By JAMES KUNDA –

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has advised members of the public particularly opposition political party leaders to familiarise themselves with the contents of the Bill of Rights ahead of the Referendum in August thi year.
The Head of State has emphasised the need for dialogue amongst all stakeholders on matters relating to the Constitution including the Bill of Rights.
Mr Lungu attributed the emerging concerns on the new Constitution by the opposition to lack of dialogue and interest in digesting the Draft Bill, which was tabled before Parliament last year.
The President was speaking at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka yesterday upon arrival from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he attended the 26th Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly.
“We promised them (opposition) that in the elections which are coming in August, we will bring the Bill of Rights but they are not even reading the draft.
“The bottom line is that; that Bill is coming and the Minister of Justice will engage the Electoral Commission of Zambia, which is supposed to be the Referendum Commission to ensure that, that Bill comes and we vote for it or against it,” the President said.
Mr Lungu said the other aspects of the Constitution such as the proportional representation were real matters which should be brought to dialogue before implementation.
President Lungu observed that some opposition political party leaders wanted to pull the country into flames because they wanted political power.
Mr Lungu, however, said aspirants of political leadership could only be elected on merit and the focus now should be but on digesting the Bill of Rights.
“The Bill of Rights is coming as part of the Constitution amendment process and we want to finish this process so that from August 2016, we can concentrate on implementing,” he said.
The Head of State, who touched down at 18:20 hours and was received by Vice-President Inonge Wina and service chiefs among other senior officials, described his outing to Addis Ababa as successful.