By CHUSA SICHONE –

ON August 11, this year, Zambia will be holding general elections under the amended Constitution.
Besides voting for candidates at presidential, parliamentary, mayoral and councillor levels, eligible citizens will be participating in the Referendum.
According to Statutory Instrument Number 35 of 2016 signed by President Edgar Lungu, the Referendum question is: “Do you agree to the amendment to the Constitution to enhance the Bill of Rights contained in part three of the Constitution of Zambia and to repeal and replace Article 79 of the Constitution of Zambia?”
A Referendum is simply a vote on a particular policy and the voters show whether or not they agree with it while the Bill of Rights is a declaration of fundamental rights and freedoms of the people that require protection from infringement from public officials and private citizens.
The current Amended Constitution which President Lungu assented in January, this year, is incomplete without the inclusion of the Bill of Rights and Alteration Clause, hence the need for the Referendum to complete the process.
According to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), Zambians with green National Registration Cards and have attained the age of 18 are eligible to participate in the referendum and it will only succeed if at least 50 per cent vote in favour of the question.
The current Bill of Rights has civil and political rights while the proposed Bill of Rights, additional Articles have been included while others have been modified.
Economic, social, cultural, environmental special and further rights are what will be encompassed in the new Bill of Rights.
The Draft Bill of Rights include recognition of the role of the civil society, protection from discrimination, right to life, protection from inhuman treatment and security of person, freedom of expression, access to information, freedom of the media and general political rights.
Others are access to justice, rights of suspects, rights of persons in custody, rights of accused persons and detainees, fair trial and re-examination of evidence, gender equality, rights for older members in society, youths, child and persons with disabilities, among several others.
As for Article 79, the proposal is to replace it with Part 19A (Articles 301 to 303) in the amended Constitution.
President Lungu has reiterated at various fora that Patriotic Front (PF) supporters and other well-meaning members of society have to vote YES to the referendum question so as to bring the current Constitution-making process to a close.
Similarly, Law Association of Zambia president Linda Kasonde recently urged the public to turn up en masse and vote YES to the referendum question.
In the referendum question, the YES symbol is an eye while the NO symbol is an ear.
August 11, 2016 is drawing closer and investigations by this author have revealed that only about three in 10 people know what referendum and Bill of Rights entail; about five in 10 know the meaning of either while the rest are totally blank on both especially those in rural areas.
It is in view of the low knowledge levels on the referendum and Bill of Rights that organisations such as the ECZ have been making frantic efforts to sensitise the public through various modes such as radio and television advertisements, Short Message Service and on its website.
One of the ECZ text messages reads: “On 11/08/2016, Zambians will vote in a referendum. In a referendum, citizens participate in governance by voting accept or reject a proposed law.” This message is also translated in local languages.
However, much as the ECZ’s efforts are welcome, there is need for other organisations to supplement the Commission’s efforts in sensitising the public through vigorous awareness campaign programmes on the referendum and the Bill of Rights ahead of the general elections.
Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) governance advisor Isaac Mwanza appealed to the ECZ to urgently call for a stakeholders meeting involving political parties, civil society and the media to discuss sensitisation of citizens on the Bill of Rights and the proposed Articles to replace Article 79.
“YALI views that the Commission would do well to engage civil society, the media and political parties and address their concerns which is preventing them from engaging in the campaign to senstise citizens on the Referendum.
“There are many questions about the referendum which the Commission needs to clearly and competently explain to stakeholders such as what happens to the outcome of the referendum, how the Commission may know numbers of eligible voters in each province and what the YES or No vote will mean once the required 50 per cent threshold of eligible voters is met,” he said.
According to YALI, the ECZ must also plan to come up with a representative Committee of Stakeholders comprising civil society leaders, youths, the church, LAZ, the media and other bodies to lead campaigns on the referendum and ensure that divergent views were heard.
Mr Mwanza urged the Commission and stakeholders to learn from outcome of the British referendum and the ensuing debate on whether the referendum was binding or advisory in nature.
Political analyst Alex Ng’oma said sensitisation on the referendum should not be left to the ECZ alone and thus challenged political parties to sensitise the masses as they campaigned for the forthcoming general elections.
“It is important for the authority that is concerned, which is actually the ECZ, to step up these campaigns. It is extremely important for the rest of the nation not to leave this exercise to the ECZ alone.
“I would like to appeal very strongly to the various political parties participating in this election to join hands with the ECZ so that every time they go out on their campaigns they do not talk only about being voted for, they should also educate the masses on the issues concerning the referendum and how to vote,” he said.
Dr Ng’oma extended his appeal to the Church and civil society organisations to come on aboard and supplement the ECZ’s efforts.
It is gratifying to note that the Midlands Mutomboko Organising Committee has taken upon itself to assist the ECZ in sensitizing those who will attend the prestigious ceremony on July 30, 2016 in Mwansabombwe.
Midlands Mutomboko Organising Committee chairperson Misheck Kaoma announced during a fundraising dinner recently that the committee was committed to aid the ECZ with sensitization activities.
“My committee is willing to support the Electoral Commission of Zambia during the ceremony activities for their continuous sensitisation of our people on the electoral rules and especially as regards the Referendum vote,” he said.
Time is running out and thus there is need for a robust sensitization programme on the referendum and Bill of Rights especially in remote parts of the country in languages they would easily understand.