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The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has condemned the United Party for National Development (UPND) government over its alleged contravention of the Constitution of Zambia.
EFF Party president, Kasonde Mwenda, said the Auditor-General’s report for the previous year ought to have been presented before the President and Parliament prior to the presentation of a new budget.
Mwenda in a statement issued in Lusaka on Saturday said the inclusion of this crucial clause in the Constitution was strategically designed to assess and evaluate the previous year’s revenue and expenditure before embarking on the new budget.
He argued that this prudent measure was meant to safeguard the financial resources and other assets of the country.
“The law clearly outlines the specific timelines within which the Auditor-General’s report should reach parliament and the President,” Mwenda said.
He said clause number 212 of the Zambian Constitution unambiguously states that “the Auditor-General shall not later than nine months after the end of the financial year submit an audit report to the President and National Assembly on the accounts of the Republic audited in respect of the preceding financial year.”
Mwenda said to brazenly violate the Zambian Constitution was a direct affront to the citizens who trusted and bestowed power upon these office bearers, who took an oath to uphold and protect the very Constitution they are now shamelessly abrogating.
He pointed out that this act of defiance and disregard for the supreme law indicated that there was persistent lack of transparency, accountability, and an alarming abuse of Zambia’s scarce resources.
“Moreover, the circumstances surrounding the departure of the previous Auditor-General, Dick Sichembe, and the audacious attempts by the UPND government to install an ineligible candidate due to the age requirement further emphasize their clear disregard for the Zambian Constitution and the laws they swore to uphold,” Mwenda said.
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He demanded that the UPND government immediately upheld the Constitution, as failing to do so undermined the very foundation of democracy and eroded the trust of the Zambian people.
Mwenda said the citizens deserved a government that respects and abides by the laws of the land, and that it was high time that the UPND government upheld their constitutional obligations.
“We also make cognizant of serious illegal breaches in the purported Auditor-General Report such as the omission to report on the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) which accounts for K4.5 billion,” he said.
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