About 12 councillors at Chipata Municipal Council unqualified to contest August 11 elections

Only about 10 councillors out of 22 in Chipata district are eligible to re-contest their seats in the August 11 tripartite elections.
This follows the implementation of the amended constitution where people wishing to contest the position of councillor must have a minimum qualification of a grade 12 certificate.
According to the information obtain by Breeze News from Chipata Municipal Council some affected councillors have opted not to contest the coming elections.
Meanwhile some youths in Chipata have appealed to government not to bow down to pressure from those that want the Grade Twelve Certificate requirement clause for councillors and Members of parliament to be removed from the amended constitution.
Speaking to Breeze News, Felix Mukonde and George Mwanza say that it is unfortunate that some people never paid attention when submissions were being made.
Mr. Mukonde says that people were only interested in allowances and the mode of adopting the constitution without taking interest to understand submissions, which were being made.
He vowed that as a civil rights activist he will not allow a situation where some people want to manipulate the amended constitution because of some clauses, which they are not happy with.
And Mr. Mwanza says that it is misleading for anyone to suggest that the Grade 12 Certificate requirement clause is discriminatory.
He says that it is surprising that some Zambians have a problem with the clause when in countries like Zimbabwe a person must have a first degree to qualify to contest as MP.
Mr. Mwanza described the law as progressive especially that the positions of councillors will now be filled by persons who can debate issues from an intelligent mind and promote good governance.