Vice President Calls for Amendment to Constitution

4 June 2011

VICE president George Kunda has called for the amendment of the Constitution to allow cabinet continue functioning even after parliament is dissolved.

Mr Kunda said there was need for the change of the law so that cabinet and members of parliament (MPs) could continue working afterâ-¨parliament was dissolved until a time when a new cabinet and MPs were elected. He was contributing to a debate on the motion to adopt the report on legal affairs, governance, human rights and gender matters for the fifth session of the 10th national assembly appointed on 23 September 2010. Mr Kunda told the house that Zambia was the only country where cabinetâ-¨stopped working once parliament was dissolved adding there was need to amend the provisions to be in conformity with the standard practice inâ-¨other countries such as Nigeria, Uganda and the United Kingdom.

He said it was dangerous for the president and the vice president to remain working alone after parliament was dissolved. Mr Kunda who commended the committee for coming up with a good report however wondered why certain nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as Forum for Leadership Search and Committee of Citizens which he said were credible organizations were not called by the committee as witnesses. He advised political parties not to underplay the electoral code of conduct but abide by it during the upcoming elections.

Monze central Member of Parliament Jack Mwimbu (UPND) supported Mr Kunda’s statement but said it was unfortunate that the current law did not support the continuation of cabinet and MPs working after parliament was dissolved. And Chongwe MP Sylvia Masebo(MMD) said some people were creating unnecessary conflict on parallel vote tabulations (PVTs) because they did not understand the concept. Ms Masebo said there was nothing wrong with people calling their agents to get results from various polling stations but what was wrong was for them to announce the results which have not been officially announced by the electoral commission of Zambia because it was the only body mandated to do so.

She supported the recommendation by the committee to increase the polling stations especially in rural areas saying women were discouraged to verify their voters’ cards and participate in voting during elections because of long distances to the polling stations. Ms Masebo further said the perception that civil servants were biased toward the ruling party was not true because not all civil servants supported the ruling party. And Namwala MP Major Robby Chizyuka(UPND) warned Zambians to be careful with the call for change because that change could be for the worse giving an example of Uganda. Luapula MP Peter Machungwa(PF) called on Zambians to work towards ensuring that the peace and unity the country was enjoying since independence was maintained. Dr Machungwa urged his fellow MPs to conduct themselves in a manner that would promote peace and unity as they engaged in campaigns. Meanwhile, the house has adopted two committee reports on sport, youth and child affairs and legal affairs, governance, human rights and gender matters appointed on 23 and 22 September 2010. The house said it was happy with the work done by the committees and their recommendation.

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