Explain in details the principle of separation of powers and briefly show the extent to

which it is practiced in Zambia.

SEPARATION OF POWER
The principle of separation of power was put in place to ensure good governance; executive,
legislative and judicial. It states that the exercise of powers should be done by different people or
different groups of people. For example if judges made laws, interpreted them and punished the
offenders, they would become too powerful and probably misuse the power against their
opponents. Therefore these powers are supposed to be separated in such a manner that those in
the legislature should not at the same time be in the executive, and those in the executive and the
legislature should not at the same time be in the judiciary.
In Zambia, there is no strict separation of power between the Executive and the Legislature.
There is, instead, fusion of power. For example Cabinet ministers from the Executive, are also
members of the Legislature. The president, also has assent to bills before they become law,
therefore connects himself to the Legislature. He can send back to the National Assembly any
bill he thinks requires further attention.

There is also fusion of power between the Executive and the Judiciary. For example, the
President, the Chief Executive, appoints all High Court and Supreme Court judges, and by using
the powers of the Prerogative of Mercy, he can change the verdicts passed by courts of law. He
can, for instance, commute death sentences to life imprisonment, reduce a long sentence to a
shorter period of stay in prison, or completely pardon the convicted prisoner, depending on the
merits of the case, as advised by the Ad-Hoc Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.

There is, however, some separation of power between the Legislature and the Judiciary. No
member of the National Assembly, even those holding qualifications in law, can at the same time
be members of the judiciary, and no cabinet minister with legal back ground can at the same time
be a member of the judiciary. If the President appoints a cabinet minister to a position in the
Judiciary, such a minister has to resign his or her ministerial post.

Separation of power is not intended to create confusion between the three institutions of the
government but to ensure checks and balance of good governance is achieved.