By CHARITY MOONGA –
THE Grand coalition on the campaign for a people-driven Constitution has rejected Government’s decision to enact the Constitution in a piece-meal manner through Parliament.
Speaking on behalf of the coalition at a press briefing in Lusaka yesterday, Grand coalition chairperson Father Leonard Chiti accused the Government of undermining the wisdom and will of the Zambian people.
Father Chiti, who was flanked by Non Governmental Organisation Coordinating Council NGOCC- chairperson Sara Longwe, the clergy and other civil society members called on Zambians to rise up and reject the piece-meal amendments to the Constitution.
“It is amazing how Government has thrown away its own crafted roadmap. The Grand Coalition is not aware which stakeholders were consulted when it came up with contentious and non-contentious clauses to take to Parliament,” he said.
The grand coalition stance follows recent pronouncements by Justice Minister Ngosa Simbyakula that that Government would enact the Constitution through Parliament in a piecemeal manner and subjecting the Bill of Rights and contentious clauses to a referendum to be held simultaneously with the 2016 general elections.
The coalition has since urged Government to explain what the contentious and non-contentious clauses were in the Constitution.
According to the coalition, the only contentious clauses in the draft Constitution were the Barotseland agreement and the death penalty.
“In this regard we want to believe that the Government will take the contentious Barotseland of 1964 and the death penalty to the referendum since these two are the only contentious clauses in the Constitution. Anything short of this is manipulation of both the content and the process,” he said.
He accused Government of sabotaging the Constitution process and ignored the rights and aspirations of the Zambian people.