Some residents of Choma have joined other districts in Southern Province in calling for their Members of Parliament to attend the National Dialogue Forum -NDF.
In Choma residents handed over a petition to Choma District Commissioner SHEENA MULEYA against Choma Central MP Cornelius Mweetwa and Mbabala MP Ephraim Bbelemu.
The residents have given Mr. Mweetwa and Mr. Bbelemu a 24-hour ultimatum to attend the NDF.
Abigail Mudenda a Choma resident says Mr. Bbelemu should immediately start attending the National Dialogue Forum because that’s what the people of Mbabala want.
Another Resident Doreen Soko has urged Mr. Mweetwa to start attending the National Dialogue Forum because the people of Choma want representation at the NDF.
And in receiving the petition, Choma District Commissioner Sheena Muleya said she will present the petition to the relevant authorities.
But Mr. Mweetwa said it is the democratic right of the residents to petition him as this is encouraging freedom of expression.
Mr. Mweetwa however told ZNBC News that he awaits to see the contents of the petition.
He also said some other residents in Choma are in support of his decision not to attend the Forum.
And Mr. Bbelemu could however not be reached for a comment because his mobile line was unreachable.
And in Namwala the situation is the same as some residents have petitioned their Member of Parliament, Moono Lubezhi for not attending the National Dialogue Forum.
The residents have accused Ms. Lubezhi of having failed to consult them before refusing to attend the forum.
ZANIS reports that One of the residents, Boyd Paze said the withdrawal of the MP’s participation at the on-going Forum without consulting them as constituents is not in their best interest.
In receiving the petition, Namwala District Commissioner Mary Sakala promised to deliver it to higher authorities for action.
And, in a related Development, Southern Province Patriotic Front -PF- Provincial Chairperson Lawrence Evans has condemned the Namwala MP for not attending the Forum.
Mr. Evans was speaking in Namwala District when he led a Party Provincial team which conducted a party Mobilization Meeting for Namwala District Patriotic Front Members.
Efforts to get the Namwala Member of Parliament, failed as her mobile phone was switched off.
Meanwhile, several residents of Mazabuka and Magoye constituencies in Mazabuka District this morning besieged the office of the District Commissioner, Jenny Chirwa to register their disappointment on the failure by their members of parliament to attend the national Dialogue Forum.
The Petitioners mostly women charged that it was unfair for the two MPs to be making personal decisions to shun the Forum disregarding the interest of the people they claim to be representing in parliament.
One of the petitioners, Charity Maambo said Mazabuka MP Garry Nkombo should not waste his time to re-contest the seat in 2021 because he has let down the people who voted for him by not participating in the Forum.
ZANIS reports that Ms. Maambo said the MPs should understand that issues of national interest override party interests.
Another petitioner from Magoye, Chitaba Shangobeka said voters in Magoye are disappointed with the opposition UPND member of parliament, Emmerson Machila for his failure to attend the Forum.
Meanwhile, Ms. Chirwa assured the petitioners that she will forward the petition to authorities in Lusaka for further action.
But when contacted, Mr. Nkombo refused to speak to ZNBC stating that the Institution is Not special.
And in Monze, some Residents are also disappointed with the two area Members of Parliament for shunning the National Dialogue Forum.
They are unhappy that UPND Monze Member of Parliament Jack Mwiimbu and his Bweengwa counterpart Michelo Kasauta have opted to abandon their responsibilities as the people’s representatives on issues of national interest.
The residents voiced out their concerns when they presented a petition to Monze District Commissioner Cyprian Hamanyanga.
My heart cry for mother Zambia. The nation is being destroyed before our eyes
This is irresponsible of PF to take advantage of the poor villagers. If PF had wanted UPND/Church to attend they should have dialogued with them prior to iron out the contentious issues. PF instead unfortunately chose bulldoze the process thinking they were clever
ARE’NT THESE PF CADRES MASQUAREDING AS RESIDENTS OF THOSE CONSTITUENCIES?HOWEVER, REGARDLESS OF THEIR POLITICAL AFILIATIONS, THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO A FAIR REPRESENTATION AND THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD. THESE MPS WENT TO GREAT LENGTHS PERSUADING THESE POOR VOTERS. THE VOTERS WOKE UP VERY EARLY TO CAST THEIR VOTES FOR THESE MPS. AFTER ENRICHING THEMSELVES THEY ARE HERE TALKING ABOUT THEIR RIGHT TO BE ABSENT FROM DUTY. THE SAME MPS WILL BE BUSY MOBILIZING THE SAME POOR VOTERS TO ATTEND THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT PETITION HEARINGS CONCERNING INTERPRETATION OF THE SAME CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS BEING DISCUSSED. THE POOR VOTERS SOMETIMES GET GASSED WITH TEAR-GAS DURING SUCH HEARINGS. LETS BE FAIR WITH THE POOR VOTERS PLEASE.
These MP’s must realise that they were given jobs by their respective constituents to represent them. It is not HH who is their boss per say. ?
HH cannot fire these guys from Parliament. The constituency can do that. So they better start listening to the voters. ?
why not take the petition to the office of the MP?
Leftist guerrillas
MMD felt the same pain when PF MPs boycotted NCC. So who is to blame.
Good people try to understand issues at play, this copy and paste kind of arguments you post, is what is destroying Zambia, Zambia is bigger than the PF.
The constitution was adopted in 1991 and was only in 2009, from that time up until 2016 was it amended.
The UPND Members Of Parliament, you re, had together with the Three Church Mother Bodies, Advised, the PF, not to Implement the Current Constitution, up until the Mistakes that were in it were rectified through consensus, by the stakeholders, the Zambian people.
The UPND members of parliament and some other independent members of parliament, went ahead to vote against, many closes that do not promote good governance and transparency in the current constitution.
One of the thorny issues is the public order act and many…
#4 Steve, or take the petition to Trib.al Hacks …. oh sorry Trib.al Hacks is not their employer, their parliamentary salaries are paid by government and not Trib.al Hacks isn’t it? I.e. tax payers.
…… at this rate trib.als will be history very soon.
There’s no evidence these people applied and got a permit to demonstrate/march.
Hence, it’s clearly the work of PF – in exchange for money. Poverty chipondo 🙁
Those people should be made understand that their MPs are not obliged to attend even worthless events
Shame…