|
|
Zambia: Country's Record Impresses
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Times of Zambia (Ndola)
6 May 2008
Posted to the web 6 May 2008
Ndola
THE Great Lakes Region is impressed with Zambia's democratic and governance record.
The development will now award Zambia with a centre for democracy and governance which will be set up in the country.
International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) executive secretary, Liberata Mulamula said at a Press conference in Lusaka yesterday that it was appropriate for Zambia to host the centre
This is because the country is a shinning example of a democratic State whose adherence to tenets of good governance is outstanding.
Ms Mulamula, who was flanked by Zambia's special envoy to the Great Lakes Region, Siteke Mwale and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regional bureau for Africa, Moustapha Soumare said that Zambia was not chosen by sheer coincidence but because of its role in championing good governance.
She said that the centre would be set up before the end of the year.
As a way of justifying the choice for Zambia to host the centre, she said that currently, the country was engaged in the process of enacting a new Constitution through the National Constitutional Conference (NCC).
"We are here at the right time, right place and for the right reasons. UNDP is a leader on the issue of good governance and democracy and we benefit from UNDP for its respect for good governance," Ms Mulamula said.
Member countries of the Great Lakes Region had in 2006 signed the pact on security and development at a summit held in Nairobi, Kenya, and what was currently remaining was the ratification of the protocol.
She was impressed that some member countries had already ratified the protocol and among them were Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia.
In the past decade, Ms Mulamula said it was regrettable that the region was engulfed in civil strife.
She was, however, relieved that in most countries, peace was quickly being restored.
If peace in the region was promoted, she anticipated the economies of member countries to grow.
It was impressive that Zambia managed to hold peaceful elections in 2006 and even in Kenya where temporary clashes erupted following the recent elections. A peaceful solution to the crisis has now been found.
Ms Mulamula said leaders in Kenya managed to resolve the impasse through dialogue.
Dr Mwale said it was a strong belief of the Great Lakes that democracy and good governance was the basis for development.
Dr Mwale said that where democracy and good governance were not promoted, industries would not thrive.
He said the fact that Zambia was preparing to enact a new Constitution through the NCC was evidence enough that the Government was committed to promoting the tenets of good governance.
And Mr Soumare said the UNDP would continue supporting efforts that were aimed at enhancing democracy and good governance.
|
While supporting such initiatives, he said that the UNDP would still respect the sovereignty of regional groupings and their member countries.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 The Times of Zambia. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
