6 July 2017
On Wednesday 05 July, 2017, President Edgar Lungu invoked Article 31 of the Republican Constitution which declares that a situation exists which, if it is allowed to continue, may lead to a state of public emergency. The President invoked this article as a response to a spate of fires in public installations which he listed. The President’s own words were that the fires are not mere acts of spontaneous criminality but premeditated acts which, if left unchecked, could have serious socio-economic consequences capable of drawing the country backwards.
We at the ACA are with this statement expressing our deep concern at this invocation of Article 31. We will leave the legal debate of whether this action amounts to a declaration of a state of emergency to legal experts and constrict ourselves to the implications of such a declaration on Zambia’s young democracy.
Our core business as the Alliance for Community Action is to advocate for the prudent management of public resources in such a manner that translates to all citizens enjoying the full and equitable benefit of the resources the country possesses. In our understanding, of public resources, the ACA adopts a broad view that goes beyond finances.
In our current circumstances, the ACA considers our democracy a public resource without which citizens’ ability to fully live their lives will be compromised.
It is the ACA’s considered view that in starting the process that could end in a full declaration of a state of emergency on what we consider to be very unsubstantiated grounds, the President is threatening our democracy.
The President in listing a number of incidents which he says necessitated his action did not share with the nation how the activities had been dealt with conclusively by the security wings. The President critically failed to explain to the nation what findings led him to the conclusion that the fires are cases of sabotage. The ACA would like to state that it is the duty of the President to ensure that he is fully accountable to the people of Zambia. Before he invoked article 31, he should have provided the nation with a full account of steps that the law enforcement agencies had taken to address the spate of fires and how the powers they currently hold without invocation of Article 31, or a full state of emergency as provided for in Article 30 of the Constitution, had proved inadequate. At ACA, we ask what extra powers the police require to prevent the acts of criminality the President listed.
It is our view at the ACA that Zambia, despite the majority of its citizens living highly poverty stricken lives with very poor service delivery has had a largely peaceful reputation primarily because people have been free to fend for themselves
At this time, what the nation needs to ask itself is: how did we get to a point in which the President declares the nation essentially ungovernable and seeks to encroach on citizens’ ability to enjoy full rights as he declared at the Kenneth Kaunda International airport on arrival from the AU summit.
In this regard, the ACA asks the President to explain and justify in depth the invocation of Article 31 by answering the following questions:
- How have the incidents listed by the president as justification for invocation of Article 31 been investigated
- Who was guarding or working at the installations at the time of the incidents and have they given statements to law enforcement agencies?
- Has the Fire Department carried out investigations that proved each of the fires to indeed be acts of arson and can the findings be shared with the public?
- Most importantly for the ACA, how have the powers that that law enforcement agencies currently hold proved insufficient to address the spate of arson if arson has been determined?
Until government has answered those questions we demand that the President revoke his invocation of Article 31.
It is the ACA’s considered view that with the conditions for its invocation not fully explained to the nation, the current invocation is an abuse of power by the President that will lead to higher levels of tension in the country. We note too that the President himself declared tension to be entirely absent in the nation less than two weeks ago.
We also wish to call on the voices of reason within the rank and file of the Patriotic Front (PF) to create a platform for dialogue and peaceful resolution to the many challenges that have beset our nation. We call out the PF because as the party in power and superintending over state instruments and institutions, they have the privilege of being the leaders in restoration of Zambia’s valued stability and peaceful coexistence.
We in particular call upon all peace loving Zambians to peacefully and lawfully resist any attempts by government to take backward strides in our democracy. It is in times like this that citizens must protect their rights against state encroachment. In saying this, we also earnestly call on citizens to resist any temptation to break the law. Silence at this point is however not an option for anyone that loves Zambia. Those we elect serve at our pleasure. They must be held to account for their exercise of the authority we bestow on them to run the country. ACA therefore calls on wider civil society, the media, students and ordinary citizens to ask government to account for the use of state power and to resist any moves against citizens’ rights.
Issued by Laura Miti
Executive Director
ACA