STATE HOUSE DISMISSES OASIS FORUM’S DEMANDS TO RECONSTITUTE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
By Nelson Zulu
State House Chief Communication Specialist Clayson Hamasaka has dismissed demands by the Oasis Forum to reconstitute the 25-member Technical Committee on Constitutional Amendments, calling them unfounded.
In an interview with Phoenix News, Mr. Hamasaka says what matters at this stage is that the committee is capable of capturing the views and interests of the Zambian people and delivering a credible outcome.
He has emphasized that the committee is a technical body, not a political one, tasked with receiving and compiling submissions from citizens and stakeholders, not making final decisions.
Mr. Hamasaka has stated that the legitimacy of the process will ultimately be judged by the quality, content, and representativeness of the submissions it gathers.
He has since urged the public, political parties, religious groups, and civil society to actively participate by making written submissions, saying that broad-based engagement is the most effective way to ensure that diverse perspectives are reflected in any proposed amendments.
Mr. Hamasaka was responding to the Oasis Forum’s claims that the committee was formed without following established procedures or securing concessions from institutions such as the Law Association of Zambia, the Church, and political parties, among other stakeholders.
PHOENIX NEWS
The cry is because they are not there and want to dyamo that is all.
Show me an ngo that has an office in some outlying area where the issues it works on exist. Most NGos are in urban areas yet they claim to deal with issues in the rural areas?
Just this point willshow that these organisations seek to serve themselves not the people they claim to serve. Just like aid organisations. They spend most of the money in their home countries employing mostly their people and claim to spend on issues plaguing 3rd world nations?
Just money hungry individuals that claim to serve people but its the biggest hoax.
Hamasaka, I can see through what this Technical Committee on Constitutional Amendment is All about..It is again looking to be a Scam.
I have been waiting to get the Terms of Reference, the timeline, and to date nothing has been forthcoming either from the President, the Ministry of Justice, or the Chair of the Committee, Judge Mushabati.
The Oasis Forum made several points on which they sought clarifications, but you have chosen to ignore these and focus on one point on which they didn’t even lay much weight, to discredit their position.
The Oasis Forum wants the Following;
The Terms of Reference
The Time Line
And highlited the interest they have in an expanded Bill of Rights
They expressed a desire for a comprehensive Constitutional Review which is not tied to the 2026 Presidential and General Elections.
These were the main points of the Submissions.
Can State house, Ministry of Justice, or the Chair of the Technical Committee attend to these concerns.
And see what Hamasaka is saying!
” Hamasaka has since urged the Public, Political Parties, Religious Groups, and Civil Society to actively participate by making
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS” !
This is the nonsense the Country is being Subjected to …” WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS”
Why the emphasis on WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS????????
Is Hamasaka a member of the Technical Committee on Constitutional Amendments?
Who is supposed to tell the Public the mode of Submissions of views on the Constitutional Amendments they seek? Hamasaka?
Just by this Statement from Hamasaka, one does not need to go any further to know that this Technical Committee on Constitutional Amendment is nothing but a scam.
They don’t want the submissions from stake holders and the public to be in the public domain.
They want as they did with Bill 7, to mask the whole process, and then tell the country that these are the collected views from the people.
Zambians are not fools. We await the Terms of Reference, and the Time Line…And take note, the Submissions will be in Public. We don’t want any Stealthy Manoeuvres and Misadventures..
Again the Mingalatoon will be put to Size.