UPND members of parliament along with some of their counterparts from the MMD walked out of Parliament yesterday to register their frustration with Speaker Patrick Matibini’s rulings in the House.
But Dr Matibini said only posterity will judge him as to whether or not he was a partial presiding officer.
Monze UPND member of parliament Jack Mwiimbu accused Speaker Matibini of favouring the ruling party when rendering rulings in the House.
This was in reference to two points of order concerning Vice-President Inonge Wina’s response on the presence of Timor Consulting in Zambia as well as finance minister Alexander Chikwanda’s tribal remarks which caused chaos in the House last month.
Speaker Matibini ruled that he could not rely on The Post publication of two letters on government involvement with Timor, as they were not authenticated by government and the House.
He said the media in Zambia had become polarised and as such, he was reluctant to take whatever they reported as gospel truth, and as such the documents Mazabuka UPND member of parliament Garry Nkombo laid on the table of the House after his point of order on February 25 could not be relied on as evidence to warrant his action.
“It’s not uncommon for certain media houses to publish false information. These documents as carried in The Post newspapers were therefore not authenticated and so they don’t qualify to be laid on the table of the House,” ruled Dr Matibini.
But seemingly not happy, UPND and some MMD members of parliament walked out of the House in protest and held a caucus on the balcony and resolved to challenge Vice-President Wina’s lies over Timor Consulting’s existence during her question time session.
But when they did, Vice-President Wina maintained that she was not aware of the presence of the Israeli company in Zambia.
She was responding to questions by Namwala and Kalomo UPND members of parliament Moono Lubezhi and Request Muntanga respectively who accused her of lying to the House.
Lubezhi asked whether, following all the revelations in the media about Timor, Vice-President Wina still had the audacity to say the company was not present in Zambia, while Muntanga wondered whether she would sue The Post for being malicious.
“Mr Speaker, the MP [Lubezhi] wants to overrule your ruling but what I can assure her is that the presence of this company is not known to myself; the government and State House,” Vice-President Wina said.
“As regards the issue of whether we are suing, that’s new and it does not mean that when we don’t sue, there is an issue.”
The Vice-President accused The Post of being malicious by producing letters that were not authenticated, in responding to a question by Senanga UPND member of parliament Likando Mufalali.
“...yes it was a malicious production by whoever it is. Those were forged; not authenticated. They are not genuine, Mr Speaker,” claimed Vice-President Wina.
In a point of order, Mwiimbu then questioned the impartiality of the House.
“Mr Speaker, I am aware and alive to rulings that have been made by various presiding officers pertaining to raising points of order on issues to do with the media and tabling of documents on the table of this House. I am aware of the issue of GBM [Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba], the former member of parliament for Kasama Central, who was made to leave the House owing to media articles. The former Matero member of parliament Miles Sampa also lost his seat through newspaper articles and a decision was made by this House,” Mwiimbu reminded Speaker Matibini.
“I, Jack Mwiimbu was punished by this House based on newspaper reports. I am aware also that the Minister of Finance on March 9, this year placed an advertisement in the Daily Nation [newspaper] casting aspersions on your ruling you made on him. A number of members of parliament have, too, been punished for similar comments and I am aware that issues that appear in newspapers are adduced as evidence in this House. Is this House in order to be inconsistent by not considering previous rulings and punishment meted out? Is this House in order to be protecting members of the government when it comes to issues of flouting its regulations?”
He said the Speaker was always hesitant to take action against members of the ruling PF but was harsh on the opposition.
“This House is very slow in taking action on the government side and yet very quick to punish those on the left. There is always a way of trying to protect them (PF members). Mr Speaker, are we in order to lower the integrity of this House?” asked Mwiimbu.
But Speaker Matibini defended himself and stressed that he was impartial in his rulings.
He told the House that former members of parliament, GBM and Sampa, held press conferences announcing their resignations, hence his decision to declare their seats vacant.
“Even me as Speaker, I watched these press conferences because they were televised. It’s unfair to suggest that a different standard was applied. I’m balanced in the way I preside over matters of this House and please let’s be fair to one another. If you feel dissatisfied on my rulings, you can use the Standing Orders Handbook clause 61 to move a substantive motion,” ruled Speaker Matibini.
The House also heard that the government had restricted the grade 12 certificate verification exercise to Lusaka to avoid manipulation.
Deputy minister in the Office of the Vice-President Chungu Bwalya told the House that the government, however, might consider decentralising the modalities of verifying the results.
Bwalya was responding to a question from Choma Central UPND member of parliament Cornelius Mweetwa who said the Examinations Council of Zambia was overwhelmed by long queues of people verifying their grade 12 certificates.
Sunday Post
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