1. Introductory Notes – Governance and Democracy
Governance1 and democracy are independent constructs. In the absence of an accepted political congruence grounded on a people's choice of the form of their governance, governance and democracy do not in any way imply a similar construct or practice.
In providing a position on political governance in Zambia, critical recognition should be made of the fact that in Zambia the people have asserted congruence between governance and democracy. This then prescribes that the Zambian people have opted for the choice that governance in Zambia will be founded on democratic tenets.
This chosen polity or political governance system necessitates that:
- The people (shall) have controlling influence on the decisions and affairs of government;
- The people are supreme to government2. In recognition of this3, government should institute responsive mechanisms that ensure that the people are treated with equal respect and as of equal worth in the exercise of their controlling influence.
Premised on the foregoing argument, this paper is informed by the Zambian government's undertakings in its attempt to respect the Zambian people's asserted congruence between governance and democracy, and thence providing an environment that can sustain socio-economic growth. The Zambian government's undertakings are provided in the government documents - Governance: National Capacity Building Programme for Good Governance in Zambia of March 2000 and CG 2000 for Zambia – Minutes of the Consultative Group Meeting for Zambia of September 2000.
An overview of the provisions in the good governance document is provided in section 2.0. Section 3.0, provides Donor concerns, section 4.0 the Civil Society position on the gaps in political governance, and section 5.0 the retrospect and conclusions.
Footnote:
- Governance is the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, manage their common affairs." (Commission on Global Governance 1995: 2)
- Government here in this context is defined as an institutional entity constituting a group of individuals tasked with the management of the common affairs of the country.
- The tenet of the supremacy of the people is informed by the assumption of the constitution (the assumed embodiment of the people's choice and will) being the supreme law
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