By DAVID KANDUZA –

IN Canada, a deputy minister is a senior civil servant in a government department who takes political direction from an appointed minister of the Crown.
Zambia, as a member of the Commonwealth, has deputy ministers who have multiple powers and responsibilities arising from a number of statutes enacted by Parliament.
The deputy minister is mandated, therefore, as an agent serving the Government in its collective responsibility to Parliament, by being assigned to a ministry to serve under a Cabinet minister.
Several factors are considered in determining the choice of incumbents, such as the candidate’s experience, his or her strengths on policy development, leadership or management.
Recently, deputy ministers were integrated into Cabinet meetings for them to effectively discharge ministers’ functions in the absence of substantive office holders and to confidently articulate Government policies in various forums such as Parliament.
There has been a gap that existed for many years between the minister and the deputy.
The ministers have usually been  working alone and this saw some mechanisms and modalities in Cabinet being put across to allow deputy ministers share in the proceedings of Cabinet.
In some cases there was even mistrust between full ministers and their deputies. This sandpapery relationship usually arose from mistrust and personality clashes.
But this is coming to pass as the position of deputy minister has been scrapped from the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Act of 2016 and it will not exist after Parliament is dissolved.
President Edgar Lungu on January 5, this year, appended his signature to the Constitution Bill Number 17 of 2015 which brought to an end the country’s protracted Constitution-making process.
The President signed the Bill at Lusaka’s Heroes Stadium at a ceremony witnessed by people drawn from all walks of life.
Some experts believe that scrapping the responsibilities of deputy ministers is based on an unrealistic assumption about the possibility of separating policy from administration.
Other critics feel the scrapping of deputy minister positions will help stop the duplication of responsibilities.
Another often repeated concern is that the accountability of public servants before parliamentary committees would remove the anonymity of senior officials by exposing them to potentially partisan attacks, and thereby politicise the public service.
Others yet argue that if deputy ministers were to regularly question decisions of their ministers by asking for directions, it could undermine the trust that is essential to an effective relationship between Cabinet ministers and deputy ministers.
Many have also argued against change, saying that the deputy ministers are accountable to Parliament and must be maintained because the system is based on the accountability of elected officials.
They claim that, for example, there is not much difference between the British and Canadian versions of accountability, since deputy ministers in Canada do appear before parliamentary committees to provide answers about the administration of their departments.
Others still feel that there was duplication of functions among  Cabinet ministers and their deputies which did not augur well for the proper functioning of the Government.
An example is cited in the Ashanti Region where it was only the regional minister who administered affairs throughout the first four years and the minister was able to discharge his duties effectively.
With all these arguments, it is, therefore, imperative that Zambians take time to read the Constitution that must help usher in a new breed of politics and understand some changes that have been made to it.
President Lungu, before assenting to the new Constitution, had urged Zambians to study the contents of the document.
However, some people seem to have been preoccupied with passing the document without debate. It would have been better if all those issues being argued were raised before.
But the signing of the Bill by President Lungu marked a landmark achievement for Zambia in the country’s quest to develop its democratic credentials, and this will see the next general elections being held on August 11.
“The election will be held under the provisions of the amended Constitution which sets out the popular 50 per cent plus one clause and running mate,” the President said.
Attorney General Likando Kalaluka commenting on the issue said: “By operation of the law, the Constitution says that the vice-president and ministers will continue in office until the president terminates the appointments, and by implication of the law, until Parliament is dissolved.”
Once Parliament is dissolved there will be no ministers and deputy ministers inclusive. Over time, after the elections, people will be able to propose amendments and individuals can petition Parliament to come up with a law or to do an amendment.
In conclusion, adopting a system like the United Kingdom’s accounting officer model would help to strengthen financial management and deter abuse.
With the present era of decentralisation, there is need to strengthen district officials to enable them to discharge their duties to the satisfaction of the people.
This would promote sustainable economic growth and improve the lives of people.