•  lusaka
• Tuesday, March 29, 2011
• Inter Press Service

Zambians head to the polls sometime before October and civil society groups are working hard to ensure their voices are heard. Groups which were excluded during the 2005 elections and the National Constitutional Conference that began in 2007 are mobilising to ensure they are not excluded.

Four years ago, Clotilda Mwale was among those who besieged the Zambian parliament, arguing the National Constitutional Conference would not represent of the interests of all Zambians. Along with church groups and some opposition parties, gender activists were frozen out of the process; with general elections coming up in 2011, they are determined not to let this happen again.

'I was convinced at the time that the MMD would stifle opposition and render meaningful debate in their National Constitutional Conference impossible,' Mwale said. The boycotting groups objected to the make-up of the 500-member NCC, which they felt was slanted towards the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy party.

'I was convinced at the time that the MMD would stifle opposition and render meaningful debate in their National Constitutional Conference impossible,' Mwale said. The boycotting groups objected to the make-up of the 500-member NCC, which they felt was slanted towards the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy party.

The NCC went ahead without the participation of many civil society groups. With general elections due before October, many of those who objected to the NCC are again united to push their agenda forward, this time under the 'Zambia We Want' campaign.

The campaign is spearheaded by Women for Change (WfC), whose executive director, Emily Sikazwe, explains that it is meant to create a charter that will demand more of politicians in alleviating poverty and joblessness when they come into office after the coming national elections.

The campaign wants Zambian political parties to increase the numbers of women on who stand for election in this year’s municipal (local council), parliamentary and presidential elections. WfC has trained and mobilised more than 450 area associations and individual group members to monitor the election process in four provinces while their partners will monitor in other areas of the country.

The campaign was launched in February 2010 but the charter itself has not yet been drawn up. Campaigners are still in the field canvassing support from voters and urging them to make demands on political parties and their candidates both before and after elections.

But with voting for local councillors, members of the national parliament and the presidency scheduled to take place later this year, and primaries already in gear, time is running out. Critics of the campaign say it is a rehearsal of the militant stance taken against the constitutional debates in the NCC framework in 2007.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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