The Council of Churches in Zambia has rejected an invitation to make submissions to the select committee of the National Assembly citing unfairness among other things in the controversial Constitution Amendment bill number 10.

And the Zambia Council of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) secretary general Father Cleophas Lungu says they will also not take part in the process as they outlined from the start of the National Dialogue Forum.

In a letter dated 2nd September and addressed to the clerk of the National Assembly, the council through its secretary general Father Emmanuel Chikoya stated that agreeing to make submissions will appear to be legitimising the controversial bill.

“We write in response to your letter dated 8th august 2019 in which you requested us to submit before the parliamentary select committee a detailed memorandum on the ramifications of the proposed piece of legislation. We sincerely thank you for the consideration, we, however, regret to inform you that we will not make any submission towards the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill No.10 as doing so will appear as though we are giving legitimacy to the proposed controversial bill. From inception, our view has always been and still is that the whole of Bill number 10 has too many unfair, ambiguous, and undefined pieces that are not serving the interests of majority Zambians,” read the letter.

And in response to a question as to whether they will take part in the process, Father Lungu says they will also not take part in the process as they outlined from the start of the National Dialogue Forum.

“No we will not. This is a position that we had made from the start of the (National Dialogue Forum) NDF that we are not going to participate, thank you,” noted Father Lungu.

And by broadcast time, efforts to get a comment from the EFZ executive director Pukuta Mwanza proved futile as his phones went unanswered.