By CLAVER MUTINTA
MINISTER of Justice Wynter Kabimba has castigated civil society organisations (CSOs) for suggesting that President Sata should receive the report of the Technical Committee on Drafting the Constitution at Freedom Statue instead of State House.
Mr Kabimba said he received a letter from CSOs indicating that when it is time for the committee to hand over its report to the president, it should do so at Freedom Statue.
The minister was speaking on Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation’s (ZNBC)’s Sunday Interview programme.
“I have a letter from civil society organisations saying that when the technical committee is presenting its report, they must not present it at State House, they must present it to the president at Freedom Statue.
“For God’s sake, let’s respect the presidency, it does matter what you think about President Michael Sata. He is the president of this country,” Mr kabimba said.
He said suggesting that President Sata should go to the Freedom Statue to receive the report is insulting to the president and unacceptable.
“Let’s try to respect that office…I didn’t hear them under the NCC [National Constitutional Conference] dictate that President Mwanawana must get a report from Kamwala,” Mr Kabimba said.
“I have a lot of apprehension as a Zambian when people argue that the only way to have a constitution which is people -driven is when it is done to the exclusion of the state.
I have apprehensions when people start belittling the office of the President under the guise of democracy,” he said.
The minister said CSOs should be encouraging equal participation of all people in the constitution making process.
“That’s what we need as government when we say we want a people- driven constitution…People -driven does not mean civil society organisations in Lusaka, Ndola or Kitwe…it means every citizen in this country,” he said.
And Mr Kabimba said there would be no referendum if the people are satisfied with the final draft constitution.
“Suppose people are happy with the final draft constitution, do we need a referendum? No….This is a straight-forward issue.”
He said government and the committee are not supposed to be having differences because the committee was appointed by the president.
Mr Kabimba also said there is no conflict of interest between the president and the role of the committee, and between the committee and the ministry of Justice.
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