Zambian Politicians Panic As Grade 12 Requirement Is Enforced

By Paul Shalala

A photoshoped photo of Mr Mwamba in a graduation gown

It came as surprise to the nation but it wasn’t so to the 158 Members of Parliament (MP) who sit in the Zambian legislature.

Towards the end of 2015, MPs debated and voted for the Constitution of Zambia Amendment Bill which ushered in a number of new electoral rules that took effect on 5^th January, 2016.

One of those regulations is the requirement for all people aspiring to contest as President, Members of Parliament or Councillors to have a Grade 12 certificate.

This certificate is obtained after a pupil sits for examinamtions after studying the senior secondary school curriculum.

For example, Article 70 (4) states that a person is eligible to be elected as an MP if they have obtained a minimum qualification of a Grade 12 certificate or the equivalent.

This new regulation has sent many politicians into panic as they are generally seen not to be well educated.

Recent media reports even indicated that some parliamentarians had even approached the presidency to try and intervene but in the end President Edgar Lungu assented to the bill to make it into law.

Fr. Bwalya's Facebook status

Kasama Central MP Geoffrey Mwamba (above), a former Minister of Defence and now an opposition strongman, is widely believed not to possess the Grade 12 certificate and young people on social media have been mocking him as a result.

Despite technically still being a ruling Patriotic Front (PF) lawmaker, Mr Mwamba, who is popularly known as GBM and is one of the richest businessmen in the country, picked up a position in the opposition UPND as party Vice President, a move which has made him an enemy within his party.

PF Chairman for Information Frank Bwalya was one of the first people to mock Mr Mwamba saying the lawmaker actually dropped out before reaching Grade 7.

The Catholic Priest, who practiced journalism before joining fulltime politics a few years ago, took to social media to allege that the Kasama Central lawmaker was actually a Grade 6 drop out.

“…..GBM is infact a Grade six term three drop out at Chifwani Primary School in Kasama,” wrote Fr Bwalya on his Facebook page (see above left).

Potpher Tembo's Facebook status

Fr Bwalya is not the only one who has taken to social media to talk about the alleged little education Mr Mwamba allegedly has.

Several youths on Facebook have been posting a photoshopped photo of Mr Mwamba in a graduation gown with an inscription that he is eligible to run for Parliament later this year when general elections are held on 11^th August.

But on 6^th January, Mr Mwamba held a press briefing in Lusaka where he mocked the ruling party and confirmed he had a Grade 12 certificate and was ready to re-contest his seat during the general elections.

“I cant wait for the filing of nominations so that I can prove that am qualified beyond the needed Grade 12 certificate. This issue was raised in 2011 but those who thought [former President Michael] Sata had no degree were shocked to learn he had the qualifications,” said Mr Mwamba as his supporters cheered in agreement.

But according to records at the National Assembly of Zambia (Parliament), the Kasama Central lawmaker entered his details for secondary school.

A screenshot of Parliament website

The website (left) confirms that he is a Form V, the older version of Grade 12 which was used in the old school curriculum.

And some ’brave’ politicians also took to social media to confirm that they had the certificates and were ready to contest the forthcoming polls.

The Deputy Mayor of Zambia’s Capital city Lusaka was one of the first people to unveil his education qualifications.

Potpher Tembo, who is a Councillor for Chawama Ward Three, announced to his supporters that he was well above the requirement.

Keli Walubita on his qualifications

“I have a full Grade 12 certificate 1994 intake Nyimba Secondary School 12Y. Am also a holder of qualifications in Journalism, Banking, Counselling, Diplomacy, Leadership and an honourary doctorate in Political Science,” stated Mr Tembo (see above right).

Zambia Redemption Front President Keli Walubita Jr also took disclosed his credentials.

“Am not only a holder of a full Grade 12 certificate attained from Hillcrest National Technical Secondary School but a Chartered Member of the London Institute of Procurement and Supply plus being a trained Security Officer,” wrote Mr Walubita Jr, a son of a former Foreign Affairs Minister who shares the same names (see screenshot on the left).

For common Zambians, this education requirement for aspiring candidates has become a good talking point.

Many are posting jokes about it and making it look like it’s a comedy show.

A Zambian mocking politicians

In the previous law, those aspiring as Councillors and Members of parliament only needed to be literate: able to read and write, for them to contest elections.

Former MMD National Secretary Richard Kachingwe has condemned the law saying uneducated leaders have achieved a lot in other countries better than those perceived to be well educated.

“This is a constitution that has basically barred all our able community leaders such as humble marketeers, bus drivers and basically the majority voters….. We all know that leadership is not necessarily measured by one’s educational qualifications or a number of degrees,” stated Major Kachingwe in a press release.

“A number of our great leaders in the world and even in this country at local and even parliamentary levels have done far greater things and achieved more success than our so-called educated people.”

A number of sitting MPs and dozens of aspiring parliamentary and local government candidates have been knocked out of this year's general elections due to lack of a Grade 12 certificate.

According to observers, the coming of the Grade 12 clause is expected to boost the number of politicians enrolling for evening classes to prepare for the 2021 general elections. 

But this is not the first time the issue of education qualifications has become a topic of debate just before a general election in Zambia.

Another screenshot about politicians

Prior to the 2011 general elections, a similar situation unfolded where the MMD government, through the National Constitution Conference (NCC), pushed a recommendation for a presidential candidate to have a first degree for them to qualify for the highest office in the land.

The NCC was a body made up of MPs, civil society and other interest groups which was reviewing the Zambian constitution to try and adopt a new one.

To some observers, this proposal was aimed at barring then opposition leader Michael Sata who was rumoured not to have a degree.

In the thick of things, Mr Sata disclosed that he had over the years acquired two degrees under distance education.

This prompted the degree clause to fall off during the NCC deliberations.

 Mr Sata later beat the MMD during the elections on 20^th September, 2011 and led Zambia for three years until his death in October 2014.

ANALYSIS OF THE COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS AND NEW CONSTITUTION

 BY PAUL SHALALA

The recent unveiling of the 20-man Committee of Experts which will draft the new national constitution brings the issue of constitution making back into people’s minds. In this article, I will dwell on the caliber of committee members, terms of references and the possibility of a people driven constitution after this process comes to an end.

I will however not discuss the composition of the committee, as I perceive that to be a petty issue. There are more important issues I can spend time on, not who was selected, why, how!

CALIBRE OF COMMITTEE

The caliber of committee members cannot be questioned as we have seen a wide range of professions and specializations brought together. For example, a number of constitutional lawyers have been included in the committee, which is a good ingredient for the final document.

Zambians still remember that Willa Mung’omba chaired the famous Mung’omba Constitution Review Commission, which in my view, came up with the best constitutional reforms of all times.

Mwangala Zaloumis is another lawyer with a track record of the constitutional making process. She headed the Electoral Reform Technical Committee appointed by late President Levy Mwanawasa in 2003. And her team came up with a very good document, which unfortunately was left to gather dust on our shelves. Recently, she served as spokesperson for the now defunct National Constitutional Conference until August 2010.

The church, which boycotted the NCC deliberations has now been included in the process and we know that with their input, critical issues like the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation will be defended especially that during the run up to the 20 September polls, some sectors of society hinted on its removal from the highest law of the land.

Further, we have also seen the inclusion of civil society activists in the likes of Reuben Lifuka and Simon Kabanda. It must be noted that these men are lovers of good governance and they have in a way been firm on the need for the constitution to be driven by the Zambian people and not by politicians. I remember covering Mr Kabanda at parliament earlier this year when he went to picket members of parliament to include some contentious issues in the aborted NCC Draft Constitution.

The civil society has always been active in the Zambian constitution making process. Back in 2006 and 2007, President Levy Mwanawasa released his 5-year constitution road map but the civil society countered that by proposing a shorter road map, which would have saved resources and time. With their inclusion in the committee of experts, we hope they will also represent the will and wishes of the people of Zambia.

One important thing I’m happy about is the exclusion of politicians in this committee. Politicians have in the past been known to promote their interests at the expense of the nation. In the NCC, the then ruling MMD ensured that its members were more than any other sector hence rendering the NCC draft constitution a political document. Thank God, President Michael Sata saw it fit to leave this process to technocrats.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

President Sata has made a good move by asking the committee of experts to review all available pieces of past constitution reforms as they are critical in contributing to a ‘people’ driven document. This move is a ‘people’s’ move in that it will ensure that all those clauses that Zambians have been submitting in the past constitution review commissions will be reviewed and considered for possible adoption.

 In case you may have forgotten, Zambians have been submitting clauses such as:

(a)    50 per cent plus one presidential winning threshold,

(b)   An elected Vice-President,

(c)    Triming the powers of the President,

(d)   Parliament to approve foreign loan contraction by the State, and so on.

It is this approach that will help Zambians to finally have that which they have been crying for over the past four decades.

The other term of reference given to the committee is to go round the provinces and allow citizens to submit and adopt their preferred clauses in conventions. I feel this is ideal in that people will feel part of the process. However, I must warn that those in authority should not politicize this process.

Secondly, the committee should also take on board recommendations of the Electoral Reform Technical Committee which came up with very good reforms for our electoral laws. President Mwanawasa set up this team to spearhead reforms following the 2001 disputed general elections. This again was a broad-based body with representation as diverse as the current committee of experts.

PROCESS OF ADOPTION

In the past weeks, we have heard Ministers and senior government officials announcing that the draft constitution will have to be taken to a referendum and later taken to parliament for enactment. Indeed that’s the best way to ensure its legitimacy because the people will have submitted their clauses in the provinces. And when the draft comes to them through a referendum, they will have the opportunity to endorse their preferred clauses, which will be like double-checking of the draft constitution.

The PF government should stick to this roadmap, as it is the surest way to ensure that Zambians are kept on board as the national document is being produced.

CONCLUSION.

The former ruling party MMD failed to produce ‘a people driven constitution’ because they had given politicians more powers to decide the final outcome of the constitution making process through the NNC.

Secondly, the MMD lost the people’s trust because the process in which the final constitution was to be adopted was not liked by civil society, the church and some opposition political parties.

With this in mind, the ruling Patriotic Front has an opportunity to avoid those mistakes the MMD made in order for them to surely produce the constitution people want.

So far, we have seen political will from government through major pronouncements but the final document will be determined by the way the new constitution making process is managed by the committee of experts and the government at large.  The new development, in a way will also show that it is possible to avoid tedious processes like NCC ands save tax payer’s money.