Give us talks agenda-FODEP

TERMS of reference for the dialogue process should be made known to the public before talks take off, says Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) executive director Chimfwembe Mweenge.

In an interviews, Mr. Mweenge said it was important for the terms of reference to be made clear to the Zambian people, the main stakeholders, before participants convened for the anticipated talks.

He observed that the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) had shown commitment and positive gesture towards the dialogue process and prodded the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) to reciprocate.

“As FODEP we feel that it is extremely important that the terms of reference are very clear and made known to the Zambian people who are actually the biggest stakeholders even before participants come to the table,” he said.

Mr. Mweenge said giving the Zambia Centre for Inter-Party Dialogue (ZCID) to lead the dialogue process would give confidence to the outside world that Zambia, as a sovereign nation, was able to resolve its own internal affairs.

He encouraged the PF and the UPND to compromise and reach a win-win situation on individuals and entities that must lead the dialogue process.

The UPND has vowed to boycott the talks if they are led by the ZCID and demanded that three church mother bodies- the Zambia Council of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB), the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ), and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) lead the talks.