Sinazongwe Area Member of Parliament Richwell Siamunene says he is ready to be expelled from the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) if his efforts to work with government in alleviating the suffering of people in his constituency are hampered by his party.
Mr Siamunene said people in his constituency were suffering and he would continue partnering with government openly to ensure efficient service delivery to people in Sinazongwe district.
“If I am expelled for working with government and exposing people’s problems in my constituency, then it is okay. I joined politics to serve the people and it will be good to be fired when attending to people’s problems,” he said.
Mr Siamunene said this in Sinazongwe yesterday when he accompanied Deputy Minister in the Office of the Vice President, Harry Kalaba to the broken down Simwaala Bridge on the Bottom Road in Dengeza area.
He charged that he was not in parliament to receive allowances but to inform government on the challenges people in his constituency were facing in a bid to have them addressed.
“It is my duty as an MP to inform government of what challenges people in my constituency are facing and to remind the people in power of the promises they made and if they don’t address them, it becomes their problem,” he said.
Mr Siamunene said people in Sinazongwe district were facing a lot of challenges including poor road network, lack of medical supplies, lack of teachers in schools, maternal deaths and high poverty levels due to poor crop yields among others.
“When bridges are flooded, children cannot go to school, pregnant women cannot be taken to the hospital, agricultural produce cannot be marketed and medical supplies cannot be delivered on time due to the bad state of the Bottom road which has been left unattended to for the past 50 years or so,” he said.
He also revealed that hunger was looming in his constituency following the stunted growth of most maize crops and sorghum in the area.
Mr Siamunene said some areas were already hunger stricken and people were surviving on wild fruits and seeds from wild grass locally known as ‘Mpunga’.
And Deputy Minister in the Office of the Vice President, Harry Kalaba urged UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema to emulate Sinazongwe MP Richwell Siamunene by working with government.
Mr Kalaba said it was not time for politicking but for leaders in opposition to go beyond party lines and work with government to alleviate the suffering of vulnerable people in the country.
He said the country was not interested in leaders that were blocking development and good governance.
Mr Kalaba stressed that government would not allow people in Sinazongwe district to die of hunger and pledged to have relief maize sent to the area.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister revealed that Zambia Army Officers would move in at Simwaala broken down bridge within seven days to reconstruct the bridge which he said would be completed in 21 days.
And commenting on the expulsion of UPND Itezhi Tezhi Member of Parliament, Greyford Monde, Mr Kalaba said the law maker did the right thing by accepting to serve in government as Deputy Minister of Agriculture.
Mr. Kalaba explained that governance was about embracing each other and collective responsibility and Mr Monde’s decision was for the larger good and not personal interest.
He reiterated that President Michael Sata was not killing the opposition by appointing its MPs to serve in government as it was his constitutional right to appoint ministers from within parliament.
Mr Kalaba said opposition MPs needed input from government to develop their areas as they could not just rely on Constituency Development Funds (CDF) which is inadequate and prone to mismanagement.
ZANIS
Expel him.Since working with the government is a crime to you.He has challenged you.
He has the right to work with whatever party he wants
Foolish UPND.A party of tribalists.
Let the poor MP know the difference between working with the government & being appointed as deputy minister! Yes, you work & lobby government to but not becoming a so called dep.minister bwana- mufuna modyela kodi?
Foolish *****s,late them take the development now b4 he becomes minister.They should prove what they are saying.Late them build a university and make Sinazeze a District.Syamunene does not need to be minister to take development.He is just a useful *****.
the chap didn’t say he’s joining PF..he can’t becoz he would lose..the wise people of Sinazongwe would not allow it..
How many MPs will be expelled?
All of them will be expelled because they do not believe in dictatorship of the party and NAREP and NGOs are not intervening.
Mr Sata. Create another deputy minister postion for this chap so that he can serve his people as he thinks for a few months as you blow billions away on the byelection. Anyway 500 deputy minister positions are being created to take development to all areas, according to PF principles.
Just resign from UPND, your fellow Reverend in Livingstone just did that, resulting in death of PF cadre.
Where you in coma?for you to still be talking about sikwela,stunted minds!!!talk about the matter at hand
these tuma weak m.ps,u are busy parroting p.f propaganda like your friend monde yet when u are expelled u rush to court.we’ll see whr monde will be come april seeing how the courts have denied to stay his expulsion…………………………..mwanya u mercenaries!!!!!!!!!!
Monde might find himself back in his hut in the village soon. And he will never recover. it’s donchi kubeba he is playing with.
Even me i would do the same more especially that the young man has a very beautiful, wife, to maintain otherwise azamuchindila bena
Byelections are giving UPND and HH political visibility and good for the party although very very bad for the masses. So if there are more political prostitues who want to resign from UPND, let them go and we will scoop our seats. Tongas are not f^&ls.
You foolish Mps that are holding the country at ransom with your threats should be fired.That money used for by elections could help run schools,build roads etc.What has bewitched these mps?
This MP is a dubious Real Estates agent. please beware if you intend to do business with Mutimbi Real Estates. He is a sweet talker.
SIAMUNENE, TELL THE GOVERNMENT TO TARMAC THE SINAZEZE-SINAZONGWE ROAD SINCE YOU WORK CLOSELY WITH THEM. THIS ROAD LEADS TO THE DISTRICT AND YET IT HAS REMAINED GRAVEL FROM ANTIQUITY. SHIFT THE CAPITAL TO MAAMBA THEN. SINAZONGWE HAS POTENTIAL FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH BUT ACCESSIBILITY IS POOR.
I think to me the MP is blowing a lot of hot air for nothing. Working with government? Does he realize by being an MP he’s already in government? There are 3 arms of government ba MP, namely; Executive, Judiciary and Legislature to which u belong. What you are doing is right on because the people u represent have a right to be assisted because they have a need and they are Zambians. I imagine your party would have no problem with that. What would be a problem is for u to cross the floor from one arm of government to another, in this case from Legislature to Executive, without the permission of your Party. So u are pushing an open door. U are government!
Very correct! What siamunene is doing is very much his job description. He, like all other mps, interacts with the executive to make sure they attend to the challenges in his constituency. It becomes a problem when he becomes part of the executive, as he is then unable to criticize the executive when they don’t perform because he will be party to their actions or inactions. A good example is all the opposition mps in the executive who have become extremely quiet, even when their farmers are not paid, fertilizer not delivered, etc. if we want opposition mps to be part of the executive, then we want a one party state!
Please, all leaders of Political Parties be more democratic in your parties than you demand the Govt of the day to be rather than protecting and promoting your own hidden agenda on the pretext of the outdated principle of toeing the party line at the expense of the parties’ and electorates’ interest and needs. Allow your MPs to articulate issues and make their own decisions for the interest of electorates and the nation at large but not to protect and promote your own hidden agenda at the expense of the party. Surely you will remain alone in the deserted party.
IF UPND LEADERS DON’T WANT THEIR MPS TO WORK WITH THE GOVT. LET THEM GIVE MPS MIONEY TO DEVELOP THEIR AREAS AFTER ALL THE WORLD NOW KNOWS THEY HAVE MONEY. IF THEY CAN’T THEN THERE’S A BIG PROBLEM. PIPO HAVE FAT BANK ACCOUNTS BUT PEOPLE ARE EATING GRASS IN THEIR CONSTITUENCIES.
But, opposition parties do not receive tax revenues for development. All that oppositions do is to participate in resource allocation during budget approval sessions. What development projects did PF conduct during its 10 years in opposition and what was the source of funding for those projects?
So you all must belong to one party to develop the country? These are government funds. This is so stu.pid! Its like they are talking to kids.
It is surprising that Siamunene does not know he is part of government already. In fact he should know that come the adoption of the new constitution in its current form, MPs will have to resign from the legislative wing of Government before crossing over to the Executive arm of government, to become cabinet ministers.
Vele good, act now because time will come when you will asked to kneel down before your electorate to show what you have done in their constituency.
More by-elections pending and another vacancy for a deputy minister will suddenly become available…..what a sheer waste of resources!!
achoke chabe. ayamba kunyoza.
This MP is a wasted sperm, he doesn’t knw the 3 arms of government!?! Thts y Paul chilala wntd to challenge hm.
ayamba kunyoza anso!
Having said that an MP is actually an elected government employee, belonging to the legislative arm of government, and having observed that the executive through various ministries are the recipients and custodians of public resources for onward distribution to needy areas, like local and city councils which an MP is a very active member of, which “working with government” is the MP of Sinazongwe referring to, when he’s already participating at every level of Government, both local and central? This is simple civics ba MP Monde & Siamunene. But what’s upsetting is how this principal is been twisted & abused by successive regimes from UNIP, MMD & now PF using (for lack of a better term!) “useful I.D.O.T.S. like Monde & Siamunene. How sad!
Octupus Paul Bwalya, where are you?
Chibs my holiday is over so I have less time on online papers my PhD is taking too much of my time. But as for the f00l wanting to resign just remind him each bye election cost us k10billion. If PF are committed they can still take development to an area without the need for one to cross over.
PHD My A**S Such a cheap cadre attaining PHD only to heard Cattle useless !
@Hakainde Haluza. How do you demonise cattle when your father doesn’t even own a chicken? Change your mindset dunderhead or you will die a poor and miserable fellow you are when Zambia has all the conditions for you to go into ranching and be a billionaire like the cattle herders you are trying disparage.
We are waiting for him to be expelled. UPND when are you effecting his expulsion?
Does it mean if this man is to be appointed Deputy Minister, is he going to accepted the appointment? if it is yes, he better do likewise before it is too late.
I hear he is a commerce mini-skirt
u force some of us to lecture u…u shud understand that the ruling party is the party in gvt because it is in control..u are very very very wrong to say being an MP one is in gvt..it cud be true but how much influence will an ordinary MP have to develop his constituency if he/she is not allowed by his/her party to knock on the doors of ministers to lobby for what he/she wants to be done in his/her constituency?let HH provide then…opposition is far from political maturity..campaigns ended in 2011..opposition shud let their MPs work by lobbying for development than lobbying for suffering of masses in the name sanctions
This is warped thinking you skinhead. Even my Grade 8 child has a better understanding of how government is structured in a democracy like ours. The only difference between ours and the democracy in other countries like UK (can’t even talk about Africa) is we have governance structures that mean nothing. Let me educate you that an MP is part of government. Apart from making policies an MP participates in the allocation of resources by debating and approving the national budget. Where we have the problem is where people like you think after that an MP should lick Ministers’ bottoms to do what they appointed to do. You are terribly wrong. This is the reason a decentralised government such as is the case in India is better. What do I mean? Follow the thread.
Each province would have it’s mini parliament that would further allocate resources meant for the province in the yellow book according to development priorities. This can even go to the district level for micro projects but this would be taken care of by CDF.
You are right to say that opposition MPs should work with government but wrong again when you insinuate that development should only go to areas with MPs from the ruling party. Then what would be the essence of multiparty democracy? You see that even ‘villagers’ who voted for an MP from the opposition party understand the concept of multiparty democracy far better than you. Next time stick to what you know so you don’t expose your ignorance.
@musangu muzaza. My brother MPs belong to legislative arm of Government. So they are in Government. What some may not be, is in the Executive arm of Government just like they may not be in the Judicial part of Government. Some MPs can be both in Legisilative and Executive. They are usually from the ruling party or from the opposition in a situation of a coalition. Those that are in the legistative arm of government have a watchdog role on Judiciary and Executive. This role is in fact more critical than that of an MP in the executive. They raise the flag of green, amber or red! Without them, democracy as we know it, is doomed. Its common in Africa by the Executive to see to it that this part of government is weakened or completely annihilated in order to abuse the power of the Executive…
These lamentations by Siamunene are just exposing his clandestine agendas with PF. I don’t think UPND would be concerned with an MP accompanying a Minister to a project. There’s a difference between joining government and working with government. This is just a cry of a coward who keeps saying nizaenda ka, Oooh, Oooh, Nizaenda ka Oooh, Oooh but he doesn’t actually go.
My advice to Siamunene is continue working with governments as a people’s representative but do not fall into the trap of PF pushing you to be at loggerheads with your party with such silly statements. UPND has already said they don’t care about the number of MPs they remain with so long they are credible, and have widely opened the door for whoever MP wants to leave for the BROWN grass on the other side of the fence.
Mr Editor. My comments have been “awaiting moderation” for almost 45 minutes now
The money that makes government run comes from taxpayers who are from all walks of life and have every imaginable political, and religious affiliation. It is therefore nonsensical to imagine that an MP advocating for development in his or her area must be ostracised simply because the party running government is not his own. We really need to articulate this point so that our MPs can then work on higher ideals even when they campaign.
Hakaivotele Humwine…HH
Siamunene excellent example of a fool any governmentcan take development to all ten provinces where it has no mps. The youngman listen to yoself useless *****.
Mbuzi nimbuzi olo inkale MP isala nimbuzki. Siamunene is one such mbuzi
IF HIS DOING IT 4 DA PIPO THN HIS OK.
I really don’t understand Zambian politics, does it mean the government can only develop the areas where they voted for them or it is supposed to be the government for all the people? If so I can smell some political witchcraft at work that may take us to one part state. If these are the kind of leaders who can’t think on how to source funds to fund development of their area we’ve in trusted to serve us, that’s why we can’t seek development
Make Maamba district