Wed, 21 Jun 2017 09:42:46 +0000
Zambia, its laws and people
I agree with President Lungu that we must improve our public service. Indeed, we must improve several other institutions, particularly those that hold our moral campus.
Quite clearly, if what we are reading/hearing is anything to go by, political contamination and other forms of interference that represent greed, have taken center stage and must be rooted out.
Former Republican Vice President Guy Scott is on record complaining about some civil servants standing in the way of government programs. It has come to pass and it appears problems have continued and include others from different walks of life. I have said it, that the Cartel is just hibernating but latently active in a submarine fashion.
How can we explain the fact that the media under very difficult circumstances exposes societal problems, such as graft and nothing is done by the Anti Corruption Commission? When something is done as has been done with the Mukula tree, some citizens take to the media condemning the act as potentially harmful to their businesses!
Then we have had the challenge of farmer inputs, year in year out etc, from the days of Dr. Kaunda including the now controversial implementation of the E-voucher system. Fingers are pointing at Individuals, when it is common knowledge that the government machinery is a system, which system must work to deliver services to ALL CITIZENS. What is the real problem? Is it sabotage, lethargy or lack of capacity by office holders, or if at all, just unfortunate?
Having witnessed many challenging constitutional making efforts for instance; the one thing clear, as articulated by the amended constitution and pronouncements by all political parties, is that Zambia, embraces the rule of law. The Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) was quite loud about the rule of law as it pushed the agenda to defeat the United National Independent Party.
In my view, the MMD electoral victory over UNIP, among many others, symbolizes acceptance of the rule of law. Dr. Kaunda’s acceptance of that result is simply humbling!
As a legal mind, I do not doubt that Zambia is a country of Laws and I have said many times over that, not a single individual is above the Law, notwithstanding the temptations and agitation to ignore it.
For purposes of this discussion, our Constitution is supported by subordinate legislation and in Courts, reference to relevant Case Law as an imperative. Caution: Allow experts to guide the process and not “bare foot lawyers”!
Subordinate legislation being Acts of Parliament, Statutory Instruments and other binding legal pieces that may apply to specific organs of State.
Let nobody cheat you, the law, as a neutral object, cannot be changed at will or as circumstances determine. Why? The laws are administered by a separate wing of government and our Constitution holds that no person is guilty until proven guilty by a competent Court of Law. Separation of power is critical to a functioning democracy!
The fact of accessing the media by opinion makers, cannot and should never be used to misinform and mislead masses. I have said before, statutory interpretation is not as easy as reading a James Bond novel.
So, all views as expressed are only opinions until the Courts pronounce one way or the other in the face of water tight evidence. A key characteristic of law is its neutrality or inability to “see” anybody. Therefore, it depends on the technical terrain of interpretation, which ultimately, is the preserve of Courts.
If all of us were able to interpret the law, there would have been very little use for the Court system, and the fact of adversity of litigation in our system, proves the point. In other words, the accused has lawyers and the defendant has lawyers too, with the Judge or Magistrate playing referee. This is a key attribute of any civilized society!
One way of avoiding physical or verbal confrontation is the establishment of a conflict resolution mechanism and I see that most civilized societies have opted to subject challenges to the Judiciary as well as cultural and traditional dictates. Truth be told, the Western brand of democracy, is alien to Africa, hence the worrisome trends of quiet and violent anarchy.
What this among others requires is an independent Judiciary accompanied by enhanced civic responsibility. Yes, one can litigate or question say, a Tax bill from the revenue authority but to push one’s luck beyond judicial reasoning, and the choice of vanity as an advocacy method, invites more challenges and problems, than the required win-win outcome.
In any case, as a governance matter, any government, in the example of tax above, has a duty to raise revenue to meet public expenditure. From what I know, responsible governments, put in place strong mechanism for arresting Tax evasion as well as avoidance.
When we make reference to our laws, we see that there are provisions from A to Z for dealing with almost every matter incidental to living, including conflict resolution and any such business.
I would be shocked, if the Management of Zambia Revenue Authority was to function without enabling legislation. Equally, I would be shocked, if security wings were operating outside the law. This goes for any public official.
The crux of the matter as it affects Zambian politics (partisan) really deals with the important aspect of law reform. Laws must be reformed from time to time and as mentioned sometime back, no law is cast in stone.
One law that I personally do not agree with is the death penalty. I think it is barbaric, although, our laws still retain it (as of 2017). Quite alright, we have had facilities constructed by the Colonial masters, whose ideology ruthlessly, stamped subjugation.
Please note, the former Colonial powers have moved on and have better facilities, for their country. What about us?
This is the point I always make. No one will come to Zambia, apart from us Zambians, taking personal responsibility and doing something about our country.
Look at this indictment on Zambians: A friend of mine, Mr. Nick Gordon wrote a brilliant piece in Britain about the dilemma of one former Zambian Senior Army officer on a peace mission in Rwanda and/but wrongly charged and sentenced to death. It took a British female retiree who read the Article in the Newspaper and looked for opportunities to assist.
I accepted responsibility for the chapter, assisted and secured his pardon.
I then came very close to concluding that we really do not value ourselves much, because if we did, reason and respect for good laws, would have been paramount.
I insist that we ought to take the first step and engage in law reform, which reforms mirror our society as well as meeting the demands of our time.
You see, because we are playing catch up, there is a risk and danger: It is simply that we may end up following in the footsteps, which lead us to more confusion. Is that what we want? I do not think so!
Just look at how we are succeeding in undermining our institutions? It is mostly if not only in Africa, where candidates refuse to accept electoral results. It is mostly in Africa, where constitution making must be validated by other seemingly superior entities, if any such thing exists. It is in Africa, where you can have the mafia style dogs of war such as Executive Outcomes – an illegal army designed to facilitate regime change.
Of course, things have changed. Executive Outcomes, has mutated to a cunning and more sophisticated industry of doom. It is now operating a slower method of achieving community sanction, by associating with legitimate causes, which are popular and enjoy grass-root support.
If we interrogate what has been happening since Independence, here and around; we shall see the need and importance of strengthening our institutions. With strong institutions, some or most of the destructive maneuvers, would be impossible.
What I think is primary, is the state of our minds. Do we for instance agree that patriotism is good for this country? I have my doubts because if we agreed, some of the rights we seek to enjoy would have been measured. Statements of condemnation would have been responsible and not sandwiched in misinformation and excessiveness.
It is extremely tempting to engage in finger pointing and ignore bare facts.
I would rather we ask fundamental questions, that speak to the challenges of national unity, and the fact that unity in its strict definition, appears to have been eluding Zambians, thereby contradicting the provisions of our National Anthem.
We are trying to follow a path which is incompatible with our appreciation of modernity. For instance, Zambians really cherish respect for elders. But now, there is a new dispensation which looks at elders more as an inconvenience instead of their resource base. We have thrown our cultures out of the window and for many, they see no reason to understand, let alone trace their roots.
You cannot miss what you do not have or know. How can you miss your mother tongue language or indeed culture if you know nothing about it?
The agenda for any meeting must be known. Question: Do we want a government of National Unity or Manufactured Stagnation?
See you next week.
Comments: ngandem12@gmail.com Mobiles/SMS 0955776191 and 0977776191
