QUESTION OF THE DAY
Does GRTS have the constitutional power to discriminate political parties which are different from the ruling party?
The answer is in the negative. No public institution or public officer has a right to discriminate anyone on the basis of political affiliation.
There is no doubt that any party which feels discriminated should gather material evidence and take a case to the high court to get justice.
Section 33 of the Constitution states: “(1) All persons shall be equal before the law.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (5), no law shall make any provision which is discriminatory either of itself or in its effect.
(3) Subject to the provisions of subsection (5), no person shall be treated in a discriminatory manner by any person acting by virtue of any law or in the performance of the functions of any public office or any public authority.
(4) In this section, the expression “discrimination” means affording different treatment to different persons attributable wholly or mainly to their respective descriptions by race, colour, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status whereby persons of one such description are subjected to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of another such description are not made subject, or are accorded privileges or advantages which are not accorded to persons of another such description….”
