Wynter wants 10 draft copies only

MINISTER of Justice Wynter Kabimba says the technical committee on drafting the Zambian constitution will be going out of its mandate if it prints more than 10 copies of the draft constitution as directed by Government.
Mr Kabimba told journalists in Lusaka yesterday that it is a Government’s directive that the committee should print only 10 copies of the draft document which will be presented to the President.
“The guideline is to print 10 copies that will be handed to the President,” he said.
He was reacting to reports that the technical committee wants to have more than 10 copies printed for distribution to the President and the rest of the country.
Mr Kabimba said as Minister of Justice, he is not aware of any directive to print more than 10 copies which will be presented to the head of State.
He said any protest against signing the draft copies of the constitution will not be against him but the President and the people of Zambia.
“If they do not want to sign the 10 copies, it is their problem. They will explain to the Zambian people. That protest is not against me, it is against the appointing authority,” he said.
Mr Kabimba said President Sata is the appointing authority and head of Government, adding that the technical committee derives its mandate from the President.
He said it is important for the committee to follow Government’s directive and that if it intends to do things outside Government’s approval, it will be held accountable.
“I will not apply any duress or coercion on them. It is a Government’s directive and they were appointed by Government,” Mr Kabimba said.
And committee spokesperson Ernest Mwansa said the technical committee has written to the appointing authority asking if it can print more than 10 copies of the draft constitution.
Mr Mwansa said 10 copies are not enough to be distributed across the country and that this will also result in the committee not having a copy as well.
“We have requested a meeting with the appointing authority to discuss whether we can print more than the suggested 10 copies or not. You see, the 10 copies are not just inadequate for the country but even us, as a committee, will be left with no copy,” Mr Mwansa said.