ZAMBIA: Caritas Zambia Support Bishops on Inclusive Consultation on Constitutional Matters
Eugene Kabilika,Caritas Zambia Executive Director
Mwenya Mukuka
Caritas Zambia has supported the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) in their call for withdrawal of the controversial Bill No. 10 of 2019 which seeks to amend Zambia’s 2016 Constitution.
This is according to a statement signed by Caritas Zambia Executive Director Eugene Kabilika on behalf of all Caritas Zambia Diocesan Directors.
“We agree with the Bishops on the need for inclusive consultations on matters concerning the amendment of Zambia’s 2016 Constitution. When bishops analyze political events, they do so in the light of the Word of God and the Social Teaching of the Church. Bill No. 10 falls short of promoting some of the key principles of the Social Teaching of the Church,” reads the statement.
“While constitution making process is a common good for Zambians, the government refused to amend the National Dialogue Forum Bill (NDF), which would have set the tone for national unity and healing. Even the Parliamentary Committee on legal affairs, human rights, national guidance, gender and governance recommended that the NDF bill be withdrawn. Nevertheless, the recommendation was rejected and the NDF Bill was passed into law,” the statement adds.
According to the statement, Caritas Zambia Directors are also aware that according to parliamentary Standing Orders, Bill 10 lapsed on 4th June 2020.
Caritas Zambia has since repeated the call made by ZCCB on 9th June 2020 that Bill 10, should be withdrawn.
“We call upon government to listen to the voice of reason. Amendments to the Constitution of Zambia should be based on widest consultation and consensus building. The NDF consultative process was not adequate, resulting in lack of consensus among key players. That is now very apparent with Bill 10,” the statement read.
