PARLIAMENT yesterday threw out a private member’s motion urging Government to amend the Public Order Act (POA) Chapter 113 of the laws of Zambia to align it to the Bill of Rights.
The motion was moved yesterday by Choma Central United Party of National Development (UPND) Member of Parliament (MP) Cornelius Mweetwa.
The House voted against the motion as Government was already in the process of amending the Act and a Bill would, in this regard be tabled in the next session of Parliament prior to the August 11, general elections.
Mr Mweetwa’s motion was seconded by Lukulu East Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) MP Christopher Kalila and supported by Nalikwanda MMD MP Geoffrey Lungwangwa.
UPND’S Highvie Hamududu for Bweengwa and Jack Mwiimbu for Monze Central and Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) Luena MP Gertrude Imenda were the other members who supported Mr Mweetwa’s motion.
However, Home Affairs Minister Davies Mwila said Government was against Mr Mweetwa’s motion because the process of reviewing the POA had commenced and was in motion.
“Mr Speaker as directed by His Excellency Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu, the Ministries of Justice and Home Affairs have already engaged stakeholders on this matter and a Bill to review the Public Order Act will be brought to this House in the next sitting before the general elections,” Mr Mwila said.
Speaker of the National Assembly, Patrick Matibini, then put the motion to vote via the electronic system and 72 out of 97 MP’S present voted against the motion while 25 voted for it.
Those who voted against the motion represented 74.23 per cent of the composition of the MP’S while those who voted in favour of it represented 25.77 per cent.
None of the present MP’S abstained from voting.
What do you expect from PF MPs and the recently bought MMD!
Says the Mps who pass the bills without reading them. As long as the top boss says pass this one, then they go ahead and vote. Pathetic!!!!!!
And just so you know. Davies Mwila has no grade 12. He is not coming back to Parliament
public order should include forbidding a sitting president from dancing chokokoshi in public,,,,
Says the Mps who pass the bills without reading them. As long as the top boss says pass this one, then they go ahead and vote. Pathetic!!!!!!
PF 75%
UPND 20%
Others 5%
Good observation. That’s how the election results will look like come 8/11
The last shall be the first…
You tend to wonder that even some UPND members voted against the motion if you look at the numbers. numbers don’t lie….. what a shame
May be we have Grade twelufu mps in all the parties.lol. I am sure they thought they were voting against being Partially On Alcohol(POA)
Awe mwandini, these illiterates we have for MPs don’t use their brains but their stomachs to vote. They have retarded brains making it too hard for them to think let alone to understand issues in useful way. Useless Mps. we thank God the grade 12 certificate clause will now sieve them out.
We have a bunch of MPs in parliament whose think using there asses instead of the brains. It is shame.
it might be bad now that pf wuld even shun but shuld we change government they will be the ones crying as they did during mmd
I don’t thinks so Chihana. If perchance UPND wins the elections, you will do away with the POA, won’t you? So PF won’t have to cry. Instead, it will be UPND crying when they fail to maintain order in this country.
PF shouldnt think that they will always be in government. One day they will becaome an oppositfion party and the POA will come back to haunt them. Let them learn from UNIP and MMD
The same way the act teargassed Nevers will be the same way it will teargas Jameson Edgar Stores when he departs from plot 1. Zambian Politicians are too stupid and useless, rejecting something they will ask the speaker to allow fresh debate when it affects them. This particular one is indeed Dogs Parliament.
that’s why we need the grade 12 clause. Some of these people just vote without understanding what they are voting for.
Mathematical Induction. If it is True for n=1, and it is True for n=k , then it is True for n=K + 1. If the PF has won all Parliamentary Bye – Elections January 2015 except one. If the PF has won all Bills in Parliament including the Constitutional Amendment Bill and the Public Order Amendment Bill.
The Principle of Mathematical Induction tells me that the PF is winning the August 11 Elections with a Landslide.
If PF wins by a landslide it means the majority of Zambians accept, enjoy and/or condone:
1. High and increasing inflation with associated effects of high borrowing costs leading to high cost of living
2. Grand corruption linked with unprecedented borrowings to finance unplanned and ill executed infrastructure development
3. Collapse of the economy
4. Cholera
5. Exclusion of youths from quality jobs through easing retirement age to 65 years; a decade increase that has condemned our youths to a life of destitution
This is what August eleven will be like. Some people think insulting on social media is voting.
Now this is interesting. So some MPs within the UPND ranks voted against their colleagues motion. Makes you wonder whether these chaps meet and discuss issues before taking them to Parliament or they just make them up as they go along. What a bunch of jokers!
Where is the change UPND and their god are singing about? PF and sata ftustrated MMD and UPND in and out. look at NCC for example. on the contrary, UPND has lost every thing except one MP and a councilor. The best UPND suporters should do is to be part of ruling like MMD has done and leave opposition to sampas.
So teargasing and matcheting has to continue. elyo balasaamwa ba buju
The problem of the current crop of MPs, do not think independently.Its about time we brought decency in Parliament by ensuring that we vote for people with proper education background unlike the status quo whereby Kaponyas have more power and authority than intellectual s.
Sometimes I tend to think that in Zambia we have intellectuals with no brains, like one leader of an opposition party who calls himself an economist.