Zambia's protracted Constitution-making process: Is there an end in sight?

Date: 2013-07-25

Time: 10:00 to 12:00

Venue: CPRA Situation Room , ISS Pretoria

RSVP: Marinkie Maluleke
Phone: +27 12 346 9500
Email: [email protected]

In 2011, Zambia’s new government led by the Patriotic Front (PF) resuscitated yet another attempt to produce a new Republican Constitution. The Technical Committee appointed to draft the new Constitution has missed several deadlines for completing the task. Most recently, the Committee requested a month’s extension of its deadline to 31 July 2013 but this has been moved to an undefined date before December 2013. It is doubtful that the process will be concluded by the end of the year.

While the current phase of the constitution making marks a historic moment in the country's political development, its management has cast doubts on whether the process is in the national interest. It is also unclear whether the final draft will fundamentally transform Zambia’s over-centralized state system and promote constitutional rule, the separation of powers and accountability.

With the credibility of the process and the substance of the document at stake, this seminar considers the evolution as well as the procedural and substantive aspects of Zambia’s constitution making process. Future implications for the country’s democracy and stability will also be discussed.

Chair: Dr David Zounmenou, Senior Researcher, Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis Division, ISS Pretoria  

Speakers:

• Dimpho Motsamai, Researcher, Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis Division, ISS Pretoria
• McDonald Chipenzi, Director, Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP), Lusaka, Zambia

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