Constitution making process lacks transparency -Sejani

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:25:07 +0000

THERE is no transparency in the country’s constitution making process, says Former UPND Mapatizya Constituency Member of Parliament Ackson Sejani.
In an interview, Mr. Sejani said that there was no hope the PF government would give Zambians a constitution which could stand the test of time.
He said the constitution reforms under the leadership of President Michael Sata had lost direction as it was done illegally and without proper consultation and inclusiveness of all major stakeholders.
“The Constitution Technical Committee is an illegal entity, there is no law that governs the existence of that committee and it doesn’t have a proper or an all-round representation of the people of Zambia. If you remember, Mr. Sata and his PF boycotted the National Constitution Conference on the premise that it was not well represented and that is what he has exactly done,” he said.
Mr. Sejani who is UPND Chairman for Elections said President Sata had promised to give Zambians a new Constitution within 90 days but that had completely failed. He said the scenario was not different with the postponement of the release of the document for public scrutiny.
He said the current constitution making process was the most crooked and expensive and was undesirable to the people of Zambia as it was not supported by the laws of the land.
“The constitution reform is lost and this is the most crooked and expensive process this government had taken. How do you start such a huge task without a proper budget? Why have they failed to tell the nation how much money has been used so far including the entire budget? Why are they not telling the people of Zambia about the 50 per cent plus 1 vote presidential threshold and Vice president running mate?” wondered Mr. Sejani.
Mr. Sejani doubted whether the September 19, deadline would be met by CTC because the PF government was not ready to govern the nation.
He said that there was no political will in the constitution making process, and doubted there would be a people’s driven constitution.