Respected media practitioner Professor Fackson Banda summed up the yearnings of Zambians in the Diaspora among them the call for the possibility of voting.
Professor Banda gave a vote of thanks in France during a luncheon held in honour of President Edgar Lungu in Paris.
Below is his full posting:
The week-end was one roller-coaster ride here in Paris! I was privileged to have been co-opted into the official Zambian delegation to represent the Zambian community resident in France in welcoming His Excellency, Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu, at Charles de Gaulle airport. He was on a State Visit to the country. I never thought I would admit this, but being a part of the Presidential Motorcade, under heavy French police escort, is something I will be glad to narrate to my grandchildren! Ah, the thrill!
More importantly, on Sunday, the president and his entourage (which included honourable ministers Harry Kalaba (foreign affairs) Dora Siliya (energy and water development) and Margaret M. Mwanakatwe (commerce, trade and industry), spared some time to have lunch with the Zambian Diaspora in France, including Switzerland. It was such a pleasure to deliver a vote of thanks on behalf of my compatriots.
Below is a reproduction of my remarks, along with two pictures of Fackson jnr and I greeting the president and the First Lady.
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VOTE OF THANKS ON THE OCCASION OF THE LUNCHEON IN HONOUR OF HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT EDGAR CHAGWA LUNGU
SUNDAY 7TH FEBRUARY, 2016 (11H30 TO 14H30)
Your Excellency, President Edgar Chagwa Lungu
Your Excellency, Ambassador Humphrey Chibanda
Honourable ministers present
Fellow Zambians resident in France
Friends of Zambia
Ladies and gentlemen,
In giving my vote of thanks this afternoon, I wish to highlight two broad points: Firstly, a word of gratitude to the President for the leadership he has demonstrated on some issues of national significance. Secondly, a word to request the President’s continued intervention on other issues.
To take the first point: I want you to join me in acknowledging the President’s sterling leadership in terms of the following two issues, among many others:
Firstly, the enactment of progressive constitutional provisions, despite extreme political opposition. The adoption, in particular, of the clause on dual citizenship is laudable. Your Excellency, the issue of dual citizenship is not just about identity politics; it is a strategic response to the unavoidable forces of globalization. For those of us whose children may now have dual citizenship, we can rest assured that they will grow in the love of their motherland while at the same time taking full advantage of all the business and associated benefits that citizenship of a developed country can offer. In other words, acknowledging dual citizenship does not only make political sense; it also makes business sense. Similarly, your leadership in accepting the people’s wish to have the Republican President elected on the basis of a solid 50+1 vote will go some way towards promoting greater ethnic unity in the nation, with future presidents enjoying majoritarian support.
This is healthy for our multiparty democracy, and you showed immense courageous leadership in acceding to the people’s will, knowing that this would entail much more rigorous campaigning on your part for the August presidential elections. We trust that your leadership will continue in ensuring that Zambians finally have a constitution that truly stands the test of time – you have clearly put us on the right track.
Secondly, the process of the development of the Diaspora Policy, particularly taking into account the extensive consultations leading up to it (including the National Consultative Forum for Diaspora Policy Formulation held in Lusaka last year), is unequivocally a laudable effort on your part. We urge your Excellency to continue championing the implementation of this policy by, among other things, ensuring its effective communication to the Zambian Diaspora so that it can provide an enduring framework for engagement. More importantly, it requires genuine inter-ministerial cooperation and budgetary support. We would like to count on you not to relent in your endeavors to ensure that the policy becomes worth the paper it is printed on.
And now, to turn to my second point, there are some issues that continue to be of concern to many of us in the Diaspora and, I dare say, to many other Zambians at home. For this purpose, two such issues will suffice.
First, the investment climate is still rigged against the Zambian Diaspora, particularly in the allocation of land, which is an asset that many of us are keenly interested in. We require greater transparency and accountability. More importantly, in helping the Zambian Diaspora to acquire land for investment possibilities, there is need for greater predictability in the administrative process, especially when it comes to obtaining title to the land.
Perhaps, a personal testimony could help illustrate the point I am making about the need for transparency, accountability and administrative predictability. My wife and I purchased farmland in the Tazara Corridor, via the Mpika District Council, in 2010. In 2014, the transaction was invalidated for very opaque reasons. Even though we were later invited to reapply, we chose not to go ahead, precisely because of the lack of transparency and accountability that was evident. We would very much covet your Excellency’s intervention to ensure that the Zambian Diaspora are not unduly disadvantaged, that their rights are protected – and all this to the ultimate benefit of the country. This will require a steady implementation of the Diaspora Policy, and we would beseech your Excellency to take an even more proactive stance on the matter of policy implementation and evaluation.
Second, we would implore your Excellency’s intervention with regard to the right to vote of the Zambian Diaspora. Needless to say, a Diaspora vote will result in a more empowered Diaspora voice. We are alive to the logistical problems that this would entail, but it is such an important feature of democracy that such problems pale into insignificance. There is evidence to indicate that this is implementable. Some governments have instituted various forms of external voting through absentee postal ballots, proxy voting, and ballot stations in consulates.
To belabor this point, a 2007 study by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance surveyed international practices on external voting. The study report showed that 115 nations and territories allowed their citizens to vote while living abroad. The number of such countries is rising, and Zambia could potentially be one of them! His Excellency alluded to the fact that, while he fully supports this proposal, he is not sure as to how the opposition politicians will take it. We would urge his Excellency to marshal the same kind of political support as he did to push through the other progressive constitutional provisions referred to above!
In conclusion, your Excellency, allow me to take this opportunity to thank you, on behalf of all Zambians resident in France, for taking time off your busy schedule to have this luncheon with us. This is something we do not take for granted. Thank you!
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