions of public life to be articulated in non-violent forms. It promotes diversity. It enables a multitude of discontents to be expressed in a myriad of spontaneous ways. It is an elixir of constitutional health.”

Instead of kowtowing to the Executive, the judiciary should be inward looking and cure its lack of accountability to the citizens in the performance of its duties, often characterised by inefficiency in resolution of disputes and thinly reasoned decisions. It should similarly abandon outdated and self-serving conceptions of contempt of court based merely on commenting on matters before court or the often abused ‘crime’ of scandalising the court.

[The author is a lecturer in the School of Law, University of Zambia]

OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA

Friday 26 May 2023

My fraternal regards to you Sir.

I have been compelled to write this open letter to you following your very disturbing threats against Her Worship, the Mayor of Kitwe, Ms Mpasa MWAYA.

On Wednesday 24 May 2023, during the handover ceremony of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) Project Monitoring Vehicles, you the President of the Republic of Zambia, Head of State and Commander in-Chief of the Defence Forces issued very alarming threats against Ms MWAYA for no apparent reason.

Your public admonition of the Mayor followed the initial threats and public humiliation that the Mayor had earlier suffered at the hands of Elisha Matambo, MP Provincial Minister for the Copperbelt Province. This like your admonition was covered by various media houses.

The only crime that the Mayor seems to have committed was to express her personal opinion in a private WhatsApp conversation that she had with her colleagues. The poor lady exonerated herself and explained to the Minister that her WhatsApp posting about “resigning after the press briefing” was not about President Hichilema but someone else. Despite her clear explanation, both yourself and Elisha Matambo, MP chose to use and abuse your positions of power to admonish, humiliate and threaten the defenceless Mayor for no justifiable reason.

Mr President need I remind you that as President, you have no right under the law to gag or threaten citizens from freely expressing themselves. Freedom of expression is a fundamental and an inalienable right enshrined in Article 20 of the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia and no person nor authority has the right to stop any citizen from expressing themselves on any matter concerning them?

Mayor Mwaya just like you and any other Zambian citizen has the legitimate right to express herself and to voice out her concerns on any issue and does not deserve to be threatened or admonished by any one more especially a Head of State and particularly not in public.

Had Mayor Mwaya committed any offense numerous avenues for addressing the grievance could have been invoked rather than such dressing down.

Your public threats and admonition of the Mayor are not only unwarranted and misplaced but gives credence to the many Zambians who have expressed concern over male chauvinistic tendencies of male politicians in general.

Women and girls form the core majority of our population and any deliberate and systematic actions to sideline, fight and talk down on this very important demography is detrimental to the social, political and economic development of our nation.

I beseech all of us to reconsider our attitude and behaviour towards our womenfolk for the good of our country.

We as a party declared that we shall recognize and respect your office as President irrespective of how you treated your predecessors. We also are alive to the fact that Local Authorities are to work in tandem with and under the supervision of Central Government and we have no problem with that.

However remember that on November 8, 2018, you suspended the Kafue Town Council Chairman Thomas Zulu for simply taking part in the “Keep Zambia Clean Campaign” official launch that was officiated by President Edgar Chagwa Lungu.

At that time, you did not consider the fact that Mr Zulu was lawfully discharging his duties as a civic leader, instead you vilified and chased him from your Party.

Further, for all the years that President Edgar Lungu was Republican President, you flatly refused to recognise and respect him as such and yet, today you want to force others to honour and respect you as President of Zambia.

The seeds of hatred, bitterness and insolence that you planted and still continue to plant will one day come to haunt you.

Power is temporary and as President it may be necessary to exercise your authority with love, caution, humility, compassion and a sense of self-restraint as your words and actions carry so much power and may build or destroy the nation.

Your threats are putting the life and welfare of an innocent and defenceless woman in danger from your overzealous cadres and officials. I have no doubt that you are aware of the threats that were made to Ms Mwaya by some members of your party.

Be lest assured that with such threats and such public admonitions, as a Party, the Patriotic Front reserves the right to emulate you and your Party by refraining ourselves and our members from participating in any function where you are officiating.

With salutations,

Hon Given Lubinda
Vice President
Patriotic Front

By Prince Bill M Kaping’a Political/Social Analyst

It’s been a while since the new dawn administration introduced the 20 percent partial withdraw so that citizens are given a golden opportunity to either sort out their pressing financial needs or invest business ventures of any kind. Hitherto, a number of people are still struggling to lay their hands on the money they worked for……some of them have to endure long distances and burn their savings on transport to get to a nearest NAPSA facility.

Where’s the problem?

I made my first foray at NAPSA Kitwe three weeks ago. I was shocked to find queues stretching away miles and miles. I made a decision to give it a try another time. Three days later, I tasked my assistant to go to NAPSA wee hours of the day and stand in the queue for me. A number of people already milling up as early as 5 AM! He made it on ticket number 350. By the time he almost made it to the entrance, it was past 16:00 hours. It was time to close shop!

Next day, I decided to take matters into my own hands and got there much earlier. I was handed ticket number 220. The person ahead of me narrated that he had camping there for the past 2 nights. He was from Kalulushi, a tiny rural enclave 25 minutes away Northwest of Kitwe. There were already 380 clients ahead of him when he got there.

He couldn’t make much progress as they were having network challenges. They were told to come back the next day. Since he didn’t have transport money to take him back to Kalulushi, he decided to spend the night in a mobile money phone booth where he had to answer the call of nature in empty containers. He couldn’t get any sleep at all as the mosquitoes made a great feast of himself! As usual, the queue moved at a snail’s pace for whatever reason. As fortune would have it, he made it inside and called his wife to alert her to the good news.

“You can even get a chicken on credit if you want; I’ll come and pay for it once I get back,” he assured his sceptical wife.

He submitted his credentials to a lukewarm officer who advised him to wait for the next instructions on his phone. He lingered in the building waiting for that important message. It never came, of course! He decided to keep vigil within the mall like many others enduring the might on the cold floor. A good Samaritan somehow came to his aid by offering sweet potatoes and chibwantu……the only food he had to eat the last 2 days.

The queue seemed to move much faster this time around. In no time, we found ourselves inside where we were promptly attended to and dismissed. Shortly, I received the following message on my mobile phone, “Your Member verification request with reference 23041816818189531741666 has been received and a response will be provided within one (1) business day.”

“I hope it’s going to work out this time around,” my newly found friend from Kalulushi remarked as we made our way out.

I waited for about a week but to no avail. As I was about to go back to NAPSA and launch a complaint with the manager, I bumped into a friend from my college days. Immediately he learnt about my ordeal, he revealed that he might have a solution.

“I got mine within 3 days and I’ve ordered a vehicle for my wife from Japan!” he said, excitedly.

He introduced me to an agent in an internet cafe who claimed they worked with someone from NAPSA to facilitate payments.

“I can even put the phone on loud speaker and call the gentleman from NAPSA if you’re still in doubt,” the young lady offered.

After talking to the man from NAPSA whom I came to know as ba James, I hastily handed the lady my credentials and paid the required K600! And surely within a few hours, my credentials were verified successfully. And by Sunday morning, I was availed my log in details. I couldn’t all this was happening on a non working day!

Imagine 1000 people have to take this route to access their NAPSA money? This easily translates to K600, 000 cool cool cash in their pockets! Honestly, how long do we have to condone such illegalities? The situation is equally the same at RTSA and the Ministry of Lands where some civil servants deliberately clog the system to delay the process make you frustrated and leave you with little option but to try shortcuts.

If only cabinet ministers can frequently step out of their air-conditioned offices and venture into the field to investigate challenges affecting our people, solutions would be identified pronto as opposed to waiting for the situation to escalate.

Monday morning, I intend to storm the office of the Regional Manager to register my displeasure. I equally hope to call upon on ACC and file a complaint as I consider it as my solemn responsibility to help government succeed in delivering to the full expectations of our people.

ZAMBIA IS ONE OF AFRICA’S CARRIERS OF HOPE FOR FOOD SECURITY – AFDB PRESIDENT
African Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr. AKINWUMI ADESINA has described Zambian Republican President HAKAINDE HICHILEMA as one of the vision carriers for Africa’s agriculture renaissance and food security.

Reminiscing about President HICHILEMA’s address to delegates at the Feed Africa Summit held in January, 2023, in Dakar, Senegal (during which the Republican President emphasized the need to scale-up 1) agriculture productivity; 2) investing in young people; 3) infrastructure development through public private partnerships; 4) science and technology; and, 5) energy and regional interconnectedness), Dr. ADESINA expressed goodwill and gratitude to the Government and the people of Zambia for constantly supporting AfDB reforms.

The AfDB President said this during a high-level bilateral meeting with the Zambian delegation led by Finance and National Planning Minister Dr. SITUMBEKO MUSOKOTWANE, MP, at the ongoing Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

“In Senegal, President HICHILEMA spoke from the heart about scaling-up agriculture productivity in Africa. His passion for the sector makes Zambia one of Africa’s carriers of hope for food security,” observed Dr. ADESINA, adding that, “complimentary to the efforts of other partners, we can do a lot together to transform agriculture in Zambia through establishment of special agriculture processing zones.”
In response to a status brief by Dr. MUSOKOTWANE, Dr. ADESINA reiterated calls previously made at other fora that parties to Zambia’s debt restructuring process need to reach a conclusive resolution because, “hope delayed is hope denied.”

The AfDB President pledged his organization’s support for initiatives aimed at 1) enhancing domestic resource mobilisation, 2) improving tax administration, 3) infrastructure development; and, 4) support to the private sector. He stated furthermore that Africa needs a financial stability mechanism to help member states to cope with economic shocks, when they arise.

Dr. ADESINA also thanked the people of Zambia for the land offered to his organisation in Chongwe/Lusaka to build a permanent office complex, subject to board approval. He took the opportunity to invite Zambia to the Africa Investment Forum to be held in Morocco, in November, 2023.

Dr. ADESINA encouraged the Zambian delegation to the upcoming Forum in Morocco to ensure that appropriate promotional and marketing packages are prepared in readiness for engagement with prospective investors and project promoters.

Dr. MUSOKOTWANE was accompanied to the AfDB/Zambia bilateral meeting by Ministry of Finance and National Planning Permanent Secretary for Economic Management and Finance Mr. DANIES CHISENDA, and Zambia’s Ambassador to Egypt, Major General TOPPLY LUBAYA (Rtd). Others were AfDB Executive Director for Zambia Mauritius and Malawi Mr. GERARD BUSSIER, and AfDB Alternate Executive Director for Zambia, Mauritius and Malawi SHEBO NALISHEBO.

Speaking earlier, Dr. MUSOKOTWANE called on the leadership of Africa’s premier financial institution to consider front-loading resources to ensure that programmes under respective assistance strategies proceed smoothly. He took the opportunity to reiterate Zambia’s support for the Bank’s progressive reforms and to good usage of its resources.

The 2023 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank are scheduled to end later, today.
Credit: MOFNP