[1]SPEAKER of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini yesterday ruled that there was nothing ‘racist’ about the term “monkeying around”, which was said by Vice-President Guy Scott when opposition members of Parliament staged a walk-out protest over the draft Constitution.
In the same ruling, Dr Matibini also said there was nothing wrong with Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba referring to the opposition MPs as fraudsters.
The point of order was raised by Choma MP Cornelius Mweetwa in March this year.
Dr Matibini said Dr Scott and Mr Kabimba were merely conveying the message that in light of the gross disorderly conduct displayed in the House, the opposition members lacked seriousness in the discharge of their functions.
“Honourable members, I did at the time advise the members that their work is conducted at great expense to the tax -payer and hence there is a responsibility on each member to be in the House throughout the course of the sitting,” Dr Matibini said.
At the time, Dr Scott is said to have told Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) that opposition MPs were “monkeying around” in reference to their disorderly conduct.
In the case of Mr Kabimba, he is said to have told ZNBC that the opposition members were fraudsters and wasting tax payers’ money for being paid sitting allowances by merely registering their names on the attendance register without participating in the deliberations of the House.
Dr Matibini said he further found nothing racist about the term ’monkeying around’.
“I find nothing racist about the term `monkeying around’. Dr Scott was merely putting forth a message that MPs need to be serious in the discharge of the duties. The term `monkeying around’ means to play about or to mess around’,” he said.
The Speaker has since declared the term ‘monkeying around’ as un-parliamentary after Monze MP Jack Mwiimbu used it in reference to the Patriotic Front.
In another ruling, Dr Matibini warned Zambian Voice executive director Chilufya Tayali and All People’s Congress party president Nason Msoni against making derogatory statements against the office of the Speaker.
In March this year, the two ,in separate interviews, told the Daily Nation that the Speaker is partisan and must resign.
Comments Disabled To "Use of phrase “monkeying around” by Guy Scott is not racist-Speaker of National Assembly"
#1 Comment By OldRugsOUT On June 21, 2014 @ 7:53 am
The one that’s monkeying around is Matibini himself. Donty Scotty should have directed that comment on this chap.
Can’t wait for when he will be taught a lesson he will never forget thoughout his lifetime. If what I heard and saw on ZNBC is anything to go by, that time is fast approaching.
#2 Comment By Ola On June 21, 2014 @ 8:19 am
When a white man uses a phrase with monkey on it towards a black man is racist because such a term has come to be associated with blacks just as throwing bananas on a black man- there words which are sensitive words which should be avoided.
#3 Comment By Let me say this………… On June 21, 2014 @ 11:00 am
Dr Matibini is between a hard rock and the sea. VP and SG are all politically powerful individuals he cannot afford to upset. But he could learn one or two lessons from the late Nabulyato or even Mr Mwanamwambwa, the last speaker – consistency in values and rulings.
Can one not call Hon. Kabimba a fraudster for using all sorts of excuses (tricks?) to circumvent the constitution process? Clearly, Dr Matibini is being unfair to threaten people who are expressing disappointment about the manner the government has denied Zambia a new constitution. Our Speaker has really compromised his integrity through self-correcting and self-editing. Sad indeed that people who are crying at unfairness are being condemned and threatened by the only person who could provide their refuge. What is this??
#4 Comment By Saulosi On June 21, 2014 @ 11:14 am
I heard that HH was monkeying around in Bauleni this morning
#5 Comment By Wanzelu On June 21, 2014 @ 1:45 pm
So what is wrong with HH saying Sata is “Chimbwi no Plan” and compulsive and divisive liar?
#6 Comment By 142 On June 21, 2014 @ 1:45 pm
@ Saulosi
When you are at loss to find any plausible excuse, just shut-up. You my pass for reasonable person. What the HH has to do with this issue? Are you jealous of him?
#7 Comment By Wanzelu On June 21, 2014 @ 2:23 pm
I have heard that Sata has gone monkeying around in some European hospital instead of going straight to malabo.
#8 Comment By ndobo On June 21, 2014 @ 3:39 pm
Black people,black people what a shame,,,, thats why white people laugh at us, a black man can never say `pigging around OR that these whites are being piggy` in prliament in UK or USA, that will a big case maybe mark the end of that person`s political life,,,,
now here we have black people seling off black people…. white man bwana Scot is laughing at the headless DOCTOR Matibili
#9 Comment By kombo On June 21, 2014 @ 7:55 pm
Nothing here , we are blacks period, I have an uncle who looks exactly like a monkey, don’t understand the fuss about being black, I like that footballer , when a banana was thrown at him when he was about to take a penalty, he got the banana peeled and ate that is how you fight racism , by accepting you are black, not being defensive.
#10 Comment By THE PRINCE On June 22, 2014 @ 11:52 am
Always ok if it is PF saying any hush words to opposition. Let also the opposition Call SATA a moving coffin if that will be ok?? Or Dunderheads with no Plan. Sata has taught his Ministers and cadres to be very sarcastic.
#11 Comment By Mphangwe On June 21, 2014 @ 7:59 am
We all know that Guy Scott has serious low opinions on the calibre of Africans. He is a downright racist who exported his impunity to African politicians in South Africa. This was revealed during Jacob Zuma’s inauguration as President, when Justice Malala made a passing moment as Guy Scott surfaced in Pretoria. The South African journalists were heard saying: “this is the ‘guy’ who said nasty things against the ANC – but now he learn the meaning of democracy”.
Where on Earth did Dr. Patrick Matibini get his PhD? Has this “Dr” ever learnt some basics of the Course that UNZA developed as ‘AFRICAN STUDIES’? Zambia is indeed running through a phase of the Dark Ages when Barbarians are in Charge of an African country.
#12 Comment By LUAPULA PREMIER On June 21, 2014 @ 8:28 am
“Monkeying around” is not a phrase but a common slung.
The slung is not racist! It simply means doing things ‘randomly’ or ‘unplanned’ or ‘idling’?
#13 Comment By Mary Siwale On June 21, 2014 @ 9:01 am
But is it parliamentary naimwe.?Just wake up, you can’t continue sleeping
#14 Comment By OldRugsOUT On June 21, 2014 @ 9:41 am
Even in South Africa, guy scott qualifies to be a HOBO. Folks you find sleeping on Shop Collidors in winter, and begging during the day.
Do not take such lightly, especially from Chaps like him that’s on record as having insulted even South Africans. Shoulder to think what he says about us when his with fellow whites.
#15 Comment By Mphendula Kayaula On June 21, 2014 @ 12:17 pm
I refuse to be counselled on the use of the English language by someone who is unable to differentiate between ‘slang’ and ‘slung’!
#16 Comment By Wanzelu On June 21, 2014 @ 2:29 pm
@Luapula premier.
Thank you for authenticating and defining the phrase” Monkyeing around”.
Therefore this word is mostly applicable to the way PF run the government. Sata and his team of useless ministers just monkey around all the time destroying our economy.
#17 Comment By ine wine On June 21, 2014 @ 8:32 am
Dr Matibini is expressing his opinion in his own capacity but he forgets he is saying this as a speaker. he should learn to differentiate the two. thats the problem i have with civil servants and politians in zambia – they cannot separate the person and the office e.g. presidency and president are two different issues whilst related. the presidency enjoys immunity but you find a president going to court thus bringing the office of the presidency into ridicule. the speaker should understand that he does not hold the preserve of knowledge in judgement. what Dr Scott said is racist and thats it. you cannot find any other word for it. next time someone should call him piggying around and we will see how he will react.
#18 Comment By Mj On June 21, 2014 @ 9:05 am
Your writting is vague and incomprehensible.
#19 Comment By OldRugsOUT On June 21, 2014 @ 9:45 am
Ine Wine – Spot on. That’s coming from a known racist, and should not be taken lightly. Guy Scott needs to be taught a lesson.
#20 Comment By ZP(Zabwino Palibe) On June 21, 2014 @ 8:33 am
These are are kind of characters we find in play parks in England called trumps. In zambia we give them presidential escort and platform to insults us blaks.
#21 Comment By muntu On June 21, 2014 @ 8:39 am
@ZP, awe mwadini…u made my morning… 🙂
#22 Comment By Wanzelu On June 21, 2014 @ 7:03 pm
@ZP
Very true that. Most trumps are educated just like Scott but have failed to conform to the changes taking place demographically and have instead decided to lead a carefree life of drinking ciders in the parks.
For sure thats why Guys Scott can never make a life in a land of his fore fathers because things have changed a lot here and care less talk like Scott’s could land him in serious trouble.
This explains why Scott likes pigging around in Zambia. He can’t pig around in Zim or SA for fear of being chopped and boiled for dog stew.
Mugabe dislikes Sata because his CAPRICON Past and Guy Scott as vice president.
If he wants to be respected he better respect us.
#23 Comment By LUAPULA PREMIER On June 21, 2014 @ 8:34 am
@Mphangwe
@Ola
@OldRugsOUT
Guys, please don’t be i d i o t s like your MPs. Which school did you attend?
When did the slung become ‘offensive’? Even LT is not censoring the slung!
#24 Comment By Black Coffee On June 21, 2014 @ 9:15 am
@Luapula Premier
I hope you are not aspiring to be the Premier as your vocabulary is quite poor. I guess you meant ‘slang’ and not ‘slung’. LOL
#25 Comment By OldRugsOUT On June 21, 2014 @ 9:36 am
Luapula Premier – As a Black Zambian from Luapula Province I take offence when a White Man uses terms such as that, especially from a Chap that’s issued similar resist remarks even to fellow South African Blacks.
That’s a grave intergrity to me, and will not take it lightly. Am not a Muzungu anikonde as you’re and will not seat down.
#26 Comment By 142 On June 21, 2014 @ 1:50 pm
@ luapula 5tupid
Check thesaurus before you get “slung” failed pseudo literate.
#27 Comment By ganja farmer On June 21, 2014 @ 8:35 am
Yes zedians are monkeys,how do they allow a president who is constantly changing colours every day? If it was in Arab world,this pink,red,black,grey, ukwa would have been forced out of state house.He can’t just bring the whole nation to a standstill. A president who fails to have a press conference in three years.
#28 Comment By Yamba On June 21, 2014 @ 8:48 am
These UNDP chaps are monkeying around.
#29 Comment By Ameno On June 21, 2014 @ 10:31 am
Chiwamina Galu kuluma Mbuzi. The word spoken by Muzungu was fine to you and the same word used to describe the Phimbwe no Fly it becomes offensive ahaaaaa kwena PF yano Nzelu.
#30 Comment By spartan On June 21, 2014 @ 9:03 am
Some people are always referring to fellow black people as monkeys. Why are they now offended. The same thing happens in Europe and America when blacks call each nigger, but when a white man calls them nigger they get offended. Monkey should be declared an ”M” word.
#31 Comment By spartan On June 21, 2014 @ 9:20 am
Black people are their own worst enemies.
#32 Comment By PM On June 21, 2014 @ 9:27 am
Monkeying around is unparliamentary language and the speaker should have cautioned this Scot baboon. Obviously this man is damn racist and am surprise that this monkey called speaker of the assembly can’t see that!!
#33 Comment By OldRugsOUT On June 21, 2014 @ 9:47 am
Matibini should in the first place not having been speaker. Now for having brought this noble office into redicule, he needs to be jailed for a minimum 10 years, that should include all his fellow cronies.
#34 Comment By joseph mwewa On June 21, 2014 @ 9:36 am
it is last century I concluded that Scott only has a mouth but no brain I don’t waste time listening to what he says
#35 Comment By Yambayamba On June 21, 2014 @ 9:51 am
Wow, some people really enjoy arguing for argument’s sake, ka! Yes, the phrase may be unparliamentary, but RACIST!? Really!
How about telling a “WHITE LIE”? Does this mean being racist towards White people. Is “WHITE COLLAR JOB” also a derogatory phrase against White folks? I wonder what race/group of people the phrase “AVOIDING THE BIG ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM” racist/derogatory towards. Oh, I forgot, in the Zambian parliament we have people like GBM and Kambwili, so parliamentarians should be careful using this phrase or they risk a “point of order” from the GBM/Kambwili race!
Very soon we will be crying about expressions like “BLACK MARKET” as being racist. C’mon people, is this what Zambian education has done to us?????????
#36 Comment By Scrutinizerer On June 21, 2014 @ 11:36 am
@yamba..
I appreciate your line of thought but you have got it all jumbled up…..sometimes you do not need a phrase to bring out an act of racism. imagine you walking along Cairo road and suddenly you see a banana landing in front of you. You look around and you only see a group of Zambian boys and girls, you would probably just pass by without any ‘rasism’ thought…..imagine if same scenario happened to you on the street in UK, you look around and see a group of white boys and girls…?? All i’m saying is, if Kabimba had pronounced the same phrase, the word racism could not prevail, probably the aggrieved could have just felt being insulted…..
#37 Comment By 142 On June 21, 2014 @ 1:54 pm
@ Scrutiniser
Such occurrence in English is defined as “having chip on the shoulder”
#38 Comment By Scrutinizerer On June 21, 2014 @ 2:30 pm
@142…
Far from it……we are not blaming Scotty for our race or holding any grudge against him……….Thee are mare facts of human nature. It does not only apply to racism….even in other circumstances
..a tall man calling short man as a dwarf
…a rich calling a poor …’you poor man’…we ncushi iwe…..
….if your father was once jailed for stealing and your friend calls you…’a son of a thief’…even if it is a fact you are bound to react
…infact, if you are in the UK, try to describe a ‘fat’ lady as….’this fat lady’…and see her reaction…
So, such phrases/idioms are designed to justify the abuse by the aggressors. It’s better used in situations were the circumstance can be reversed or resolved…..like losing an election ofcourse not erection…..
#39 Comment By ine wine On June 21, 2014 @ 4:14 pm
@yambayamba – i find your argument hollow and very much gullible to the uninitiated. the examples you give only have white and black which is far removed from what is globally known as a racist symbol for blacks – a monkey just like the whites are associated with pigs in this racism. your argument is all over and hitting nothing
#40 Comment By zedian On June 21, 2014 @ 9:52 am
Matibini is an 1diot. It is unpaliamentary for Kabimba to refer to MPs as fraudsters. This 1diot called matibini behaves as if it has never been to school. It is the worst speaker in the history of Zambia.
#41 Comment By Nonsense Speaks On June 22, 2014 @ 12:25 pm
To make matters worse that dullard of a lawyer is only nominated. With that language no one in their right senses can vote for him.
#42 Comment By Aquilla On June 21, 2014 @ 10:23 am
Dr,Matibini and PF membership do Zambia a favor.
Call an urgent PF meeting to resolve the shame of displaying a sick president to the world. That man in state house is sick right, take him to the hospital or if state house is a hospital as we are made to understand, let him be confined to resting. Politics will always be in a nation, roles other people can play including presidency when the siting president is not well. How can we display a very sick person to the press and visiting Chinese VP who we have now come to learn that even he raised a complaint over it. What! do we have morals as a nation? or is it because those from Mpika have none?, do us a favor PF leadership, don’t monkey around, your man is sick and needs help.
#43 Comment By Pumpe On June 21, 2014 @ 11:09 am
Where there’s money, kaponyas will die to be there. There were donations by the Chinese so expect kaponyas to be there regardless of their state
#44 Comment By matipa On June 21, 2014 @ 2:14 pm
@Acquilla
yayayayaya…. you are right my brother. actually the man composed a song against mazoka if you can recall “bombasa yapona”, against George Kunda he called him red lipped snake. well, his time has come. if you look at the picture on zambian watchdog, he is now the new red lipped snake from black mamba/ cobra. looks like a soaked rat from ice called water
#45 Comment By Scrutinizerer On June 21, 2014 @ 11:03 am
…ba Matibini….I know how you feel because I have been in your situation before….were I engage my mouth to say something but at the same time my conscience has exactly the opposite. I regretted and wish I had just kept quite. I felt I had betrayed my status of being a principled person.
The least Matibini could have said is…I quote…’…I don’t see any racism in the term but I’m not going to condone or allow the use of such phrases in the house…’
In my opinion, such a phrase coming from a white block used on a black man cannot fall short of a racist remark period
#46 Comment By Pumpe On June 21, 2014 @ 11:07 am
Such words are contextual you dull matibini. What’s wrong with these pf cadres kanshi. They all seem to be dull. The word if nigger if used Africa it is not racist It may mean dude..boy…guy ..but when a white guy uses it in say USA it become racist. Similarly u can’t use such a word against blacks it’s common knowledge that these pple think we r monkeys. So such words from a white fool shouldn’t be tolerated
#47 Comment By kubweka On June 21, 2014 @ 11:27 am
mokeying around is another way of saying fooling around, not racist or insultulting to anyone; now calling someone a fraudster is wrong, deepending on the way it was said, a fraudster is a crook; so of the two Kabimba erred by calling the opposition fraudsters:
#48 Comment By Hola On June 21, 2014 @ 2:12 pm
You are all behaving like cheeky monkeys!
#49 Comment By RED SQUARE On June 21, 2014 @ 4:27 pm
Mr Scott your pig around attitude towards Zambins will cost you.
#50 Comment By Nsimba On June 21, 2014 @ 6:05 pm
@Premier…slung? Sling? Slang? What school did YOU go to, sir? By the way, ever heard of the word ‘connotation’? Obviously not…So maybe you should bite your tongue instead of broadcasting your ignorance…
#51 Comment By Sir jeff On June 21, 2014 @ 10:18 pm
Patrick is not fit to be a speaker of the natiomal assembly! We cant have a leader who allows one group to use derogatory terms n when the other group uses the same terms, he forbids n we allow such nonsense? I urge him for once to be above bold. A good name is better than riches.
#52 Comment By Musonda On June 22, 2014 @ 3:23 am
Guy scrotum and scrotum Matibini. All F.ools.
#53 Comment By Munshebwa On June 22, 2014 @ 3:29 am
Monkey kubweka. Just shut up. Supporting the white PIG will not take you anywhere. The word is derogatory period. Do not behave like Guy “Scrotum” like the other blogger has highlighted.
#54 Comment By kubweka On June 22, 2014 @ 7:57 pm
I am not in support of Guy Scott; but rather correcting a misunderstanding on your part Kolwe; ichisungu chali shupa; lol
#55 Comment By Musonda On June 22, 2014 @ 3:34 am
Yambayamba ulichipuba iwe. Just shut if you have no comment to make. MONKEY.
#56 Comment By The Observer On June 22, 2014 @ 11:56 am
The speaker of the national assembly and guy scott must stop monkeying around and get serious with the business of the house and the country’s affairs. They are mostly monkeying around petty issues and avoiding dealing with serious issues!
#57 Comment By Maikalange On June 22, 2014 @ 8:06 pm
If it was OK to call Levy a cabbage, and the Speaker says it is OK to call us monkeys, then it is OK to call the PF chibwi one day and chumbu another.
#OneZambia
#58 Comment By James banda On June 22, 2014 @ 10:12 pm
This so called speaker is a fool. monkeying around when its used by a white person on a black person is utterly racist. If it was in Scotland where that foolish muzungu comes from he would have already resigned for uttering such comments!!
#59 Comment By Chitutuma On June 23, 2014 @ 10:43 am
One Zambian student in UK got quite upset when our American lecturer innocently referred to us as ‘folks’. To this particular student the word was insulting! This student embarrassed Zambian students to no end.