Constitution needs reviewing

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu says the Republican constitution needs reviewing because some of the laws are causing almost a paralysis in governance.

And special assistant to the President for press and public relations Amos Chanda has disclosed that the President yesterday held separate meetings with Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) director Mary Tshuma, speaker of Parliament Patrick Matibini and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Lilian Siyuni. Mr Chanda was speaking at a media briefing at State House yesterday after the swearing in of Major General Kapotwe Chintu as Zambia Air Force Deputy Air Commander and Bonnie Kapeso as Deputy Police Inspector General. When asked why President Lungu had taken long to appoint a new Auditor General, Mr Chanda said that the Head of State was equally concerned about the vacuum but that he was not responsible for the delay because he had to follow necessary constitutional procedures before making such appointments. Mr Chanda said the President needed to submit the proposed name for the position to Parliament for ratification. He said that the Head of State was concerned about some constitutional provisions which were making it cumbersome to implement certain mandates. He said the President had been consulting widely to find out if some of the provisions could be reviewed. Some unnecessary constitutional provisions were making governance difficult, Mr Chanda said. "The President also wants that office (Auditor General) occupied as soon as possible. But he respects the constitution and has to follow all the constitutional requirements before making such an appointment,” he said. And Mr Chanda said that President Lungu had agreed to officiate at the launch of the FIC 2019 trends report and had already instructed State House staff to include the programme on his dairy. He said that the FIC director, Ms Tshuma, informed the President that access to information on financial crimes by Zambians had increased. He said that Ms Tshuma also informed the President that Zambia had passed the test review by an international body mandated to assess if investigations were not interfered with in different countries. Mr Chanda also told journalists that in the meeting with the DPP, the President was briefed on the proposal to make access to justice quicker. And Mr Chanda said that the President discussed with Dr Matibini on how to improve the operations of Parliament.