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ONLY 10 copies of the final draft constitution to be printed

09/11/2013

The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) has questioned the motive behind the Ministry of Justice’s letter to Technical Committee to direct them to print only 10 copies of the final draft constitution.

In a statement released to Qfm on Thursday today, the Technical Committee has to this effect resolved to not to sign its report on the draft constitution until government clarify how the final draft constitution, the draft Constitution of Zambia Bill 2013, and the Final Report of the Technical Committee will be distributed.

And YALI and other seven members of consortium of civil society organizations with keen interest in the country’s constitutional making process has wondered what the Ministry of Justice is trying to hide by allegedly refusing the public to have access to the final Draft Constitution and the report.

Speaking this morning at media breakfast held in Lusaka, YALI president Andrew Nthewewe further observed such maneuvers by government are disappointing and must be totally condemned.

Mr. Nthewewe says by directing the Technical Committee to print only 10 copies of the final draft constitution, the Ministry of Justice is actually trying to make the public negotiate for what is their right.

He says such maneuvers by the Ministry of Justice are unacceptable and hypocritical.
And Mr. Nthewewe has called on President Michael Sata to, without much delay give the date to the on which the final draft constitution will be handed over to the government now that the Technical Committee has declared readiness to engage with State House to secure date for the handover of the final draft constitution.

Mr. Nthewewe says his consortium also wants the Technical Committee to stick by their earlier promise to simultaneously release the draft constitution to the Head of State and the public.

Mr. Nthewewe says his consortium further demands to know what preparations the Committee has made to secure the venue where the final document will be released to the public.

The YALI President has since restated the civil society’s readiness to begin campaigns for the adoption of the final draft Constitution provided that the Technical Committee has included the 10 basic minimums required in final draft Constitution.