Change Of Sitting Arrangement As Parliament Opens Tomorrow

By Paul Shalala

Inonge Wina

The Second Meeting of the Fourth Session of the Eleventh National Assembly opens in Lusaka tomorrow with a lot of visible changes in terms of numbers and sitting arrangement following nullification of seats, a presidential election and the selection of a new Cabinet from within the house. 

The house opens shortly after the January 20 Presidential Election which saw then Chawama Member of Parliament Edgar Lungu take on the mantle to lead the nation until the next scheduled General Elections somewhere in 2016.

As the house opens, the house will have a new leader in the name of Inonge Wina, Zambia’s first ever female Republican Vice President.

As leader of Government Business in the house, Mrs Wina, who is also Nalolo Member of Parliament, will be on the receiving end of the 30 minutes Vice President’s Question Time every Friday morning as opposition MPs and ruling party backbenchers ask her questions of national interest.

Mrs Wina, who in the last meeting of Parliament sat on on the front row near the alley way as Gender Minister, will now move closer to the Speaker on the right and sit in between the Ministers of Justice and Finance to lead government affairs in the house.

Dr. Guy Scott

With the dissolution of the Michael Sata-appointed Cabinet and the swearing in of the new one, MPs who are now serving in Cabinet will change seats to occupy their new statuses in the house while those who have maintained their Cabinet portfolios will remain in their usual seats.

Significant among the new entrants to the Speaker’s right on the front seats are Chipili MP Davies Mwila who will move from the backbench to the front bench and seat to the left side of the Vice President.

Kabwata MP Given Lubinda will also move from the backbench to sit on the Speaker’s left side front row to occupy his seat as Agriculture Minister.

Zambezi West MP Christabel Ngimbu, who is just five months old in the house, will leave her seat at the backbench and move to the Speaker’s right handside and occupy her front row seat as Lands Minister.

Vincent Mwale

Opposition MMD lawmakers Vincent Mwale of Chipangali and Dr. Michael Kaingu of Mwandi will cross the floor from the Speaker’s left to the right to occupy their front row seats as they are now serving as Sports Minister and Education Minister respectively. 

Nominated MP Margaret Mwanakatwe, who is now Commerce Minister, will also join the right side of the Speaker and she will seat with her Cabinet colleagues.

Another nominated MP Mulenga Sata will seat in the middle seats of the Speaker’s right following his appointment as State House Deputy Minister.

Missing in the Cabinet seats will be Lusaka Central MP Dr. Guy Scott, Bwana Mkubwa MP Emmanuel Chenda, Mpika Central MP Mwansa Kapeya and Nchanga MP Wylbur Simusa who lost their cabinet portfolio.

The quartet will now seat at the backbench since they are now ordinary MPs.

In the middle seats of the Speaker’s right will be new entrants. This is the row that seats Deputy Ministers.

Some of the new entrants are Lupososhi MP Bwalya Chungu (Office of the Vice President Deputy Minister) and Kaputa MP Maxas Ngonga (Agriculture Deputy Minister).

Lukashya MP Elfreda Kansembe (Labour Deputy Minister) and Pambashe MP Ronald Chitotela (Sports Deputy Minister) also make a return to the middle seats after they were dismissed by late President Sata in 2014 as Home Affairs Deputy Minister and Labour Deputy Minister respectively.

UPND Solwezi Central MP Dawson Kafwaya and PF Mkushi South MP will also leave the backbench to seat on the Provincial Ministers seats following their swearing in this month.

Dawson Kafwaya

These two men were elected MPs last year on 11 September during parliamentary by-elections and they are serving as ministers for the first time.

Mufumbwe MP Steven Masumba is expected to make a come back in the house following his pardon by then Acting President Dr. Guy Scott.

Mr Masumba was jailed by the Lusaka Magistrates Court for forging a Diploma but he walked out of the Lusaka Central Prison (Chimbokaila) after Dr. Scott used the prerogative of mercy to release Mr Masumba together with People’s Democratic Party President George Mpombo in December 2014.

Missing from the house will be Daniel Munkombwe who lost his nomination as MP after President Lungu revoked it for supporting UPND President Hakainde Hichilema during this year’s presidential election.

Chisamba MP Moses Muteteka will also be missing from the house as he is still waiting for the courts to rule on his appeal to a jail sentence following his guilty verdict in a motor vehicle case.

For obvious reasons, there wont be an MP from Chawama as the incumbent is now the head of state.

Kapembwa Simbao

Following the adjournment of parliamentary sittings in December last year, two parliamentary seats have been nullified and these are Masaiti which was held by MMD’s Michael Katambo and Senga Hill which was held by MMD’s Kapembwa Simbao.

The two seats will remain vacant when parliament opens tomorrow just.

Other seats which will not be occupied tomorrow in the house are Malambo, Mulobezi and Petauke Central which are still awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on whether the previous MPs whose election was nullified can recontest the seats.

Rains Pound The Nation As Zambians Vote For New President

A Zambian voter

By Paul Shalala

Over five million registered voters are today casting their ballots to chose a new President following the death of Michael Sata in October 2014 despite heavy rains that have hit the nation.

On the ballot paper are 11 presidential candidates who have campaigned for the top job in the land over the past two months.

According to several commentators, the main battle is between the ruling PF’s Edgar Lungu and opposition UPND’s Hakainde Hichilema who have been trading allegations of incapacity to run the nation amongst themselves.

A check across several areas of Lusaka has shown long queues forming outside polling stations as early voters as voters started queuing up as early as 05:00hrs.

Meanwhile, Acting President Dr. Guy Scott this morning made an impromptu visit to Mr. Price store at Manda Hill Shopping Mall where he found people working and ordered management to close the shop.

Dr. Scott declared polling day an official holiday to allow those in formal employment to vote.

And Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) chairperson Irene Mambiliima says the final election results are expected to be announced by Friday this week depending on the weather.

Zambia is at the moment experiencing heavy rains and the Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rains especially in the southern part of the country.

Early this morning, heavy rains were reported in Lusaka, Kafue, Kabwe and several parts of Southern Province.

The commission is this time using the electronic vote announcement system which is expected to be faster than the manual system used in previous polls.

The ECZ is expected to start holding periodic press briefings at the Mulungushi International Conference in Lusaka to announce presidential results as they trickle in from the 150 parliamentary constituencies.

Speaker Clears Vice President Over Police 'Invasion' Of Parliament

By Paul Shalala

Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Patrick Matibini has cleared Vice President Dr. Guy Scott of any wrong doing following the entry of his security detail in parliament earlier this year when opposition lawmakers protested over the constitution.

Passing ruling yesterday on a point of order raised by Mwandi member of parliament Dr. Michael Kaingu on why Dr Scott's security detail entered the chamber on 28th February, Dr Matibini said the circumstances in which they entered where justified.

Dr Matibini added that the house was at the time in a state of gross disorderliness and Dr Scott deserved to be protected at all cost as he holds the second highest office in the land.

He further ruled that Dr Scott did not breach any rule of the house and he was in order to have his security in the house under the circumstances.

And the Speaker has also cleared Mwandi member of parliament Dr Michael Kaingu for allegedly uttering words insinuating that he had removed his respect for the speaker because he did not understand English.

Passing a ruling on a point of order raised by Sports Minister Chishimba Kambwili,, Dr Matibini said he read the transcript of Dr. Kaingu's debate and he did not find such words being uttered.

He said as far as the verbatim from that day's proceedings are concerned, Mr Kambwili's point of order did not stand as he never uttered such words.

Meanwhile, Dr Matibini has reprimanded Chipangali member of parliament Vincent Mwale for filming the constitution protests in parliament using an ipad.

Dr Matibini said by using an Ipad, Mr Mwale breached parliamentary rules and deserved to be punished.

However, the speaker only gave a verbal warning to the Chipangali lawmaker because he was a first offender.

Updates On The Constitution From Parliament

By Paul Shalala

Today's Vice President's Question Time was the last one in this sitting of parliament which is expected to adjourn sine die on Tuesday next week.

As part of their protest on the constitution, opposition members of parliament sat quietly and none of them asked a single question to Dr Guy Scott during the 30 minutes long Vice President's Question Time.

Ruling Patriotic Front backbenchers seized the opportunity and turned it into a field day in which they took turns asking questions to Dr Scott.

The opposition members of parliament including independent Lubanshenshi member of parliament Patrick Mucheleka, all sat and kept quiet during the 30 minutes for the Vice President's Question Time.

Dr Scott said holding a referendum in older to adopt the new constitution will be more difficulty and less manageable than holding a general election.

He said in a referendum, the country is supposed to ensure that atleast two thirds of the population vote in the referendum to make the document legitimate.

The Vice President says this is as opposed to a general election where only registered voters are allowed to cast their ballots in an election.

Dr Scott has also assured the nation that government will not allow any sectors of society to hijack the constitution making process.

He said the ruling Patriotic Front has enough numbers in parliament to ensure that the new constitution is enacted in an orderly manner.

The Vice President said this in response to several questions posed by Patriotic Front backbenchers who posed several questions on the constitution.

Meanwhile, Dr Scott has revealed that Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba has been cleared by the Judge Evans Hamaundu-led tribunal.

Dr Scott says as far as he is aware, Mr Kabimba was cleared of all allegations leveled against him.

The Vice President revealed this in Parliament this morning in response to Lupososhi member of parliament Bwalya Chungu who wanted to know the results of the Judge Hamaundu Tribunal.

Human rights activist Brebner Changala and former Solwezi central member of parliament Lucky Mulusa petitioned Acting Chief Justice Lombe Chibesakunda to set up a tribunal to probe the Justice Minister.

The two alleged that Mr Kabimba abused his office when he allegedly used a government legal opinion offered to him in his capacity as Minister of Justice by the Solicitor General Musa Mwenye to allegedly pursue a private agenda of the ruling Patriotic Front and subsequently by a private litigant.

Mazabuka Central member of Parliament Garry Nkombo this morning moved a motion to urge government to provide a roadmap for the enactment of the new constitution.

In moving the motion, Mr Nkombo said his move was non confrontational as it was aimed at highlighting the commitment by the Patriotic Front to the constitution.

He said with the completion of the work by the Technical Committee on Drafting the Republican Constitution, there was need for government to guide the nation on the way forward.

The motion was seconded by Chembe member of parliament Mwansa Mbulakulima who said the new constitution must be able to improve governance in the country.

Meanwhile, opposition members of parliament who earlier this week avoided asking questions for oral answers, today resumed their normal duties.

UPND Mwinilunga member of parliament Stephen Katuka and his Solwezi West MMD counterpart Humphrey Mwanza today posed their questions.

UPND Katuba member of parliament Jonas Shakafuswa and his Kabompo West counterpart Ambrose Lufuma also asked follow up questions.

And contributing to the debate, Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba said government had a clear roadmap which will deliver a people driven constitution.

Mr Kabimba's sentiments were echoed by Lupososhi member of parliament Bwalya Chungu who said all lawmakers must partner with government to produce a people driven constitution.

However, Mr Chungu could not finish debating the motion as parliament was adjourned at 12:55.

The Lupososhi lawmaker is expected to wind up his debate on Tuesday before the house votes whether to adopt or reject the motion.