PRESIDENT LUNGU’s POSITION ON ABOLISHING SECTION 69: DEFAMATION OF PRESIDENT
By Isaac Mwanza
In 2017, a year after the then President Edgar Lungu assented the Constitution that reduced presidential powers, I asked him about repealing Section 69 of the Penal Code which provided for defamation of the President.
His answer was that the repeal was going to be attractive to us as activists but to many lawyers, they know it would be cosmetic for him to repeal Section 69 alone as it would not end the punishing of those who defame the President using the same Penal Code. The Penal Code still has provisions that punishes criminal defamation apart from Section 69.
The then President said he had instructed the Minister of Justice to engage the Zambia Law Development Commission to take a lead in a holistic review of the Penal Code.
So today, there is a huge celebration on the repeal of Section 69 of the Penal Code, especially among various activists, but this may be shortlived for those who think they may no longer be charged with criminal defamation.
This year alone and within space of 6 months, Parliament has made two piecemeal amendments to the Penal Code. Of course, every journey begins with one step and President Hichilema has moved two steps towards changing the face of the Penal laws. He must be commended for it.
Eventually, I think bold decisions must be taken by President Hichilema’s administration to repeal and replace the entire Penal Code so as to allow democracy to thrive. The Penal Code was enacted in the colonial time and, in its current form, does not support the growth of our democratic governance.
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