CUTS raises flag on Constitution

THE Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) says the article in the proposed Constitutional Amendment Bill on debt and public financial management will be a breach of the principle of separation of powers between the Executive and the Legislature if approved.

CUTS said the amendment would also remove any transparency and public accountability over the contraction of public loans and debt.

This is according to a statement issued by CUTS centre coordinator Chenai Mukumba.

“The proposed provision weakens the system of checks and balances and restricts transparency in the contraction of debt. At present, in addition to providing oversight, the process of submitting agreements to the National Assembly allows public scrutiny through National Assembly’s consultative meetings with stakeholders,” Ms Mukumba.

He said with the current external debt standing at US$10.23 billion, his organisation undertook a nationally representative survey of Zambian adults between July 5 and 28, 2019 to get the general public’s perceptions on loan transparency and debt oversight.

She said section 13 of the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill which sought to delete paragraphs (d) and (e) of Article 63 (2) of the Constitution of Zambia Act No. 2 of 2016 would remove National Assembly’s ability to approve public debt before it is contracted and approved.

Ms Mukumba said a sample size of 2043 people were interviewed in all the 10 provinces, of which 63 percent of the respondents were of the view that the government is not transparent about details of its borrowing.

She said the survey showed majority of Zambians were of the view that Parliament should continue approving all loans the government contracted to promote transparency.

Ms Mukumba said section 26 of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill proposed to amend Article 92 (b) by making the president responsible for negotiating, ratifying, acceding or withdrawing from international agreements.

"This means that National Assembly will have no say or oversight over agreements that would potentially bind the Zambian people to debt,” she said.

Ms Mukumba said there was needed for strong systems to monitor debt contraction and the need for parliamentary oversight as reflected in reports from both the government as well as international organisations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund which recommended for strengthened legal and institutional framework.