INTRODUCTION
Civic education is one subject which has gained faster recognition and growth in Zambian secondary
Schools. It is so much on demand and offered as a compulsory subject in schools taking the academic
career pathway. It has received this consideration because of its potential to promote and grow
democratic governance in Zambia. It is practical and educative; in the sense that majority of Zambians
have a burning desire to contribute positively to the growth of national democratic tenets.
In Zambian the need for civic education knowledge cannot be over emphasized as it is either, you are
active or passive participant of the country’s democratic processes.
Arising from this fact and the love of the subject, a team of teachers of social sciences from central
province undertakes a knowledge sharing adventure in this pamphlet on aspects of civic education
paper 2, section C where many of our learners have serious challenges in answering questions from this
section, (essay type questions).
Civic education paper2, section C demands for a broader understanding of the question at hand and
the explanations of major concepts within the context of the question. It requires the learner to
appreciate the demands of the question and logical arrangement of the points.
Therefore, this pamphlet will present to the learner sample questions and the standard way of
answering the question. Sostaz civic education team central has endeavored to explain the answers in a
language that our learners in secondary schools would comprehend and appreciate.
It is in view of all these challenges that Team central, material production has thought it wise to come
up with a pamphlet, explaining many, but specific demands of this section.
AN ESSAY IN CIVIC EDUCATION
Essay writing in civic education is one skill that most learners find difficult to execute.
Consequently most of the candidates do not attempt questions in section C. It is very surprising
that this section in may be left unattended to. Therefore, an essay in this subject requires good
understanding of the question and logical presentation of the points.
The essay in civic education has three main parts and these carry specified allocation of marks
in [ ].The marks allocated in the brackets serves as a guide to a candidate or learner writing an
essay.
The following are the main points to consider when writing civic education essay;
1, INTRODUCTION
The introductory part of an essay must address the main concepts in the question by way of
defining them and giving authentic examples. It is a short paragraph that opens an essay. It must
give the reader an idea of what he/she is about to learn. It is therefore, advisable that it is brief
and precise to the main concepts.
The mark allocation to this part is usually 2marks.
2, THE MAIN BODY
The main body of the essay must address the demands of the question and requires that
explanations are given by way of giving examples. It must provide evidence used to prove and
persuade the reader to accept the writer’s particular point of view. Paragraphs must always be
well arranged and usually tackles one idea or point of the essay. It is enriched by examples that
are backing the explanation the general impression of this essay must be appealing to the reader,
I mean good handwriting where good handwriting shall mean legibility In the main body the
writer must always keep track with the demands of the question and write the dictates of the
question and not irrelevant.
3, CONCLUSION
The conclusion of an essay must not introduce any new idea, but to sum up everything that have
been discussed in an essay. Specifically the conclusion should summarize the main points of an
essay. This is usually given 2marks
SAMPLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
QUESTION 1
(a) Explain the concept constitution.
(b)What are the characteristics of a good constitution and why is it important to have a good
constitution. [6:10]
ANSWER TO THE QUESTION
A constitution is the supreme law of the land and forms the basic document of the law or layout
of the nation. It is therefore a system of laws and principles by which a country or a nation is
governed. The strict adherence to the law of the nation or strict following of the laws in the
nation is referred to as constitutionalism. A constitution can either be written or unwritten but as
for Zambia our constitution is a written constitution which forms the basic laws of the nation and
henceforth the supreme law of the land.
A constitution may be good or bad but the following paragraphs attempts to discuss the good
qualities of the constitution;
A good constitution is clear. This statement implies that the language used in the constitution
must not be too technical or too difficult for ordinary citizens to understand. Instead the language
must be simple and easy to comprehend for the citizens of that particular nation.
A good constitution should neither be rigid nor flexible. Rigid means that it should prevent
unnecessary amendments, just after a short period of time thereby fulfilling one principle which
is; to stand a test of time.
A good constitution is one that should protect and respond to the social, economic and political
needs of the citizens. It should address the social, economic and political issues obtaining in the
nation and as such should spell out the democratic processes of the nation for example the
democratic principles such as separation of powers, electoral processes, rule of law, governance
issues just to mention but a few.
Furthermore, a good constitution should be able to uphold and protect the rights of the citizens in
the nation. Every citizen regardless of the race, tribe, disability, color and many more has rights.
A good constitution should comprehensive address these rights.
A good constitution should cater for the interest of various groups in the society, It should take in
to consideration that society is made up of many and different groups of people. Their interests
vary according to their regions, culture, education level, occupation, religions and many more. If
a constitution is good, all these issues must be taken care of.
On the other hand the importance of the constitution cannot be over emphasized. It is absolutely
important that every nation exercises self governance or in other words sovereignty. The
following are the importance of the constitution to a nation;
A good constitution is important because it safeguards the fundamental rights and freedoms of
the rights of citizens. This allows citizen participation in the governance of the country and
enables every citizen to realize his potential through individual expression and involvement in
national affairs.
In addition a good constitution ensures democratic governance in the country by promoting
democratic principles. Citizens are encouraged to choose their own leaders by a way of
participating in national election. They are also encouraged to make decisions on matters
affecting them such as sanitation in their areas, infrastructure development, education, health and
many more.
Furthermore a good constitution is important because it guides the behavior of the people starting
from the community to the nation and promotes harmony and unity as the people are directed on
acceptable standard of behavior. It ensures that there is no room for exploitation of man by man,
child molestation and curbing of gender based violence.
A good constitution sets out the composition and functions of the wings of the government, these
are; the judiciary, legislature and the executive. It further outlines the functions of these wings of
the government bearing in mind that they have to operate independently. It further makes a clear
distinction on different operations of the government. This is important in the sense that the
citizens of the nation are given information and directed on their involvement in the governance
of the nation.
A good constitution further provides a platform for individual and development. It gives an equal
opportunity towards economic, social and political issues, regardless of tribal, cultural, regional
and ethnic boundaries. These and many more explain why it is absolutely important for the
country to have a good constitution and uphold democratic governance.
Therefore the need for every country to have a good constitution is not only supported by the
citizens but also by the international community. Citizens who are the direct beneficiaries of the
nation’s development and the growth of democracy in that particular nation should be the ones in
forefront supporting the need for a good constitution or a people driven constitution.
QUESTION 2
(a) Define the concept child abuse
(b) Explain different forms of child abuse
(c) In what ways can a parent help the child to avoid early pregnancies? [2:10:8
ANSWER FOR THE QUESTION
According to the Zambian penal code, a child is any person who is below the age of 16
years where as United Nations on the convection on the rights of the child, a child is
defined as any person below the age of 18 years. Child abuse on the other hand is the illtreatment of a child either physically or mentally. Child abuse has become a serious
social challenge in our modern society as many families embrace it as normal trend and a
way of bringing up children. It is therefore a common feature of our society more
especially that some cultures believe and support this as a way of training a child.
There are many and different ways in which people in the community abuse children.
Among these are the following;
Child defilement, this is the act of having unlawful sexual intercourse with the girl under
the age of 16 with or without her consent. Though common in Zambia, this is a serious
offence and once one is proven guilty of this case, he is liable for prosecution for more
than 14 years. The laws of Zambia are clear on this case and many have been prosecuted
for child defilement and serious campaign has been mounted against child defilement.
Sexual harassment is yet another form of child abuse; this is where someone keeps on
saying things or doing things of a sexual nature. These include making sexual remarks,
touching sexual sensitive parts of the body such as the private parts, breasts , female
buttocks to mention but a few.
Furthermore child prostitution, this may be on voluntary or forced basis. Voluntary in the
sense that the children on her own may decide to sell sexual services or exchange these
services for money or favors where as forced child prostitution is a situation where girls
are compelled to offer sexual services mainly for money………………………………
QUESTION 3
Critically analyze the causes of conflicts. What are the positive and negative impacts of
conflicts in Africa? [2:10:8]
ANSWER FOR THE QUESTION
The word conflict may mean different situations to different people. Conflict in civic
education is defined as the absence of peace and justice in the particular nation or society.
Against this background, it is therefore important to understand the causes of conflict in a
society or a nation. There is also need to accept that conflicts have occurred in many and
different parts of the world more especially in Africa. Typical examples are genocide in
Rwanda, civil wars in Sudan and DR Congo, Boko Haram, in Nigeria just to mention but
a few.
Conflicts are caused by many reasons and among are the following;
History is one of the causes of conflict. Research and indeed experience has proved that
the historical background of the people can be the cause of conflict. A good example in
Zambia is the Lunda and the Luvale people of North western province who have had
conflicts because of their historical background. They have always argued that one tribe
is superior want always to rule. This has bred conflicts between these two tribes.
Furthermore, Ethnicity is another cause of conflicts. Deep rooted ill feelings against a
group of people or an ethnic group can ignite serious conflicts among people; normally
this happens where a large group is excluded from political, economic or social benefit of
the region. This has happened in many African countries, the typical example being the
Rwanda genocide between the Tutsis and the Hutus.
Imbalance in the occurrence of natural resources, the increase in population in many parts
of Africa has put more pressure on the available resources. This being the case, the
economic survival of local people has usually been threatened and left more room for
conflicts to occur as people fight for the scarce resources available. An example is that of
the copperbelt in Zambia, the population increase has seriously brought conflicts in the
area because the presence of mineral resource which has attracted faster population
growth. The land and plot allocation conflicts have always been the order of the day.
Immigration is a serious source of conflict and has contributed to most the conflict
between African and European countries. In a region where there is high population
against few resources, massive foreign immigration breeds resentments by the people. In
most cases, such a situation leads to attacks of the foreigners. An example is in South
Africa where a large number of South Africans attacked other nationals in what was
known as xenophobic attacks.
Another cause of conflict is mismanagement of economic resources. This is a situation
where conflict is started by groups of people who feel discriminated in areas such as
governance, land distribution, job opportunities and many more. In such a country people
have protested against the ruling regime and brought about conflicts between the rulers
and the ruled. The recent situation in Zimbabwe is one typical example of economic
mismanagement.
High poverty levels, illiteracy and unemployment breed serious conflicts between the
government and the people. These vices are usually described as indicators of bad
governance and where these are widespread people rise against the ruling government. In
many African countries these have brought serious tensions among people more
especially among the young generation.
Although conflicts are viewed in the negative sense, there are positive effects which
come along with conflicts; to start with;
Conflicts have enabled groups of people amass wealth in the sense that one group at war
may flee thereby leaving more land, mineral resource for the victories group.
Conflicts in many parts of Africa have provided business for the countries producing
army equipments such as ammunitions, guns and many more. The rise and classifications
of many nations as super powers has been on the basis of handling and defeating other
nations.
Democracy in Africa has not been easy to come by as such conflicts have helped out
matters. Many leaders have not easily stepped down or paved way for others or accepted
elections results. It has in most cases taken the intervention of military personnel,
political parties, parliament just to mention but a few to restore order and sanity in such
countries. An example to this is the recent happenings in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Conflicts, in a positive sense bring nations together. During the first and the second world
wars nations came together by forming alliances. This meant that nations had to fight for
common goal which made them make stronger bonds and friendship. The American war
on Iraq, America had to get on board Britain, so conflicts in this case yielded stronger
nation ties.
Refugees host nations not only lose out in terms of providing services but also receive
different skills and man power to develop the nation. The support that the country
receives does not only target the refugee situation but also other sectors of the economy.
This in the long run enhances mutual understanding among nations and strengthens multi
lateral and bilateral relations among nations.
On the other hand, scholars, politicians, economists and many more have argued that conflict is
more to negatives as discussed below only brings down the growth and development of nation.
Conflicts in whatever form brings about suffering, misery, deaths, destruction just to mention but
a few. Among them are;
Conflicts can lead to the loss of human life, animal Life and property. This is in a case where it is
not handled properly. Many people in the world today have died more especially the women,
children, disabled who have been victims of violence as a results of conflicts. Conflicts in Sudan
have left huge scars on the young generation to an extent that some have been affected physically
as well as mentally.
Loss of property has been the order of the day where conflicts have escalated into violence.
Many buildings and industrial machines have been destroyed as a result of war.
Conflicts force people to run away from their communities and take refuge in foreign
land where there is no war. This can be within the country as internal displacement or
outside the nation as refugees or seeking asylum.
Conflicts may lead to the destruction of infrastructure where it is taking place. Some of
these infrastructures include bridges, buildings, airports etc.
The railway line from the copperbelt of Zambia to the seaport of Angola is not in use
today because it was destroyed during the war in Angola.
The economy of nations has been negatively affected because of conflicts. This is so
because industries such as agriculture, trade, tourism cannot thrive where there is war.
Many women suffer sexual assault, rape cases increase, and defilement and many more
becomes more pronounced.
Conflicts weaken governance institutions. Countries which have been through armed or
civil conflicts have experienced breakdown or collapse of its social and political
institutions. In such a case, the government has become ineffective and unable to provide
public services
Disruption of education and health services .In an environment where there are conflicts,
not even education is spared from attacks. A good victim of such is Nigeria where school
girls were abducted from a boarding school by Boko Haram. This brought tension and
political instability in the running of the nation and a of the reason as to why Jonathan
Good lucky lost the presidential election. Operations of medical facilities are disturbed
equally as health personnel flee to other nations (Brain drain)
In view of the discussed, conflicts in Africa has brought more suffering than good on the
continents and scenario not only been a delayment of social, political, economic
development but a serious enemy of the process of democratization of Africa.
QUESTION4
(a) Analyze the causes and effects of Gender Based Violence? [10:10]
ANSWER TO THE QUESTION
Gender based violence which is abbreviated as GBV is a common crime in society today.
Many have been prosecuted and yet there are still more new cases which are coming up
on daily basis. The trend is that, despite the interventions’ put in place by different
governments and organizations, more new cases being reported.
Then, what is gender based violence? It is the violence meted out on the person of the
opposite sex. It is the physical or the emotional force involving men and women in which
the female is usually the victim. It has to be noted here that it is not only men who abuse
the females but also includes women who abuse men and other women physically and
verbally.
There are different forms of Gender based violence and they include physical,
psychological and structural violence. Physical violence involves inflicting pain or injury
on the body of someone. Psychological violence is inflicting pain on someone’s
emotions whilst Structural violence takes the dimensions of either physical or emotional
violence which is usually common in institutions of a society that have a firm belief in
man dominance society (patriarchal system).
There are several causes of gender based violence, the major ones are the following;
Gender role stereo-typing, these are societal beliefs, myths and attitudes that men and
women by virtue of their sex should perform different roles. Traditions have assigned
different tasks for the two sexes as such conflicts are arising where one is not performing
the task assigned to him or her.
Belief that the woman who is not beaten by the husband is not loved. Many men want
always to demonstrate their superiority by mentally and physically abusing their wives.
They have a perceived mind that women can best be loved through reducing their status
by beating them.
Drunkenness’ or drug abuse, the common trend in Zambian communities more especially
among the un educated and rural communities. They are in drug abuse and the common
behavior after a day’s drinking is abusing the wife by insulting and physical beating.
Refusal to have sex with the husband, In Zambian tradition societies sex is considered
special and sacred as such conjugal rights must be given without hesitation, and this is
taught to every maturing teenager, where such is not adhered to, the results have been
physical or mental assault of the spouse.
Suspected extra-marital affairs, this is serious problem among many communities and
where it is happening, couples and other people get involved in serious conflicts and
fighting which becomes a reason for gender based violence.
Refusal or delay to serve food, the traditional Zambian setup requires a man provide and
a woman to prepare that which has been provided but modern society has involved
women in the provision of food and this has raised serious concern among different
groups of people, others are supporting the idea of the women helping but other still
maintains the tradition. As a result of this situation, serious gender based violence has
occurred because of this misunderstanding.
Failure to get permission from the husband. The husband is the head of the house both by
Christian standards and Zambian customs. Therefore it is viewed as respect and a must
for every married woman to consult and get permission from the husband on every matter
affecting the couple. Failure to which, conflicts and subsequent violence have arisen.
Low self esteem by the perpetrator, this can be attributed to situation of employment,
education, being industrious just to mention by the few. In instances, where the woman is
more educated than the man. The relationship has often times degenerated in violence
because of the sense of low esteem and failure to accept the situation.
On the other hand the effects of gender based violence are visible enough for everyone to
see, these includes;
The death or murder of the victim. Many men and women have died as a result of gender
based violence. The psychological or physical pain inflicted on them has been unbearable
and the end result has been death.
Permanent disability. Many and common physical and mental have been as a result as the
torture that women and men have experienced in their marriage. There have left
permanent scars on their bodies thereby rendering them incapable of doing certain jobs.
Family disruption or divorces. The rate at which people are divorcing has reached an
alarming levels and this is mainly as a result of gender based violence. Couples on daily
basis are separating due to torture some life that is going on in many relationships.
High rate of suicidal cases, gender based violence has escalated death rate. Many people
who are in this predicament have resorted to taking their lives. More deaths are reported
in the both print and electronic media on the number of deaths as a result of this violence.
Fear and insecurity of the abused spouse is a common feeling in relationships where there
is gender based violence. The victim lives with extreme fear insecure because of the
physical or emotional torture that these usually go through.
The spread of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV and AIDS has been on the increase
in many Zambian communities mainly because of violent men and women who after
experiencing terrible violence in their relationship find solace in engaging in extra marital
affairs. This has posed a higher risk of the victims contracting or spreading STIs and HIV
and AIDS
In view of the discussion, gender based violence is indeed a source of concern by many
stakeholders. Governments, nongovernmental organizations and the international
community have been the major stakeholders giving and sensitizing communities on
matters of gender based violence and slowly and surely the messages are getting down to
the grass root.
QUESTION 5
Explain the causes and effects of teenage pregnancies. [10:10]
ANSWER TO THE QUESTION
Teenage pregnancy is one social challenge which is so common among the young girls in
Zambia more especially in rural areas. According to the United Nations convection on the rights
of the child, a child is any person below the age of 18 years, however, in defilement cases the
penal code defines a child as any person below the age of 16. Teenage pregnancy can be
described as a situation whereby a girl below the age of 16 years conceives or is impregnated. It
is so serious that it has not only led to the high infant mortality rate but also high maternal
mortality rate. This negatively affect the growth of the economy and the well being of society as
more money is spent on the social and health sector in a bid to improve healthcare and sensitize
communities. It also brings about inequalities in the promotion of gender equality.
However, there are many causes of teenage pregnancy and this essay attempts to discuss these as
follows;
Peer pressure, a teenager or a young girl or boy may engage in early sexual activities due to
peers (friends). Many young girls or boys especially in learning institutions engage in teenage
sex because they do not want to be perceived as odd one out and may result in teenage
pregnancies.
Personal development, the growth of the child usually comes with challenges, they develop their
sexual feelings and emotions and many fail to control these feelings. This extreme situation
drives them get engaged in sexual activities that leads to teenage pregnancies.
Furthermore, lack of sex education among the youths has lead to this unpleasant situation in
many communities in Zambia. Parents do not discuss sexual issues with their children and learn
about sex from wrong people thereby influencing to start engaging in early sexual activities.
The influence from the social media is currently one of the major factors for teenage
pregnancies. Many young people are influenced negatively by social media and in community
today, young people watch pornography firms which have negative orientation on the young
mind. These have enticed many to practice teenage sex and the end result among others has been
teenage pregnancy.
Zambia has diverse cultural heritage and in some societies, girls are married off at a tender age.
Cultural initiation ceremonies where the girls are taught marriage experiences have not worked
out well on many of the young people but have resulted in many getting engaged in teenage
pregnancies.
The high cost of living coupled with high poverty levels has compelled many girls to engage in
sexual activities for quick monetary gains and temporal sponsorship. This has not only resulted
in many contracting sexually transmitted diseases but also pregnancies.
On the other hand, there are several negative effects of teenage pregnancies on the young mother
as well as the child. Among them are the following;
Mostly the teenage mother’s health is put at great risk; the reproduction system of this mother is
not yet matured as such faces a lots of health complications in adjusting her body to motherhood.
This state usually leaves scars or disabilities on the teenager mother.
Additionally, the young mother may not be ready to take care of the baby in terms of nutritional
requirements. This has in most cases resulted in high infant mortality rate and malnutrition. The
current trends in malnutrition rates have much to do with mother maturity and educational levels.
In many Zambian communities, this situation is usually associated with teenager prostitution,
lack of education, promiscuity and many more. Therefore the teenager mother is stigmatized in
these communities and may not bear the shame or may not cope with the emotions.
Consequently the mother may a victim of suicide, mental disorder because of psychological
effects or engaging in drug abuse to cope with the obtaining situation.
The chance of this teenage mother getting married becomes slim and may lead to frustration,
depression as the victims education is disrupted and may end up as a misfit in society due to
behavior that may be deemed unacceptable in society.
The issue of teenage pregnancy is therefore not an easy issue on an individual, communities and
the nation. It is an issue that needs concerted effort among many stakeholders who include
parents, non- governmental organizations, governments and many more to try and address this
issue.
QUESTION 6
Analyze the causes of corruption and what are the effects of corruption on investment or any
given society [10:10]
ANSWER TO THE QUESTION
Corruption may be defined as the giving of money, valuables or rendering of a service to
someone in return for a favour. It implies giving with intentions of being favored or benefiting
from the course of action. In a wider sense, it involves abuse of public office and public
resources for personal gain. Corruption does not entail the usual or casual offering of gifts.
According to Anti Corruption Act of 1996,article 42,Corruption is defined as soliciting,
accepting, obtaining, giving, promising or offering gratification by way of a bribe or any other
personal gain or benefits and for senior government officials can be described as the misuse of
public office for personal or selfish gain. It is an act or a practice marked by dishonest and abuse
of one’s position or office.
There are many and different causes of corruption. These can be categorized as social, economic
and political .social causes includes personal greed and dishonesty, this can lead to leaders in key
position fail to inspire and influence good conduct of the subordinate. Corruption can also be
caused by is weak punishment for offenders. Another cause of corruption under social is where a
large number of people compete for insufficient service like few school places thereby ending up
enticing the people in charge to dubiously offer a school place.
Economically, corruption can be caused by shortage of goods and services in the country,
unequal distribution of wealth and resources, unfair allocation of government loans and giving of
tender to some preferred individual at the exclusion of others, job offers that are done after
paying someone and not on merit
.Additionally, there has been too much corruption under political, this is as a result of people s
desire for senior government positions and rule others. Many political campaigns are marred by
giving out of money, distribution of bicycles, ifitenge materials, buying beer for others to wow
the votes. This is political corruption.
Other causes of corruption include unnecessary long procedures (red –tap) some procedures that
offices are expected to follow May unnecessarily be too long. These officers may take advantage
of such delays to demand kick backs for fast action.
Furthermore, lack of political will to deal with corruption firmly, lack of transparency and
accountability, lack of checks and balances in government can accelerate the mismanagement
and misuse of public funds. Lack of separation of powers can cause corruption if there is
excessive concentration of powers in the hands of an individual or individuals who may hinder
investigation of corrupt practices.
Lack of independence of the judiciary this can also cause corruption in the sense that courts may
not act independently on matters of corruption if they are influenced by outside forces such as
the executive powers. Lack of press freedom is yet another cause of corruption. This is where the
media fails to act impartially but becomes the mouth piece of the government or preferred
political parties. Instead of exposing cases of corruption the media, takes the stance of shielding
rather covering corrupt practices for example in countries where press freedom is lacking the
press is not free to expose corrupt practices especially those committed by high ranking
government officials .
On the other hand corruption has a lot of effects. The effects of corruption are very unpleasant
and devasting on any given society. These effects may be disastrous on the economy of a
country. The country may not prosper economically and socially as its resources are not properly
utilized. The following are some of the most common effects of corruption on any given country
or society;
It makes those involved to be rich at the expense of less privileged citizens. The more privileged
individual, say senior government officials exploit the less privileged by been offered bribes out
of desperation. This is common situation when seeking for employment. The people tasked with
the recruitment process usually do not pick on merit but getting money from the already
impoverished citizens.This there entails that the people to grow the investments are left out. In
our Zambian situation, this is known as ukubosha.
It also enables those who pay bribes to benefits in areas which without being corrupt they would
not. This is where corrupt people would find their way in all the programs. They will find job
promotion by way of giving bosses money or engaging themselves in sexual acts with the people
in charge. It is common behavior in different companies and institutions. Human education or
skill is not priotised as such the investment in such circumstances does not grow but remain
stagnant or the company collapses. This act of paying by getting involved in sexual activities is
what is known as payment in kind
The other effect is that it causes those wide spread bitterness among those who cannot pay or
refuse to pay for favors when they see those who do pay or get involved in sexual acts being
favored. This has a spiral effect on the investment as the morale or job motivation is seriously
compromised and in return reduces productivity of the company or organization.
Corruption distorts company or organization standards as it paves way for those who are less
deserving to progress on the expense of those of greater merits. This in the run long negatively
affects the investment as the job or products standards are not attractive. The end results in this
case are that the company, institutional or organizational business is highly compromised thereby
failing to attract potential customers.
The democratic principles like respect for the rule of law, human rights, separation of powers
and many more are highly compromised in such situations, thereby rendering them useless or fail
to operate in a manner of promoting good governance. This may adversely affect both
investment and investment atmosphere in a country.
Therefore, corruption in any way is retrogressive or detrimental to democracy, investment or
development of any country or community. The discussions in this essay escalate poverty levels
and perpetuate human suffering in any given society.
QUESTION 7
Explain the aspects and kinds of citizenship. How does an Alien acquire citizenship of a host
country? [8:12]
Citizenship is the relationship between an individual and the state he or she belongs to and a
citizen is a member of state who enjoys all the rights and a privilege granted by it.
There are two aspects of citizenship and these are; legal and moral aspects. The legal aspects are
privileges or opportunities given to an individual or groups of the people by the government of a
nation and according to the law. Since legal rights are recognized by states, the police and the
judiciary ensure there are enforced. There are three kinds of legal rights; civil, political and
economic rights. Civil rights are those rights without which civilized life is not possible e.g. right
to family life, right to education, the freedom of conscience and religion. Political rights are
those rights that ensure that every person is given opportunity to take part in the affairs of the
nation. E.g. right to vote, right to belong to a political party.
Moral rights are acknowledged by the value of self-discipline and self control. Moral aspects
entails that a citizen has a sense of responsibility to fulfill all his or her obligations to the state
and the various social groups that he or she belong to. No legal action can be taken against
violation of moral rights but the way people feel about them is so strong that it is difficult for an
individual to deliberately violate them. One typical example is that of our parents, they have the
moral right to be looked after by his or her children.
There are two types of citizenship, these are natural and naturalized. Under natural citizenship
there are two principles that allow one to be the citizen of the nation. These are Jus Sanguinis or
blood relationship; here blood relation and descents decide citizenship where as jus Soli or place
of birth considers the place of birth where one is born from. According to this principle, if a
Zambian woman gives birth to a child in Botswana, the child becomes the natural citizen of
Botswana regardless of the citizenship of the parents.
Naturalized citizenship is acquired by an alien or a foreigner after applying and meeting the
prescribed conditions. There are two types of naturalized citizenship and these are complete and
partial. Complete is where an alien obtains full rights and privileges of the nation where as
partial is where there is differentiation in the enjoyment of rights and privileges between the
natural and the naturalized citizens.
An alien can acquire citizenship of a host country in many and different ways; these are by the
rule of residence, declaration on the prescribed form, renunciation on the previous citizenship
and marriage.
The rule of residence states that an alien has to stay in the host country for uninterrupted period
of time before he or she can for a citizenship. In Zambia, it is a minimum period of 10 years.One
desiring Zambian citizen is supposed to say in the country for a continuous period of not less
than 10 years.
Declaration on the prescribed form requires that the alien fill in the prescribed application forms
and provides necessary documents, declaring his or her intention of applying for the citizenship.
This demand for the alien to do this with utmost good faith where he or she provides authentic
evidence of his/her home country and reasons for taking such a decision.
Renunciation of the previous citizenship requires an alien to give up his or her previous
citizenship and take oath of allegiance to the country of which one intends to become a citizen.
The intention of renouncing should be clear and the reasons given should as much as possible be
genuine.
Marriage requires one to renounce the previous citizen and acquire one for either the husband or
the wife. This is in a situation where one gets married to an alien. The two should make decision
to which country they would want to belong to, and then proceed to apply for citizen with all
documentation for marriage such as marriage certificate.
However, it is worth noting that this subject citizens and citizenship is a broader theme that in the
world today it is taking different and complex way of approaches. Many countries have accepted
dual citizenship and Zambia as demanded by the people in Diaspora is taking the same direction
of dual citizenship. This is where one belongs to two nations e.g. a Zambian and South African.
It is therefore in view of this that every nation in the world today should have a clear direction on
this issue of citizenship and guide the citizens.
QUESTION 8
What are civil society organizations? Explain the roles of civil society in Zambia’s governance
system. [10:10]
Civil society organizations refer to those organizations that work independently without
government supervision or control. They are non-military, non-governmental organizations and
individuals who make it their aim or business to promote and defend the basic ideals of good
governance outside the government.
There are classified differently and some examples in Zambia include the following; The
Zambia Consumer Association (ZCA),The foundation for democratic process (FODEP), Law
Association of Zambia (LAZ), Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) just to mention but a few.
Civil society organizations have their own roles that they play in the governance system of the
country. They operate as nonprofit making, draw support from well wishers, draws membership
from formal and informal organizations, works within specific environment which determines its
operation and maneuvers and they are not guided by a regulatory frame as the state.
On the other hand, governance is the way people are ruled with or without their consent or
knowledge. This can either be good or bad governance. Good governance refers to the rule
which is legitimate, transparent and accountability, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
It was simply defined as the rule of the people, for the people and by the people by one of the
American presidents known as Abraham Lincoln
However, civil society organizations take much interest in the well being of citizens ensuring
that the rights of the citizens are not violated and that the ideals of the good governance are
upheld by the government. This is done by ensuring that they perform their roles as follows;
Civil society carryout civic education activities and promote public awareness on the issues
affecting society such as HIV and AIDS, human right abuses and poverty.
They work to influence public opinion in favour of specific objectives, for example, they draw
the attention of the government and the general public to the plight of the vulnerable and
marginalized people in society.
They discuss bills and influence amendments or decisions of the legislature. Civil society
organizations engage different individuals, stakeholders, government institutions and
organizations on different bills to draw the attention of the larger community into understanding
and accepting or rejecting the decisions of the government.
Civil society act as agents of democratic change, for instance, by advocating constitutional
reforms, gender equality and free and fair elections. They are also potential stakeholders in
ensuring that the people choose their leaders. This is done by observing and monitoring
elections.
They defend and promote human rights and the rule of law. Rule of law entails that that no one is
above the law. It also means giving equal treatment to all people before the law.
They promote accountability and transparency by demanding that all government activities be
known by the citizens and that public funds are used for the intended purpose.
Civil society organizations act as the link between the community and the government. For
instance, civil society organizations often take and discuss public opinions on various
governance issues to the government. They also explain government policies to the community.
They are therefore described in many sections of society as the voice of the people.
In conclusion, it can be said that they exist to provide the link between the people and the
government, to promote the well being of the people in society and to provide much needed
platform where the vulnerable, marginalized and disadvantaged people in society are known and
their voices heard.