SINKAMBA TICKS-OFF CONSTITUTION REVIEW COMMISSIONS
...says we have had enough, let the ConCourt help us on a case-to-case basis
THERE is no need to have another constitutional review commission as this has already cost the country a fortune and as such let us allow for the refinement of the Constitution on a caseto-case basis in the courts of law, Green Party president, Peter Sinkamba has said.
In an interview, Mr. Sinkamba said the country had invested enough in constitutional review commissions that have not settled the dust on unending lacunas.
He said there will never be a perfect document that would result from any commission and as such the route must be avoided at all costs.
Mr. Sinkamba was commenting on sentiments aired by Constitutional lawyer, John Sangwa who spoke against the idea of having another constitutional review commission.
He said the idea of allowing the court processes to help refine the Constitution must be the way to go.
Mr. Sinkamba cited the recent ruling of the ConCourt on the matter involving Kwacha and Kabushi constituency former members of parliament, Joel Malanji and Bowman Lusaka respectively.
He said the court’s ruling that nullification was not equal to disqualification was an example the country can slowly move towards having a valid refined constitution.
Mr. Sinkamba said the nation must learn from other countries like South Africa, Namibia and Kenya which have taken that route.
He wondered why the country must keep spending colossal amounts of money on documents that do not even see the light of day.
He said that most of the documents have continued to gather dust because past Presidents just cherry-picked what suited their interests thereby making the whole process uneconomical and a mockery to Zambians.
Mr. Sinkamba, who has sat on two constitutional review commissions in the past, insisted that there was no need to assemble any commission or committee as this would be costly and irrelevant.
He said the country had enough data and the current constitution would just be refined as matters go to the ConCourt for interpretation.