New Defence Force
By Dickson Jere
Cabinet last week approved a proposal to introduce a new Bill in Parliament that will effectively restructure our Defence Force and enhance its operation.
Even though the approval by Cabinet was in principle, it will be important for Zambians to see and debate the Bill effectively so that we have a modern and developed Defence Force in Zambia that can respond to current problems.
The government said it will repeal and replace the Defence Act, Chapter 106 of the Laws, which was enacted in 1964. In the same vein, the Zambia National Service (ZNS) Act of 1971 will also be repealed in order to bring it in line with the latest developments.
These laws have been in place from 1964 and 1971 without much change and therefore the need to update them is more than welcome. I hope those with military backgrounds – especially former Commanders – will appear before the Parliamentary Committee to give their insights on how we can make our Defence Force effective.
I am more interested to see how the Bill Will deal with some old proposals such as having a centralised command of the Defence Force with one top Commander. (KK tried it but I am not sure why it failed).
The role of ZNS should also be clearly spelt out especially that the government said it will also touch the ZNS Act. Will it be transformed into a full land army? Can Zambia have two land Forces? Will it be infused on the Defence Act? At the moment ZNS is part of the Defence Act and operate through its own law even though in 2016, the Constitution recognised its existence.
What about the rank structure? Former Commanders have written about Zambia Airforce (ZAF) wanting to have own rank structure that captures the history of Airforce…ranks such Flight Lieutenant and all…currently, the Defence Force uses one rank structure that is believed to be from Zambia Army.
I wish we can have a sober debate on the proposed new Defence Act devoid of any political considerations. I am looking forward to the Bill when it is published…wide consultation will also be required!
