Governance analyst MacDonald Chipenzi has charged that the decision by Speaker Patrick Matibini to refer Hakainde Hichilema to the Inspector General of Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions for possible arrest over the “Speaker is a Cadre’ remark is unconstitutional.
In a statement, Mr Chipenzi who is also former Executive Director at FODEP said the speaker must just develop a thick skin and a tolerant attitude because the path he wants to tread of dragging citizens to the Police IG and DPP is undemocratic and unproductive.
“How many citizens is he going to report to the IG and DPP for investigations and prosecution purely over their comments of dissatisfaction on the conduct of the National Assembly? And how many citizens will also drag him to the IG and DPP for being injured by himself in the discharge of his duties? This move the Speaker has taken will just further erode the respectability of his office,” Mr Chipenzi cautioned.
He said the Speaker’s decision to decide to refer Mr. Hichilema to the Inspector General of Police and also to the Director of Public Prosecution for possible investigations and prosecution respectively is unfortunate and against the spirit and the letter of the constitution.
Below is Mr Chipenzi’s statement
I am amazed to listen to and hear the Speaker sounding injured over citizens comments over his conduct and handling of parliamentary business in the National Assembly.
My considered opinion is that, it is either the Speaker was too emotionally injured and charged or has not read and understood the amended Constitution provision on the rights of citizens to make comments on the decisions, deliberations and statements by the National Assembly when he made his ruling on HH’s remarks.
For the Speaker to decide to refer Hakainde Hichilema to the Inspector General of Police and also to the Director of Public Prosecution for possible investigations and prosecution respectively over his remarks that he (Speaker) was a “PF cadre” is unfortunate and against the spirit and the letter of our constitution.
HH was just expressing his personal dissatisfaction on the Speaker’s handling of parliamentary business and cannot earn him a penalty for exercising his constitutional right as a bona fide citizen of this country.
Under this constitution the Speaker and National Assembly at large are not immune from being criticised or called names by any person over his and its conduct in the House and any move to curtail such comments by citizens is dictatorial and unconstitutional.
Perhaps in his personal capacity, he can lodge in a complaint against HH if HH’s comments bordered on the injury of his personal character and not his official capacity. Anything to charge someone over his/her comments on the proceedings of the National Assembly will be abuse of office and authority on the Speaker’s part.
Therefore, I wish to draw the Speaker to the provisions of Article 88 (2) of the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) No. 2 of 2016 which is very instructive on his complaint. It states “A citizen may comment on a deliberation, statement or decision of the National Assembly.”
From this provision, where does the Speaker gets the guts to refer HH’s remarks to the IG and DPP? Being a member of the National Assembly whose decision, statements and deliberations must attract citizens’ comments, the Speaker will be acting outside the constitution to agitate for the punishment of any citizen making comments on the National Assembly deliberations, statements and decisions.
To this end, the speaker must just develop a thick skin and a tolerant attitude because the path he wants to tread of dragging citizens to the IG and DPP is undemocratic and unproductive.
How many citizens is he going to report to the IG and DPP for investigations and prosecution purely over their comments of dissatisfaction on the conduct of the National Assembly? And how many citizens will also drag him to the IG and DPP for being injured by himself in the discharge of his duties? This move the Speaker has taken will just further erode the respectability of his office.
Finally, let me remind the nation and the Speaker that it is very difficult for any Speaker birthed under the current constitution to escape from partisanship innuendos because of the way the constitution is crafted.
Article 82(1) states that a Speaker of the National Assembly shall be elected by members of parliament from a list of names of persons submitted to the National Assembly by—(a) the President; and (b) political parties holding seats in the National Assembly.
This also does not spare the two deputy Speakers who are also under Sub articles (3) and (4) are nominated by a political party or President save that they should not be members of the same political party and of the same gender”
Sub Article (4) explicitly puts “the Members of Parliament shall elect, by secret ballot, the First Deputy Speaker from a list of three names, selected by the political parties represented in the National Assembly.”
So who does not know that the Speaker and his deputies were seconded by the Patriotic Front (PF) and its President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu who happens to be President of the Republic? How does the Speaker get offended when one comments on his partisan inclination? Was he going to be nominated if he was not sympathetic with the PF? The answer is categorical NO.
The medicine to these innuendos is the amendment of this constitution so that political parties are not involved in the nomination of Speakers but leave the job to the MPs to elected aspirants.
Under this constitution, caderism of these men and women nominated as Speakers will not be divorced regardless of the party. As long as you are nominated and seconded by a political party, people will continue to perceive you as a sympathiser of that political party that pushed your name on the ballot. Otherwise, many of us will be reported to the IG and DPP for commenting.
Let the nation judge.
You’ve been schooled, Mr. Speaker. You can withdraw your order.
UPND Mps are a nuisance.
They should have been thrown away for a lot more than. 30 days.
A bye election for as their positions are now untenable
Thanks
Bb2014,2016
The whole B.a.n.t.u.s.t.a.n project has just burst. Fred M’membe must be feeling vindicated that the B.a.n.t.u.s.t.a.n project is lifeless. In our eyes it has crashed. Every kith and kin can take up new postures of analyst running away from certified UPND cadre and rant freely, yet not possible to stop the hemorrhage.
Nonsense, do you develop thick skin to your children insults or you simply discipline them?
You think democracy means having the right to insult freely as if they are no laws?
Speaker of the national assembly is a pf cadre just like the chief justice and many more.there will be blood shed in Zambia because of their corrupt practices…lol
What time is the North Eastern Rhodesia Parliament opening today?
Zambia is a state where even fools can make statements and be regarded as wise.
What a discredited UGLY, Mother fcking, PR.IK Headed speaker! He doesn’t even understand the Constitution and Laws he is presiding over! Big Ar.sewhore Cimpanzee look alike Zimbabwean born Speaker!!
Chipenzi should not only blame the speaker but he should also quote the law he portrays to know most regarding insulting constitutional office bearers. In addition, he should learn to condemn lawlessness while advocating for using alternative channels other than referring people to the chief cop.
@Chuundu Chaitwa Secretary General:
You eat faeces so you will never understand – you imbecile! Read Chipenzi’s article again – can’t you see the legal chapters he quoting? Criticising is NOT teh same as insulting you id.iot! Even your mother thought it was a piece of SHI.T when you were born and nearly dumped you into the latrine only to be saved by your vigilant pu.se.y pushing grandmother!!
Chipenzi is a UPND cadre and cannot even lecture the Honorable Mr Speaker… He’s mascarading as a Governance activist but was removed at FODEP by the Donors after misappropriation of funds hence his credibility on issues of Governance is highly impaired…
99% of mps from North Eastern Rhodesia, spend 99% of their time in Parliament gulping on water, sleeping. and shouting ye, ye, ye, ye at the slightest noise that wakes them up, for those with access to parliament radio enjoy the north eastern Rhodesia debates, so hollow and yikiest.
Dude you made my day. That’s hilarious : ) @ ye ye kkkkkkk
Orangutans for real sleep till 9 then eat till 16 hrs and then make noise to impress the opposite sex ..our parliament is a sham and the alpha male has just made a ruling that the other gorrilas did not make noise and attend or walked out of king Kong,s address last march cry my beloved country..
U5 people are in politics today both in the ruling and opposition parties that why we have such issues. It’s painful to be led by children. Abakulu they don’t compete -balasula infingi. The u5s were competing to use an old road in Mongu with there convoys. One outclassed his nemesis wt 60 vehicles and comes for second round by using police. Aba abaice tabalefwaika mu power -bakule olo bafume po bonse
You see, my friend, when something is wrong, it is wrong. The opposition are at fault here and i dont understand why you include the ruling as well?? It is people like Chipenzi who blindly urged hh on his destructive course that have landed him in prison. You saw hh when he was being transfered last time, he did look broken. So what you are likely to get after this treason fiasco comes to an end is a shell of a man you all pushed to the edge. Meanwhile, ECL seems to be impressing his voters in the 6.5; loadshedding reduced, power projects in full swing, diversification into agriculture, exchange rate stability, copper and mining increasing…2021 is looking brighter for him!!!
i have told you that this speaker is a PF cadre; MPs should demand his resignation; he is a qualified to be speaker
well said Chipenzi..Mushota is just a hater and loose cannon which is leaking all the time..
Matibini has got to learn a lot from the south African speaker, let him just Google delela video for Julius malema vs speaker. Sometimes mps in South Africa use knuckles to advance their views, sometimes the speaker has to call in police to break them up, but i have never heard the south African speaker make such mind blowing decision like our Matibini, Matibini Delela, withdraw this delela manje Matibini.
If there is lawlessness in south Africa it does not mean we should copy it. If anything what is happening in South Africa is purely under five politics which should not be compared to our maturing democracy.
Mr Speaker must consult the dictionary to know the meaning of the cadre. By definition a cadre is ‘1.a small group of people specially trained for a particular purpose or profession: or 2 a politically controlled appointment to an institution in order to circumvent the state and bring control to the party or “a cadre of professional managers”.
Certainly , from the above definitions, there is no evidence of insulting language. Therefore to call the speaker a cadre is either that to mean that the speaker is trained for a particular purpose or he is a professional manager either political appointed or commissioned.
Dr Matibini is a lawyer and therefore he knows what are saying….
The speaker was carried away with emotions in delivering a ruling against UPND members..
There you go again…everything to you upnd/tongas is trivial. The Mongu incident was just a traffic offence?? Laura Miti called it a clash of egos?? So if hh was republican president, it would be okay for Chipimo or Nawakwi or Kampyongo to call the leader of the Legislature of political cadre?? That is how you would run government?? You are aware that hh has been on the campaign trail since 2006 and along comes a “chakolwa” from Chawama who campaigns for 6 weeks and wins; Have you ever reflected why?? It is the perception voters have of you people and hh!! You don’t inspire voters with your carelessness, amaturism in governance, insults, DEEP ROOTED TRIBALISM.
Mutu uka kula, sulewo nkonyo. When you have a big head, its never easy to dodge punches. Leadership is about accepting criticism
Retrogressive MPs. The speaker has been insulted for too long. He has done well to suspend these MPs. I have never such the calibre of MPs we have. I dont know if they have time to represent people who voted for them.
PF dont be obstructed by these upndonkeys. The more time u spend arguing with the donkeys, the more time u lose on advancing development in your constituences. Please ignore then1d1ots and take this country forward.
I do not support any political party in Zambia, but bloggers be careful with remarks of one self-proclaimed PHD holder. His/her comments can cause trouble in the land; a thing we all would not want to witness. The editor of the LT must block this chap unless he/she is part of them. Civilized and educated people understand that it is very easy to trace you even if you try to hide behind a keyboard sowing seeds of hate among citizens. A 12 year old boy or girl can actually trace you and reveal your true identity out of fun. The level of maturity by some bloggers in the diaspora is really horrendous. Some people never learn. No wonder, there is a saying that you can get a person from the ghetto but not the ghetto from their head.
I’m yet to hear a word from chipenzi that supports any thing to do with the current government. The right of citizens to criticize Speaker , president or any other government officials on national issues is not synonyms to the right to insult . Check the Constitution chipenzi ,there’s no right to insult there. I’m critical equally to anything un democratic , bad governance, baseless ideology, and even tribal orientated comments. When will you diffuse the bombs of biased views in you belly ? Which good governance have you studied? … governance of insults and thick skin? I take a dim view of your approach to serious matters.
pf is smarter the way they are finishing upnd in all areas
Its not about finishing its about accomodating each other so you say north eastern Rhodesia is finishing the other part the tactics will implode watch the space
what is boring in all this is the reactions that tribal hatres say.why cant you just argue based on the constitutional provisions not just labeling chipenzi to be a cadre.In my opinion he has articulated well with evidence from the constitution.So iwe chuundu caitwa ,read the constitution not just making cadre comments here.Mukazivwela ko nasoni,ngati, kulibe zamene muzina just shut up.some of you done even know the provisions of the consitutions .only talking .I hate dull pipo shaa
and those who are calling others donkeys please can we refrain from these comments they are not helpful. If they are donkeys why do you want to rule donkeys .
in case those who are saying insults dont knw the meaning;
insult
vb (tr)
1. to treat, mention, or speak to rudely; offend; affront
2. obsolete to assault; attack
n
3. an offensive or contemptuous remark or action; affront; slight
4. a person or thing producing the effect of an affront: some television is an insult to intelligence.
5. (Medicine) med an injury or trauma
6. add insult to injury to make an unfair or unacceptable situation even worse
[C16: from Latin insult?re to jump upon, from in-2 + salt?re to jump]
If you ask me Matibini omg is the waste speaker Zambia has ever had. Yes the waste Zambia please deliver us from this man eyeeeee twafwa.