. CHITI

By STEVEN ZANDE – THE Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) has urged the Church to take an active part in sensitising people on the contents of the Bill of Rights for the referendum which will be held on August 11 to be a success. JCTR executive director Leonard Chiti said the referendum risked failing if it did not meet the required 50 per cent participation of all eligible voters. Father Chiti said in an interview yesterday that despite the short time remaining before August 11, the Church could help change the outcome of the referendum by educating their Church members on the matter. “It’s not late. The Church should use its religious activities and other platforms to ensure that more people have adequate information about the importance of voting in the referendum,” Fr Chiti said. He said that there was need to educate people on the benefits of having a new Bill of Rights for them to turn out in numbers to vote with confidence during the referendum. Fr Chiti said the Bill of Rights was crucial for the people to enhance their basic human rights because it contained progressive provisions which would improve their lives. He said it was important for the Church to exploit its access to large crowds so that more people were informed about the Bill of Rights and the need for them to participate in the referendum. Fr Chiti said JCTR had partnered with the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) in Solwezi where they would hold discussion forums with a view to creating awareness on the Bill of Rights. He said JCTR would participate in programmes which could help create informed decisions among the people on the document which affected their day-to-day life. Fr Chiti said many people, including some highly-educated individuals, were not aware of the provisions in the Bill of Rights, hence the need for concerted efforts to create public awareness about it.