Africa-Press – Zambia. REPETITION OF OATHS: HOW DOES THE LAW GUIDE? I have been following debate around those ministers who were sworn in by the President to run government ministries not yet approved by the National Assembly but constitutionally and legally created/merged by the President to retake their oath of Office once the ministries are approved.
For them, I wish to refer them to the provision of the Official Oath Act Section 8 and whether they have had a read at this section. For their own benefit and that of the nation, the law as it stands now guides that the nation that
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*Where any person who has taken an oath by reason of the provisions of this Act appointed to, or to act in, some other office whereby he is required to take the Oath of
Allegiance, the Judicial Oath or the Oath of Office, or to be in attendance on the Cabinet *S/HE SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED TO TAKE ANY OATH BY REASON OF SUCH APPOINTMENT* unless the oath required to be taken thereon is different from or in addition to any oath already taken by
him and duly recorded in respect of any previous appointment: Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to a person on assuming the office of President, Vice-President or Judge.*
From the above, it is illegal to retake the same oath of Office unless the oath will be different from or addition to the already taken OATH. Therefore the law does not allow repetition of Oath.
It is important to follow the law as it stands than break it to excite logic. I want to encourage all citizens to respect the demands of Article 43(2)(a) *a citizen shall endeavour to acquire basic understanding of this Constitution and promote its ideals and objectives*.
