WHEN discussions about extending presidential tenure begin in Zambia, history tells us that they cannot be treated as idle political chatter. Every ruling-party era has, in one form or another, encountered arguments about concentrating or extending presidential power. Under Dr Kenneth Kaunda, the Chona Constitutional Review Commission was appointed in 1972 to recommend changes that culminated in the 1973 Constitution and the establishment of the UNIP one-party state. Political competition for the presidency was consequently restricted within the one-party framework until multiparty politics returned in 1991. Parliamentary records confirm that the 1973 Constitution formally introduced the one-party system, which remained until constitutional amendments restored plural politics in 1990 and paved the way for the 1991 elections.   Then came Frederick...