I have noticed that the news article by Patrick Jabani entitled “NCC Adopts New Electoral System in Zambia” recently appeared in both the Times of Zambia and The Post newspapers. In the article, Comrade Jabani has made a good summary of arguments for and against the adoption of Article 159(1) of the Republican constitution that is currently being crafted, which is intended to increase the number of Members of Parliament (MPs) from 150 to 280. [It is perhaps important to note here that the current membership of Parliament is actually 150 elected MPs + 8 MPs nominated by the Republican president.]
Unfortunately, the article does not address the cost associated with the proposed increase in the number of MPs.
In this regard, I wish to reiterate my initial position that Zambia cannot afford to implement the proposal that has been recommended by the National Constitutional Conference (NCC). There is really no wisdom in seeking to increase the number of constituencies when some of the existing constituencies cannot even generate enough tax revenue to meet the cost of maintaining their MPs.
It is unfortunate that such a recommendation is made at a time when tens of thousands of Grade 7 and Grade 9 students have continued to be spilled onto the streets every year, the healthcare system cannot meet the basic needs of the majority of citizens, the majority of Zambians have no access to clean water and electricity, the country still faces problems with garbage collection and disposal, a critical shortage of decent public housing has compelled so many of our fellow citizens to live in shanty townships nationwide, public infrastructure and services are still deficient, civil servants are still not adequately compensated for their services, and, among many other socio-economic ills, crime and unemployment are still widespread.
I have, therefore, found it necessary to provide some information about the cost of increasing the number of MPs from 150 (as suggested by Jabani) to 280. In this endeavor, I have assumed that the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Whip, and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament are remunerated the same as a Private Member in terms of salary, special allowance and utility; I have also assumed that the constituency allowance available to each MP is equivalent to that paid to a Nominated member in Zambian Kwacha (K) per year, and that there are no costs associated with personal-to-holder cars and other fringe benefits:
61,009,773 Salary
16,665,752 Special allowance
23,200,000 Utility
11,600,000 Constituency allowance
——————-
K112, 475,525 per MP x 150 MPs = K16,871,328,750.
——————-
And
K112, 475,525 per MP x 280 MPs = K31,492,147,000.
The cost of additional MPs per year:
K31,492,147,000 – K16,871,328,750 = K14,620,818,250 (US$3,187,377).
It seems the huge allowances which members of the National Constitutional Conference are receiving have intoxicated them so much that they have become incapable of thinking about the catalogue of socio-economic woes which the government cannot address mainly due to the lack of financial and material resources.
Rather than increasing the number of MPs, we should actually have been considering the prospect of reducing the number and restricting their functions to legislative matters. Parliament would still be representative and able to function effectively as the legislative organ of our national government, with only 72 elected MPs, for example, so that 1 MP could be elected from each of the existing 72 districts.
If we cannot reduce the number of MPs, we need to continue to have a parliament with 158 members (or 150 as suggested by Jabani). Representation in the governance of the country by women and the youth, among others, can be achieved through appointments to Permanent-Secretary positions, and to positions in Cabinet and government agencies.
It is irresponsible and ill-advised for NCC members to think about representation without seriously considering the cost associated with it.
Our country’s meager tax revenues will not be sufficient to maintain such a large parliament and a highly bloated cabinet. And we cannot continue to borrow until we push the country back into the debt trap. Besides, donor countries too are not likely to continue extending a helping hand while we continue to misuse our meager resources.
There is a need for NCC members and the government to realize that donor countries do not have unlimited resources. They have to make do with scarce resources by going through public expenditures line by line, program by program, agency by agency, department by department, and ministry by ministry in order to eliminate unnecessary application of public funds.
We need to start doing the same in order to wean our country from its current addiction to loans and its over-dependence on donor funding, as well as to attain economic independence and sustained socio-economic development, predominantly with our own local resources.
By the way, MPs should not be involved in the implementation of development projects; this should be the function of government ministries and local authorities. Besides, the provinces are already saturated with such portfolios as district commissioners, provincial ministers and provincial permanent secretaries, all of whom are supposed to complement the executive branch of the government in the implementation of development projects. To reiterate, we need to restrict the role of parliament to legislative functions — that is, law-making.
Henry Kyambalesa
Nambala shani!!! did i hear someone say 1??
Honestly, do we really need a bigger parliament?? A country which has being begging in perpetuity and now it wants to increase the parliament?? One wonders the logic
There goes my Lecturer again. Very Briliant, i just wonder if there will ever be a forum for such ideas to be heard and implemented
Nowerdays It is hard to find a rubish pit. and yet they want to increase the number of MPs. I remember in the days of Kaund they were about 18 cabinate ministers but today how many are they? Almost every politician wants to go to paliament and yet they doing nothing, just going there to sleep and drink free mineral water. shame on us
Does anybody know what has happened to Senior Citizen after the Kasama loss. I have not seen his contribution and I must say I used to find them interesting and am sure this topic would tickle his fancies. Has he changed his ID to save face or what.
Well my contribution is that all these extra seats are just being created by the old people in the country to expand this scum of a pension or retirement scheme called politics. Real politics should command servant hood and service to the nation. But looks like people are coming into politics to secure their retirement. This all things is just a pension scheme for those who know how to bootlick
Its fine . Let more people share the cake. Afterall money is made to be spent.
Increasing MPs from 150 to 280 is ridiculous,what exactly do MPs do? The same Country has House of Chiefs God knows what they do let alone DCs or DAs whatever they are called now,councillors name it all for what?
Unfortunately did not read the articles in Times and Post, it would have been helpful if the writer had outlined the major merits and demerits of the increase. That would have put the issue of cost into a better perspective. Anyway what ever the merits were I also agree that we can ill afford it when Education and Health go begging. Democracy can not be for the rich few
# 8 Berlusconi Babe, there are no merits unfortunately, i read the article!!!
Great idea from great leaders of tomorrow, thats brilliant idea no one want to analyse this situation until they adopt such a silly thing then we will start crying blood for what we have done.Sounds crazy yes and this should not be allowed to happen, otherwise we should be talking of reducing the number just too much
Politics unfortunantely has become a job whee one can become rich. Service to the nation is not a priority and they only reason people get into these positions is self enrichment. How many people actually know their area MP besides seeing them on TV? I agree that we could have one per district because Lusaka has thyem scattered all over but they are no where neaqr achiviing anything for us. We have numerous problems without having to increase the cost to us for maintianing these chaps. How will the seats be balanced anyway? I can bet anything that the additional seats will come from Eastern Province and any other area considered too vast such as Western Province, thereby ensuring the ruling party is ALWAYS in power. Is it so difficult to serve a nation?
# 8
One example of the merits of increasing the no. of MPs can be the case of Mpika district which is almost the size of the Copperbelt but has only 3 MPs. Kanchibiya constiuency is so vast that some areas are almost forgotten. But i feel the perks the MPs get are immoral and evil considering the poverty we are experiencing. Our MPs are just after fattening themselves and not serving the electorate. So an increase should not affect the budget for these good-for-nothing fellows.
Ba makaka aba taba nefyo bachita
I think a smaller cabinet is better for a developing nation like zambia. can we do a cost benefit analysis please.
Politics aside,kwena pa zed chilalila,mwalimumona Tolo nama dancing queens bakwe mu post,ndeisa mukulyako cake naine tetifye munchinge,tetinchipanye chandi,muchingefye ba zambia,muchingefye ba nkana……………………………………………………………………………………………………….ndeisa mukuba mp lusaka central,muka vote
Ask me. My feeling is that we shouldnt even have a Parliament atall. Lets go back to nature, live in the trees and survive on wild fruits. This European concept of governance is beyond our capacity even those with Phds seem to trade their brains in order to go to this thing called parliament.
I am for the idea of increasing the number partly for reasons outlines in # 12 and as for the cost impliction.!!! well democracy is not cheap. But I would want to see a situation (whicj the NCC has rejected ) where eletced MP’s are not members of the Executive. so they will represent their constituents properly
Wanzelu # 7 the Mp’s are elected representatives and that is the cornerstone of Democracy. They are very essential… They , at least in theory represent the interests of electorate. I Just look at Kambwili of Luanshya and how he brought out the issue of Luanshya copper mines or even Chzyuka and how he is always fighting for te dignity of his constituents
#11 i agree with you politics now kanonkelo.these mps once voted ninshi bamena namapipindo you will never see them accept on tv talking crap.epo napela
# 11 and # 18, I still argue for more MP’s but say that we should make them true representatives and not people lining up for cabinet jobs
Its an obvious case they are trying adopt the chines constitution, these people emulate the china, they have stoped thinking the only thing on their minds is china. under normal circumstances what are 280 mps for?????
The process being proposed unfortunately does not care about the cost to the tax payer because they are exempt. Time and time again they have demonstrated that the suffering masses, who they purport to represent, are anything to care about. sadly the process is supposed to include the grass roots… are they talking i wonder! Once again we the tax payers are beaten square. they will pay themselves first and watch while we suffer…. eish! and ouch!!
I still stand for the idea. The population is growing. It has more than doubled from independence and i feel the rural population really ignored. Please MP’s play a bi pupose, what we should be talking of ih how we can enhance their role. Do you people know we have constituencies the size of Belgium and Rwanda
We need the increase in no. of mps. That the cost of democracy. This enlarged number may remain so may be for the next fifty years or so. There is nothing wrong with this. I wish the write had to visit some of the bigger constituencies and see for himself how MPs find it difficult to cover.
I am with you observer. That is the cost of democracy.. I would also call for constituecy offices where Mps would have to spenf a stipiulated minimum numbers of houre per month so that we can take democracy closer to the people..
I fully agree. There is too much dreaming in NCC. Increasing MPs should not be anywhere near our priorities at this moment. It is foolish enough that thay are proposing propotional representation system, a system that brings no benefit except in their heads. Somebody pelase tell those chaps to come and visit Zambia. It seems they leave on another planet.
The process being proposed unfortunately does not care about the cost to the tax payer because they (mp’s) are exempt. Time and time again they have demonstrated that the suffering masses, who they purport to represent, are nothing to care about. sadly the process is supposed to include the grass roots… are they talking i wonder! Once again we the tax payers are beaten square. they will pay themselves first and watch while we suffer…. eish! and ouch!!
# 17 Positivist Pa ZED.There are toomany representatives for the people in Zambia,From increasing the MPs then you increase the Councillors and DAs/Dcs then it will be increase cabinet,then House of Chiefs,we will eventually become our own representatives in Parliament
We need to reduce the size of Parliament and find a way to improve its performance. We also need a way to avoid bye-elections which are expensive and disruptive. For instance MPs could be allowed to cross over to another party without need for elections in a given window period. In case of a death, the party involved could just appoint somebody capable from its ranks. There is just too much politics and little delivery in Zed.
man….walasapo pa point. These guys in the NCC are so selfish. They dont think with their heads but with their pockets. If Zambia is facing financial difficulties, where is she going to find money to pay these d.ul.l creatures in parliament? There are so many people living in abject povert, why cant we use that money we want to waste on these d.u.l.l creatures on projects to help these poor people? Any way its a disease of Zambians, we want to spend without investing. Wake uo ypu idle people, its time to invest and not to loot.
It is not only those attending the NCC, but look at the mutted reaction of the often vociforous guys of PF like Lubinda. These guys dont care as long as they know it will now be easier for them to get into parliament. By the way, are you aware that salaries for parliamentarians were increased in september this year?,
#12 has a good point, but i think the solution to the problem of some constituencies being way bigger than others is not to increase the number of MP’s. Why can’t some smaller constituencies merge with others and ‘transfer’ those Mp’s to larger constituencies? By that i mean if you merger two smaller neighboring constituencies and make one, then you can divide the bigger one and create one extra constituency. That way you balance the number of MP’s while taking care of the problem. Well thats just an idea its open for debate.
They must also find a big chair that will fit GBM ! Where is Senior Citizen ?
Zambia does not need more fat cats, although I am not surprised that the MMD would want just that.
What Zambia needs is more services and service delivery, which means delegate budgets to local government, where people can keep an eye on how their money is spent.
Handing national revenues directly to local government, also reduces double taxation of ordinary citizens, because they will no longer need to pay most local taxes and charges, which can be abolished.
What do these MP’s do anyway? Parliament is nothing, but a rubber stamp.
Why do we need more MPS ? Where on earth do you want to increase this number? do you want to manipu;ate the electrol process. What has doubled in Zambia to trigger such a change? Ba Mukukulu. Zambians lets stand up and stop this malicious damage to our nation.
#12 and #17 Are you suggesting that if Kanchibiya is bigger than the Copperbelt Province – but let’s say for arguments sake it has 200,000 people then it should have more MPs than the whole of the Copperbelt? Should land area be the criterion? Unfortunately, I do not think so. I am not sure but I do not think that there are any merits for increasing the number of MPs. We need to streamline operations and put in place measures for accountability. At the moment I do not know what MPs do. We need to mop up resources and build our infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and create jobs. We do not many managers to carry out this task – we need few enlightened, intelligent and accountable managers. For example, why don’t MPs give an annual report of development activities in their Constituencies?
……A written report that is available to all constituents with channels for constituents to see and air their views would be a better way to check on what the MPs are doing. Most of these MPs do not even know their Constituencies very well. There should be a way of clocking time in the Constuencies and a minimum number of hours per year for an MP to be in his Constituency. I am not saying that this will mean that they are working, but let them at least spend time with the people who elected them.
Come back to reality folks, I would rather have MP’s make a decent salary. I do not want my MP not making any money, if you don’t let them earn a decent salary, they will be easier corrupted.
I would have a better chance bribing someone who makes $10,000/ year over someone who currently makes $23,000 (our MPs)
I think some of the people on this message board would have a heart attack to learn Kenyan MPs almost make in a month what Zambian MPs make in a year. $212,000/ year, $17,000/month.
I would rather see my MP accountable to me than to the highest bidder leave their salaries the way they are, You cant have your cake and eat it too. We def need more MPs Zambia is too vast. If you drop their salaries, they’ll just make even more money elsewhere (we’ll then have even more…
MPs for sale)
$6.4 million / year is a small price for our country to pay for our Legislators. Think about it, if you don’t pay these guys, the laws for our country will be up for sale, and that my friends you cannot put a price on
#20, the number of MPs is not based on the geographic area but on the number of people in the constituency. If we follow our laws on delimitation, we will actually end up with the majority of constituencies being created in Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces! We clearly do not need this. And if the current crop of politicians can not even effectively debate issues (One side is a bunch of yesmen and the other just opposes everything), how is increasing the size of parliament supposed to address this? We should be thinking of cost cutting! Some of these MPs even receive more money than the entire constituency receives in a year! We should have been very angry with RB for saying that 50% of salaries go to civil servants without giving an analysis of this
Splaka @ #41, I am of the opinion that geographical area should also be a factor when considering our constituencies as well as population. i say this because it is very difficuly to represent the much larger constituencies especially with the poor infrastructure. There is no doubt that the population should be a major factoe but so should the area covered.
Advisor I agree that there our representatives should be made more accountable. and this I have said in # 17. But i do feel having increasing the number will also help representation as they “will help as they will be closer to the people “from both the perepective of population and geographical area.
THEY ARE CREATING EMPLOYMENT. WHAT’S WRONG WITH U. VIVA RB
Let them reduce the number. These fat cats are doing nothing apart from dozing and being lumpen in parliament.
I think this is emblematic of what is wrong with the present system. The MMD, who always complain of ‘meagre resources’, set up a massively expensive NCC project, who then proceed to expand the number of central government politicians and tasks. And all of a sudden, no one is talking of ‘meagre resources’ anymore.
Is this in response to a cry for more MPs from the country? No, this is the central government voting itself more tasks and money.
What is needed, is to spend 50% of national revenues directly on local government. That would make a HUGE difference in governance, because local taxes and levies would disappear leaving people with more money to spend and stimulate the economy. It would also mean money is spent around the country instead of in the capital.
Viva more mps so that more *****s can get mid term gratuity
This is an increase of 86.7% in the number of MPs, so we are almost doubling it and we are also doing the same the same to the number of their cars and carbon emmissions by MPs alone. I am not particularly worried about their salaries if Henry Kyambalesa’s figures are in fact correct ANNUAL packages. This translates to only K9+million. Am sure these guys deserve more if they were to be elected on merit and be committed and capable of bringing about the envisaged development to the communities they represent! but where are they going to sit? Are you also building a new legislative chamber?