By Masuzyo Chakwe
GEARS Initiative Zambia says it is time for the new dawn government to walk the campaign talk of repealing the public order Act and honouring those who suffered harassment, injuries and death because of poor enforcement of the law.
And justice minister Mulambo Haimbe has assured that the Act will be reviewed so as to ensure power is given to citizens to exercise their rights as enshrined in the Constitution.
During a stakeholders’ engagement on public order management and legal framework agenda at Sandy’s Creation on Thursday, GEARS Initiative executive director MacDonald Chipenzi said the organisation attached great importance to legal reforms.
“In a democratic society like ours, it is extremely important to have laws that guarantee democratic, political and civil rights for the effective participation and involvement of the citizens,” he said.
“Democratic participation and involvement of the citizens in the governance of the country is key to achieve sustainable development and assured civic responsibility towards nation assets.”
He said it was GEARS’ belief that the public order Act in its current form had been one of the thorny pieces of legislation inimical to the realisation of democratic governance in Zambia.
Chipenzi said this was so because the Act, apart from being selective and colonial oriented in its provisions, was a deterrent to effective citizens’ participation and involvement in public affairs.
“For decades now, the call for the repeal and replacement of such laws has been constantly echoing on successive governments including the new dawn government. Previous regimes tried to repeal the Act but decided to withdraw its political will and stopped at tabling the proposed draft public order bill before the National Assembly and later withdrew it. Therefore, the repeal of the public order Act is long overdue,” Chipenzi said.
“GEARS Initiative is hopeful that the new dawn government will not fall to the narrative that the Act is good and avoid its repeal, as that will be political suicide because those who refused to do it in the past and now in opposition are feeling the negative effect of this law on their political activities and are crying foul.”
He said Zambia needed a law on public order management that was cognizant of the democratic nature of societies and the multiparty nature of “our politics”.
Chipenzi said disappointingly, some political parties, namely UNIP, MMD, PF and now UPND, when in opposition condemned the law and its provisions but entertained and praised it when ushered into government.
He said it was GEARS’ prayer that the UPND government would not be like other governments before it but would support the quickest efforts to repeal the law.
“This is so because political power is vanity. It is like chasing after the wind. It sometimes comes very late but definitely leaves quickly. So far, the new dawn government has shown discretion in the enforcement of this law as citizens can now demonstrate without police permits/notifications and when they do so, they are never tear-gassed or dispersed violently by the police,” noted Chipenzi.
“However, we cannot continue to depend on discretionary power and benevolence of the powers in the office at that time in the enforcement of this Act, as this has been found to be abandoned and abused when a brutal regime is ushered into office. It is time for the new dawn government to walk the campaign talk of repealing the Act and for honouring those who suffered harassment, injuries including death because of the enforcement of the Act. It is for this government to listen to the voice of the civil society organisations, the NGOs, media, FBOs, human rights defenders and individual activists who have been consistent in calling for repeal and replacement of this Act.”
And Haimbe, in a speech read for him by Ministry of Justice permanent secretary in charge of legal affairs Mwenya Bwalya said freedoms of speech and assembly were key in a democratic society.
He said democracy could neither work nor prosper if people did not go out to share their views.
“However, the public order Act, in its current form is inadequate and requires to be amended. As enunciated in the case of Law Association of Zambia v. the Attorney General (Appeal no. 8/2014) [2016] ZMSC 243 section 5 of the public prder Act gives the police absolute power to determine whether or not an assembly, meeting or procession should take place,” he said.
“According to the court, the language in section 5 of the public order Act expands the reasons for cancelling an assembly beyond those given in the Constitution namely, maintaining public peace and protecting the rights and properties of other people. In fact, the language of the Act does not limit the reasons as to why the police may cancel a planned assembly, but rather states that the police can cancel an assembly or procession out of an inability to police it.”
Haimbe said realising the shortcomings identified by the courts of law, it was imperative to reform the Act and prevent its abuse.
He noted that the UPND government committed to giving autonomy to the police in the enforcement of the Act and to put in place mechanisms that allowed for the reform in the manner in which regulation of public assemblies and processions were managed.
“May I reiterate that in an effort to uphold the rule of law, protect human rights and to ensure public order is managed, the public order Act will be reviewed so as to ensure that power is given to the citizens of Zambia to exercise their rights as enshrined in the Constitution,” said Haimbe.