On the 29th and 30th of March 2023, Zambia will be co-hosting the Summit for Democracy 2023.The summit is an initiative of the President of United States of America, to renew democracy around the world in view of the growing challenges democracy faces. Democratic governance and the principles that are integral for democratic governance, such as participation, government accountability, transparency, and respect for human rights, have faced and continue to face challenges from leaders and groups that seek to escape accountability, exclude voices that they do not agree with from decision making, and intending to infringe on the rights of citizens.
Nearly every index that measures the state of democracy or the state of democratic values and principles, indicates that there has been a steady decline in democratic values around the world. Zambia is no different. Over the last ten years, the civic space has steadily become more restricted. The existence of policies, legislation, and administrative practices that exclude citizens from effectively participating in governance and enjoying rights has been highlighted at both the African Union and United Nations levels as challenges to realising effective democratic governance in Zambia. Therefore, the fact that Zambia participated in the inaugural summit and committed to co-host the 2023 Summit for Democracy is a welcome step.

However, commitments and hosting of summits do not a democracy make. Many of the challenges Zambia’s democracy faced have not gone away despite past commitments and promises from previous administrations. At the 2021 Summit for Democracy, Zambia committed to ensuring a free media; restoring the rule of law by protecting freedoms of association and assembly; and improving the independence and transparency of the Electoral Commission of Zambia. Since the 2021 summit, while there have been some improvements, the government has not implemented any significant policy or legal reforms to actuate the commitments. There is therefore need for a more deliberate effort by all concerned stakeholders to ensure that the summit is not just another forum for backslapping over empty promises. In a democracy, everyone is supposed to be a concerned stakeholder. Therefore, everyone should be interested in ensuring that the government is held accountable for the commitments they make. Democracy is for the people and not for the government.

The summit for democracy will come and go, but the need for democracy will endure long after the summit. To achieve the aims of the summit, there is need for a national framework for monitoring the commitments from the summit and a mechanism for incorporating the commitments into national planning documents. Most importantly, there must be an inclusive and participatory approach for coming up with commitments, monitoring their realisations, and incorporating them into national planning documents. On the 9th and 19th March 2023, a consortium of CSOs held a Pre-Summit Conference to reflect on Zambia’s achievements if commitments from the last summit and develop recommendations for new commitments at 2023 summit. Among the priority recommendations were the need for the government to commit to advancing freedom of expression and access to information, the need to implement electoral reforms, take further steps to ensure Zambia’s democracy is more inclusive, and strengthen institutional autonomy and accountability for independent and oversight institutions.

The Zambian constitution emphasises Zambia’s commitment to democracy and democratic governance. Democracy appears as a National Value and Principle, a guiding principle for the exercise of Executive Authority and Legislative Authority. Therefore, ensuring that democratic values and principles are advanced is a constitutional obligation of the Zambian government. Citizens and stakeholders need to ensure that the government is held accountable for its constitutional obligations and that commitments from the summit for democracy are incorporated in the country’s planning documents.

Chapter One Foundation is a civil society organization that promotes and protects human rights, constitutionalism, the rule of law and social justice in Zambia. Please follow us on Facebook and on LinkedIn under the page ‘Chapter One Foundation’ and on Twitter and Instagram @CofZambia. You may also email us at [email protected]