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Are the current Zambian constitutional provisions sufficient in preventing abuse of power by the executive organ of government?

This paper discusses reasons why democratic governance cannot be attained by the Zambian government without deliberate commitment to the maintenance of values and principles of democracy, good governance and the rule of law. Zambia prides itself to be a democratic and peaceful country. However, acco...

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Main Author: Daka, Fridah Malindima
Other Authors: Corder, Hugh
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Public Law 2015
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access_status_str Open Access
author Daka, Fridah Malindima
author2 Corder, Hugh
author_browse Corder, Hugh
Daka, Fridah Malindima
author_facet Corder, Hugh
Daka, Fridah Malindima
author_sort Daka, Fridah Malindima
collection Thesis
description This paper discusses reasons why democratic governance cannot be attained by the Zambian government without deliberate commitment to the maintenance of values and principles of democracy, good governance and the rule of law. Zambia prides itself to be a democratic and peaceful country. However, accountability, openness and responsiveness to the needs of citizens has been a challenge despite this great record, which has come as a result of free, fair and peaceful elections recorded consecutively since Zambia became a multi-party democracy. The partial fusion of the Executive and Legislative organs of government ably qualified by provisions of the current Constitution, makes it difficult to hold government accountable by the governed. Consequently, presidential appointment of Cabinet Ministers from Parliament equally weakens legislative ability of checking and balancing powers of the Executive. Moreover, appointment of judges by the President is another factor that punches holes in judicial independence and injures the last line of defence. It is as such imperative that the colossal presidential powers are reduced to allow a flourishing democratic society. In the view that the current Constitution does not have adequate provisions to prevent abuse of power by the Executive; this thesis has made recommendations for the Constitution to be amended to provide effective ways of balancing power between the three arms of government. This will inevitably create an environment of mutual accountability in government and construct a platform where the electorate could question irregular administrative actions.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:33.381Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher Department of Public Law
publisherStr Department of Public Law
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/15210 Are the current Zambian constitutional provisions sufficient in preventing abuse of power by the executive organ of government? Daka, Fridah Malindima Corder, Hugh Constitutional and Administrative Law This paper discusses reasons why democratic governance cannot be attained by the Zambian government without deliberate commitment to the maintenance of values and principles of democracy, good governance and the rule of law. Zambia prides itself to be a democratic and peaceful country. However, accountability, openness and responsiveness to the needs of citizens has been a challenge despite this great record, which has come as a result of free, fair and peaceful elections recorded consecutively since Zambia became a multi-party democracy. The partial fusion of the Executive and Legislative organs of government ably qualified by provisions of the current Constitution, makes it difficult to hold government accountable by the governed. Consequently, presidential appointment of Cabinet Ministers from Parliament equally weakens legislative ability of checking and balancing powers of the Executive. Moreover, appointment of judges by the President is another factor that punches holes in judicial independence and injures the last line of defence. It is as such imperative that the colossal presidential powers are reduced to allow a flourishing democratic society. In the view that the current Constitution does not have adequate provisions to prevent abuse of power by the Executive; this thesis has made recommendations for the Constitution to be amended to provide effective ways of balancing power between the three arms of government. This will inevitably create an environment of mutual accountability in government and construct a platform where the electorate could question irregular administrative actions. 2015-11-21T09:39:34Z 2015-11-21T09:39:34Z 2015 Master Thesis Masters LLM http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15210 eng application/pdf Department of Public Law Faculty of Law University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Constitutional and Administrative Law
Daka, Fridah Malindima
Are the current Zambian constitutional provisions sufficient in preventing abuse of power by the executive organ of government?
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Are the current Zambian constitutional provisions sufficient in preventing abuse of power by the executive organ of government?
title_full Are the current Zambian constitutional provisions sufficient in preventing abuse of power by the executive organ of government?
title_fullStr Are the current Zambian constitutional provisions sufficient in preventing abuse of power by the executive organ of government?
title_full_unstemmed Are the current Zambian constitutional provisions sufficient in preventing abuse of power by the executive organ of government?
title_short Are the current Zambian constitutional provisions sufficient in preventing abuse of power by the executive organ of government?
title_sort are the current zambian constitutional provisions sufficient in preventing abuse of power by the executive organ of government
topic Constitutional and Administrative Law
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15210
work_keys_str_mv AT dakafridahmalindima arethecurrentzambianconstitutionalprovisionssufficientinpreventingabuseofpowerbytheexecutiveorganofgovernment