Lusaka, Zambia - UPF-Zambia held a discussion meeting on June 1 at the Peace Embassy Conference Room in Lusaka attended by Ambassadors for Peace and staff members. The aim of the meeting was to brainstorm and prepare a submission of Zambian Ambassadors for Peace viewpoints on the proposed Zambia draft constitution.
A draft constitution was released to the general public on April 30 for comments and proposals, to be ratified by parliament (see http://zambianconstitution.org). A total of 16 Ambassadors for Peace, the UPF-Zambia chairman, UPF-Zambia Secretary General, His Grace Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, and three UPF secretariat staff members attended the meeting.
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Three meetings were held, and the first meeting, on June 1, gathered 15 participants. During the meeting people discussed at length the draft constitution and made some propositions; a subcommittee composed of five members was formed for editing the draft from the first meeting.
The second meeting was held on June 4. The five subcommittee members met for editing, and the last meeting of the committee was held on June 7 for finalizing the draft submission.
Many articles of the Constitution were under discussion, and proposed articles such as declaring Zambia a Christian nation, running mate as Vice president, election of the president, citizenship and dual citizenship, freedom of the media, human rights, and customary land were among those which were discussed.
Also during the meeting, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's message on Africa Freedom Day, May 25, was read, and UPF-Zambia Secretary General Rev. Rudolf Faerber gave a PowerPoint presentation on “The Way Forward with Headwing Thought” to stimulate everyone's thinking aboutthe well-being of the nation.
Reported by Djimadoum Fabrice – UPF-Zambia Secretariat
Note: The June 10 deadline for public comment on the draft Constitution has been extended to July 31. For more information click here.