THE appointment of a new board for the Human Rights Commission (HRC) by President Hakainde Hichilema has reignited public interest in the state of human rights in Zambia. At face value, the inclusion of prominent civil society figures such as Laura Miti and Bishop Emmanuel Chikoya offer a semblance of hope that the HRC will finally live up to its constitutional mandate. However, expectations must be tempered with a dose of realism, because some of the new appointees are actually not new as they formed the previous board which was quietly dissolved under mysterious circumstances. For years, the Human Rights Commission has struggled to fulfill its autonomous mandate in a manner that inspires public confidence. Though the institution is constitutionally...
