NCC wants Safari-Suit-Man redesigned
...to get rid of colonialist undertones and reflect a modern Zambian man


By Augustine Phiri

Does the image of a man wearing a seemingly khaki safari suit and short trousers appearing on the national emblem depict the character of a contemporary Zambian man?

This was the question before members of the general constitutional principles of the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) during their on-going sessions at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka recently.

The commissioners were scrutinising Zambia’s national symbols of the flag, national anthem, motto and the coat-of-arms, to determine whether or not they conform to the present environment obtaining in Zambia.

Leading the debate, commissioner Katele Kalumba said while he had no quarrel with the pictogram of the coat-of-arms also called the emblem, he was particularly uncomfortable with the image of the man in khaki safari shorts.

“Our national emblem was probably designed by colonialists and the man deliberately drawn in derogatory manner of a black man.

“In my view, he does not reflect a modern Zambian man,” Dr Kalumba submitted amid a teasing female voice yelling “Zambian man”.

The commissioners, including sub-committee chairperson, Joshua Banda of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God of Northmead congregation, could not help but burst into laughter.

“Something must be done to redesign the character of the man in our coat-of-arms to reflect the contemporary Zambian man,” Dr Kalumba concluded as commissioner after commissioner made similar observations in support.

Indeed, in Zambia, a pair of short trousers also called ‘kaputula’ in some local languages is not a favoured male dress.

Since the 1970s, when the then Zambia Police Force phased out the starch-pressing razor-edged ‘kaputula’ and replaced it with dignified long trousers uniform, schools too discarded it.

Established under an act of parliament of 2007, the NCC is mandated to draft a new comprehensive and all-inclusive constitution envisaged to stand the test of time.

In carrying out this mammoth assignment, the NCC commissioners are guided by the report and draft constitution of December 2005 of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC).

The two documents under consideration are not silent about Zambia’s national symbols.

The importance of national symbols is not far-fetched.

Just like a human being has a nose, mouth, ears, jaws and a forehead all peculiarly positioned into a face by which he/she can be recognised, a sovereign country like Zambia has national identity features in form of a flag, national anthem, motto and the coat-of-arms.

Zambia can also be identified by its unique map, which is not a constitutional matter and not subject to alteration by the NCC.

However, as the commissioners observed, national symbols should depict the principles, norms, values and beliefs of a country and its citizens.

In recognising these tenets, national symbols feature prominently in both the Mwanakatwe and Willa Mung’omba CRC reports.

And like in the report, some of the NCC commissioners too feel that certain features on the existing flag and coat-of-arms and some words of the national anthem need replacement with current national tenets.

For instance, some commissioners feel that the eagle on the flag and emblem is predatory and intimidating and should, therefore, be replaced by a dove to symbolise peace obtaining in Zambia.

Similarly, it is also felt, especially by gender-sensitive commissioners, that the language of the national anthem should be gender neutral.

To this effect, they suggest that the phrase ‘free men’ should be changed to only ‘freely’ and ‘brothers’ to ‘all one’.

The proponents justify their views by pointing out that at independence in 1964 when the national anthem was written and the National Anthem Act Cap 7 was enacted, laws and other official documents defined the masculine gender.

However, in considering the subject matter, Bishop Banda’s committee members recommended the retention of the ‘One Zambia, One Nation’ motto.

Although the motto was initially declared in the preamble to the 1973 one-party constitution and was enshrined in the new constitution as the national motto to promote unity in Zambia, its meaning is still current.

The commissioners further resolved to also go along with the CRC in recommending the retention of the eagle on the national flag and emblem, saying the bird signifies freedom Zambians are enjoying.

But for the coat-of-arms, the image of the ‘Zambian man’ in particular, did not go well with the commissioners.

After heated debate, it was decided: “Well, we shall recommend that the coat-of-arms be retained but with an accompanying clause that relevant Government authorities take measures to re-design the man to reflect the modern Zambian man.”
Bishop Banda ruled as the members nodded in the affirmative.

However, the recommendations are subject to approval by the NCC plenary before forming part of the final draft Constitution to be submitted to Government for enactment into law through either a referendum or Parliament.