The effectiveness of parliamentary reforms on citizen participation in parliamentary affairs in Zambia.
Date
2021
Authors
Ng’andu, Everty
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
The government of the Republic Zambia introduced parliamentary reforms in order to bring parliament closer to the people and enhance the functions and effectiveness of the National Assembly as a legislative body and agent of development. The reforms were part of the public sector reforms programme (PSRP) embarked on by the Zambian government after 1991 in order to promote efficiency and effectiveness in public institutions such as parliament. This study investigated the effectiveness of parliamentary reforms in enhancing citizen participation in parliamentary affairs. Two objectives guided the study which is; firstly, to examine the strategies used to reform parliament in Zambia. Secondly, to assess the extent to which the objectives of the parliamentary reforms have increased citizens’ participation in the legislative functions in Zambia, and to make policy recommendations that would enhance citizen participation in parliamentary affairs in Zambia. A case study in which 12 Members of Parliament, three directors of civil society organizations, and eight parliamentary support staff, and 30 ordinary citizens were purposely and conveniently sampled, and used in the study. The researcher used interview guide to collect data from Members of Parliament, directors of civil society organizations and parliamentary staff. Focus group discussions on the other hand were used to obtain data from ordinary citizens. The study revealed that citizens were generally aware of the National Assembly of Zambia and that MPs are elected to represent them. However, this did not translate into understanding and appreciation of the roles of the National Assembly. The study also established that the principal roles of parliament are legislation, representation and oversight. The study established that strategies used to reform parliament were: establishment of parliament radio and TV studios, establishment of constituency offices, construction of committee building/visitors center and formulation of strategic plans. With regard to factors affecting the effective implementation of the parliamentary reforms, it was established that these include, lack of time for MPs to visit their constituencies, inadequate government funding to support reforms, excessive executive powers, lack of political will, lack of monitoring and evaluation of the reforms. In terms of the levels of awareness and the extent to which citizens participate in parliamentary affairs, the study revealed low levels of both awareness and participation by citizens in parliamentary affairs in Zambia. Some of the factors contributing to the low levels of awareness and participation in parliamentary affairs include: long distances to constituency offices and parliament, strict security checks at Parliament, unfulfilled promise by MPs, fear of the unknown, language barrier, political and gender violence, lack of rule of law, inappropriate NAZ structures and failure to link constituency offices to ward development committees. Due to these limiting factors the majority of the citizens still have scanty knowledge of these reforms let alone the functions and roles of the National Assembly. The study concluded that parliamentary reforms to a greater extent have not been effective in promoting citizen participation in parliamentary affairs and as such government, the Members of Parliament, parliamentary staff, and indeed civil society organisations have a mammoth task to disseminate information to members of the public on the importance and benefits of participation in parliamentary reforms and affairs. Therefore, it was recommended among other things that the government should ensure that constituency offices are depoliticized, capacity built, strengthened and effectively used to sensitize the public about the openness of Parliament. Further, the study suggested some of the areas of future research not comprehensively covered in this research.
Description
Thesis of Master of Public Administration (MPA).