Frustrated by government?s insistence to enact the new constitution in 2008, civil society groups and some opposition political parties in Zambia have resorted to demonstrations and honking as a way of pressurising President Levy Mwanawasa to change his constitutional road map. (21-JAN-05)

This article is written by Benedict Tembo, a Lusaka based journalist now also contributing to www.humanrightshouse.org

The first peaceful demonstrations were supposed to take place on 20 December 2004 in the capital city of Lusaka. However, police in full riot gear foiled the plans and arrested leaders of civil society organisations along with 11 main opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) Members of Parliament, who were all subsequently charged with unlawful assembly.

High profile opposition MPs arrested
Those arrested included UPND vice-president Bob Sichinga who is MP for Kafue, a constituency located in a small town  45 kilometres south of Lusaka. Other UPND MPs picked up were Grace Sialumba, Crispin Sibetta, Ompie Nkumbula, Given Lubinda, Jonas Shakafuswa, Vitalis Mooya, Regina Musokotwane, Douglas Siakalima, Raphael Muyanda, Emmerson Mudenda and spokesman for Party for Unity Democracy and Development (PUDD) Reverend Danny Pule. Along with 57 others, the MPs have been appearing in court and have denied the charge of “unlawful assembly likely to cause the breach of peace”. Sichinga assured the police that theirs was a peaceful and that there was no need for the police to use any force.

President?s image dented, and his governance record in doubt
The foiled demonstrations which had journalists as culprits who were brutally assaulted by police, dented the image of the government before the eyes of the international community and questioned Mr. Mwanawasa?s governance record.
The arrest of civil society leaders and opposition MPs and the merciless assault of unarmed journalists came at the hilt when the country awaited to hear whether it had qualified for the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC). This forced the Zambian government to compel police to start allowing civil society groups and opposition parties to demonstrate freely. Since then, there have been a number of demonstrations other than the capital Lusaka but organisers have added honking every Friday and wearing of green ribbons to protest loud their demands.

General agreement that the Constitution must change, but how?
The Zambian government, the opposition parties, and the civil society are at least agreed about one thing; that the constitution should be amended. It is not the first time, though, that the Zambians have been tinkering with their constitution. In 1972, first President Kenneth Kaunda decided to constitute a team which was to amend the constitution to ban multi-party politics. Zambia became a single party state until 1990 when Kaunda re-introduced multi-party politics under people?s pressure. In 1996, second President Frederick Chiluba amended the constitution, this time to stop candidates whose parentage is foreign, and two allow a two-term 10 year tenure of office. Chiluba almost tinkered with the constitution in 2001 when he decided he should go for a third term of office. Zambians this time did not allow him to have it his way. He instead picked Levy Mwanawasa as his party?s presidential candidate.

The Constitution belongs to the people, not the President
Mwanawasa won by a single majority of 29 per cent, meaning he was rejected by 71 per cent of the voters in a first-past-the-post electoral system. Zambians have finally agreed that the system should be discarded, and in a country where the number of parties surpass 30, this is inevitable. Under the new electoral reforms, Zambians want a 51% plus one vote for a presidential candidate to win. Though agreed in principle about that, the overall constitution is a subject for intense amendment. Zambians feel the Public Order Act, which calls for Home Affairs ministers to cancel public meetings at their pleasure is discriminatory and smacks of colonial master mentality. They feel the adoption of constitution amendments should be through a constituent assembly rather than presidential assent. Previous recommendations from people during amendments to the constitution had been thrown out by sitting governments as long as they did not favour them. While President Mwanawasa consents that a constituent assembly is the best way possible, his government claims it does not have enough finances to conduct the exercise, which includes holding a referendum.

Elections in 2006
President Mwanawasa has further infuriated masses by insisting the constitution will only be ready in 2008. Zambians, meanwhile, are aware that the constitution review commission is supposed to be determining when the exercise would be over and not an interested ruling party. Zambians are also wary of the fact that elections are next year, and past experience cannot allow for elections to be held under the current constitution. Government is, however, adamant. Things are yet to boil over, and from previous experience, people power will overrule police might.
But Mr. Mwanawasa, seemingly under pressure from civil society and the opposition, has said Government?s  road map of having the new constitution adopted in 2008 is not final and can be changed if stakeholders offer viable ideas of adopting the new constitution before next year ‘s elections.
 
-Good ideas will be rewarded, with a trip back home to Zambia
“The government?s road map is not cast in concrete and steel and anyone with better ideas can come forward and the government can implement them,” Mr. Mwanawasa said, in Tokyo on Monday when he addressed Zambians living in Japan. Mr. Mwanawasa encouraged Zambians with workable ideas on how the new constitution can be adopted before next year?s elections to come forward because the government would only be too willing to consider their proposals.
“If we get better ideas of adopting the new constitution before the next elections, we will do it,” Mr. Mwanawasa said. Mr. Mwanawasa issued a particular challenge to Zambians in Japan and elsewhere abroad to offer viable options, saying government would even pay for their travel back home if their ideas prove worthwhile. “If you have very good ideas, government can even sponsor your fares,” Mr. Mwanawasa told his audience at the residence of Zambia?s ambassador to Japan, Mr. Godfrey Simasiku.
 
The goal is to get a Constitution acceptable to all
Mr. Mwanawasa who was on a 10-day visit to Japan, said he should not be portrayed as being against amending the constitution because he was only being realistic about how involving the process was. Moreover, Mr. Mwanawasa said his government has from the outset been advocating constitutional change even when the people trying to champion the cause now had kept a low profile. The President said his resolve to have constitutional reform was not under duress but was borne out of his desire to have a durable constitution acceptable to all and one that would ensure there were no disputes each time an election was held. Mr. Mwanawasa said if constitutional amendments were practically possible before next year’s elections, there was no way he could insist on 2008 and allow himself to be insulted “left, right and centre” on a daily basis.

The Oasis Forum
“I cannot allow myself to be insulted left, right and centre if the constitution can be changed before the next elections,” Mr. Mwanawasa said, adding that if the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) recommended adoption by a constituent assembly, legal processes set in motion would include amendment of the current constitution, a referendum and elections for people to sit on the popular body all of which could not be exhausted before the next elections. The quest for a constitution which should fulfill people?s aspirations is being pioneered by a coalition of NGOs operating under an umbrella body called the Oasis Forum. The Oasis Forum, who have been joined by the UPND, is currently involved in a heated debate with government over the on-going process to review the republican constitution.

A united civil society speaks out
Authorities have often come down heavily on the NGOs accusing them of usurping the executive powers of the state. But activists argue that the constitutional making process was not a preserve of the government alone but that it was simply a facilitator. “The constitution is a property of the Zambian people as a whole and not the government as they are telling us,” said Lucy Muyoyeta, a leading activist who heads the Non-Governmental Organisation Coordination Committee (NGOCC), the umbrella body of all Zambian NGOs. The civil society have said government?s proposed road map that the Constitution will be ready in 2008 will only bring chaos in the country. The civil society maintains its position that Zambia need a Constitution, made by the people before the 2006 general elections. It says government needs to listen to people?s wishes of having a new Constitution before the 2006 general elections and says government?s road map does not respond to people?s wishes. Finally, it says government should revisit its attitude on this matter to avoid unnecessary tension in the country.

-We need the new Constitution before the elections, not after
Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) executive director Lee Habasonda said that government must be more accom-modating to all views of stakeholders who should be incorporated in the Constitution making process. He said government should not use the law to scare citizens on their rights in the making of the Constitution. He said for the Constitution making process to be a success, all stakeholders must be given an opportunity to participate. Mr. Habasonda urged government to ensure the Constitution was fully reviewed before the 2006 election using the most popular and most participatory system. The Government?s position was that the constitution could not be ready before the 2006 elections while the civil society were of the view that it was possible to have it before the polls.

CRC?s final draft report ready by end of March
The civil society and government have differed on the timetable for the enactment of the constitution and the mode of adoption. Meanwhile, a preliminary draft report of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) has revealed that 2,163 people have submitted in favour of the Constituent Assembly to adopt the constitution while 1,063 submitted that the constitution be adopted by the National Assembly. As for those who supported the mere amendment of the constitution, 222 submitted that it should be amended by the National Assembly while only 92 people settled for the Referendum. Two petitioners submitted that the Constitution should be amended by Parliament except part three which talks about the Bill of Rights. The CRC final draft report is expected to come out by the end of March, 2005.