Just months after that failed referendum to give Zambians an enhanced Bill of Rights, there is talk that the government should consider going back to the voters for a second time on the same subject.
The question that needs to be asked is not so much whether we should be debating the subject as whether it should rank among the priorities right now.
There is no denying that Zambia has recorded tremendous progress in achieving constitutional reforms to meet the aspirations of this country’s citizens since abandoning the one-party political dispensation back in 1991.
The progress has been laudable but more can be done and President Edgar Lungu has shown he needs little encouragement to fulfil the promises he has made on this front so far. His decision to assent to a new constitution that had been years in the making, costing the country billions of Kwacha in the process, is proof of his commitment to the cause.
That the referendum called last year alongside the general elections failed has little to do with him. He and the PF campaigned more than did the opposition and some NGOs to see it pass in order to give the Zambians an enhanced Bill of Rights. It failed.
There are now some who are calling for another to be held and while there may be lots of compelling reasons to go back to the citizenry on the matter, the quest must be asked as to whether another costly plebiscite figures among the priorities.
The answer has to be in the negative. The huge budget needed to conduct another vote on the Bill of Rights is not something that government can afford now given its many other competing priorities.
As President Lungu observed in his remarks when asked to comment on this subject in Ethiopia two days ago while he attended the 28th ordinary Session of the African Union (AU), too much money has been spent on five elections in the last 10 years; two of them occasioned by the unfortunate death of incumbent presidents.
At a time of reduced foreign exchange earnings due to low copper receipts, the huge expense on imported power to keep the economy running and need to complete a range of capital projects, notably roads, bridges, hospitals and schools, it would be hard to justify another monster outlay on a repeat referendum.
Holding the exercise side by side with the general elections was far cheaper and manageable than would be holding the vote at this time.
As the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) have noted,   Zambians lost an opportunity to give themselves an enhanced Bill of Rights last year.
But that must not be the end of the story, nor has the President said the referendum is completely off the table…just that it is not a matter for immediate attention.
We think that those that feel strongly about this matter need to take the time now to educate the masses about the need for an enhanced Bill of Rights, so that when the time does come again to vote on this most important subject, the public will be better informed.
It was one of the major arguments from the camp that campaigned against the question posed in the referendum that not enough time was allowed for the ECZ, educators and other stakeholders to help members of the public understand what it was they were being asked to vote on.
Now they have the time.