TO WHAT EXTENT IS IT TRUE OR VALID THAT THE CONSTITUTION OF ZAMBIA ESTABLISHES THE PRESIDENT AS GOVERNMENT?

Essay by ankunika March 2005

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Throughout the development of Zambia one common feature has been inherent in the country's Constitutional legacy and this is the presence a strong executive who appears to have increased in strength over the years. This has in turn prompted scholars to ask the question "to what extent does the Constitution establish the president as government?"

This essay seeks to endeavor to answer this question and inquire whether the president is indeed the personification of government in Zambia. The quest for this answer will be undertaken by examining the historical background of Zambia's Constitutional process and then examining the transformation it has undergone over the years by analysing the relationship that exists between the executive and other organs and institutions of state as well as the role of the executive at an international level.

In order to contextualise this discussion a working definition of government has to be given. One definition of government is that it is the exercise of certain powers and the performance of certain duties by public authorities or officers together with certain private persons or corporations exercising public functions.

This relates to the rule of law and principles of natural justice which cut across various societies and may also be embodied in written Constitutions and conventions and usages. The definition further goes on to say that the structure of the machinery of government and the regulation of the powers and duties which belong to the different parts of this structure, are defined by the law, which also prescribes, to some extent, the mode in which these powers are to be exercised or these duties are performed.

A cardinal feature of the Zambian Constitutional system is the fact that it is a hybrid system which embodies both the Westminster and Presidential systems of government. This means that the...