Prominent constitutional lawyer and state counsel John Sangwa has weighed in the current debate that newly inaugurated President Hakainde Hichilema has delayed announcing his cabinet pending the swearing in of members of parliament.
Sangwa has clarified that the president can appoint his cabinet even before the swearing in of elected Members of Parliament (MP), bring closure to views that the perceived delay in announcing cabinet is a result of legal impediments.
The constitutional lawyer however clarified that said the elected Members of Parliament cannot transact the business of the house or take their position as members of parliament until they have taken oath or have been sworn in, as required by law.
Speaking in an exclusive interview, Sangwa said the oath is a necessary requirement before the elected members of parliament can start performing the functions of their office.
He said one is a member of parliament the moment they are declared duly elected or winner of a parliamentary seat but the swearing in is a formality which is required before one begins doing the actual work as an MP.
“Just like ministers, even if he appoints them, they won’t just assume office they have to be sworn in, to take oath, so a person that is elected member of parliament once nominated minister he will not assume the office unless he has taken oath”, he said.
Sangwa said there is no timeframe set in which the president should appoint his cabinet but the earlier one does it, the better. “For example, President Lungu must have mentioned some cabinet ministers when he was sworn in in 2016, on the same day he was able to identify a few people as his ministers so there is really no timeline set, it is all based on the discretions of the president”, he said.
President Hichilema has been accused of delaying the announcement of his cabinet when its now over one week from the time he was pronounced winner of the 12 August 2021 polls by the Electoral Commission of Zambia
HH has been waiting for the presidency for 20 years, time enough to think about what ministers should be in the cabinet. Let’s appoint them and they can go to WORK!
HH, PLEASE TAKE YOUR TIME AND CHOOSE THE RIGHT PEOPLE, DO NOT BE RUSHED BY THE VUVUZELAS WHO YOU HAVE JUST EMANCIPATED FROM DICTORSHIP OF LUNGU, WHERE THEY COULD NOT SAY A WORD.
WE KNOW YOU WANT TO PUT IN PLACE A WELL BALANCED CABINET WHERE MOST OF THE TRIBES ARE REPRESENTED, A DIFFERENT APPROACH THAN THE CHIPANTE PANTE GOVERNMENT THAT LUNGU PUT IN PLACE WITHIN FEW DAYS, BECAUSE HE KNEW THE BOOTLICKERS THAT HE WANTED TO APPOINT AND MOST OF WHO CAME FROM THE PREFERRED TRIBES AND PROVINCES. THESE VUVUZELAS ARE TRYING TO STRETCH YOUR LIMITS, TO FIND THE BAD IN YOU SO THEY CAN TURN AROUND AND SAY, “WE TOLD YOU”.
Moderation…..why? Idont understand.
HH, PLEASE TAKE YOUR TIME AND CHOOSE THE RIGHT PEOPLE, DO NOT BE RUSHED BY THE VU.VUZELAS WHO YOU HAVE JUST EMANCIPATED FROM DICTAT.ORSHIP OF LUNGU, WHERE THEY COULD NOT SAY A WORD.
WE KNOW YOU WANT TO PUT IN PLACE A WELL BALANCED CABINET WHERE MOST OF THE TRIBES ARE REPRESENTED, A DIFFERENT APPROACH THAN THE CHIP.ANTE PANTE GOVERNMENT THAT LUNGU PUT IN PLACE WITHIN FEW DAYS, BECAUSE HE KNEW THE BOOT.LICKERS THAT HE WANTED TO APPOINT AND MOST OF WHO CAME FROM THE PREFERRED TRI.BES AND PROVINCES. THESE VUVU.ZELAS ARE TRYING TO STRETCH YOUR LIMITS, TO FIND THE BAD IN YOU SO THEY CAN TURN AROUND AND SAY, “WE TOLD YOU”.
Correct. You’re always give best interpretation of the law.
This is exactly what Chipenzi said except Chipenzi explained it better than you as he was able to cite the relevant laws.
Really difficult to understand why has he been doing, he was voted into power two weeks ago, I thought he was an intelligent guy to me he hasn’t proved so two weeks no action is there any problem he is falling to solve, I thought there is always a shadow cabinet to any political party reading for elections.
It is strange what is this guy waiting for people want to see those promises actualised does he want people to forget that he promised them.
This shouldn’t have been a problem at all, this is what shadow cabinets are for, appointments, as Sangwa has explained, do not depend on swearing in of MPs. Some people will be disappointed for sure, and perhaps some internal struggles may start, however minor. I can’t wait to see the portfolio that will be accorded to Gary Nkombo and how cabinet will be trimmed. Will be very dissapointed if Ministry of Religious Affairs is maintained.
Kikikikiki it turns out he is not ready yet to rule..like I said HH is busy negotiating with the outside forces that helped him so he can’t just appoint ministers without the Funders approval…Zambians you’ve been duped …..HH is not Pan African and a big sellout…..the youths will have to wait till 2029 to be considered for National services…kikikikikikiki Hahahaha ni Forward iwe….Politicians and Prophets have one thing in common…both are liars and maniputers and they take advantage of the gullible and hungry people…they don’t mess with people like Saulosi
Joe Biden is about to resign….hope HH wont follow Biden
@Chiza Chirwa…aka Madilu system
I told you they’re all job seekers…KBF is coming up with a long list of friends to be considered for foreign services…Mutati same thing…William Banda has his own list of friends and relatives all wanting diplomatic postings…i know what am talking about been there before….being sent overseas as a diplomat thats what relatives and friends want…kikikikikikiki yabija makani….and how much is cement or a bag of melie meal
In Zambia we worry about nothing sometimes, In the UK a shadow cabinet is formed by MPs who are already in Parliament because they have a parliamentary system, here we have a presidential one so what do you mean exactly by he should have a shadow cabinet? Secondly, this man(HH) told us he wants to balance his cabinet by appointing people from all the Regions of Zambia, kindly give him time and give us a break, it is not easy to form cabinet especially when one didn’t get MPs in some Provinces like Muchinga.
You called your friends chimbwi no plan, I thought you planned in advance!
Easier said than done
Because of the delay, you now have people like musokotwane positioning himself for minister of finance…kikikikiki
Is he still celebrating the victory. Let us get to work now. Procrastination is a thief of time! We have got no time to waste! Fix the mess!!!!!!!!!!
@Mauya ati cowboy no plan Kikikikikiki
We have been without ministers for six months and nothing has gone wrong; it tells you we don’t need them.
HH it’s enough of $exx, leave Mutinta alone!!
Getta the fvck to work bro!!
Winning an election is not a track race contest 400m in nature. It real job. It’s not like picking HODs in the corporate world, it’s real stuff. Picking corrupt individuals from the cream in a pool of hungry cadres is eminent. Thin line exist between picking a winning team or a disappointing side.
He is thinking lean against bloated Government. As talk is cheap, the real thing is more real as in distinguishing primary colors.
Hey sammy! We are waiting. What the hell are you waiting for? Humh? Cabinet fast fast we see how biased you are.
As you prepare for more words and sentences of rhetoric in nature for parliament. Praise and criticism awaits you.
Unfortunately for those that never noticed, HH always copied everything PF did. He has never had political originality. Now he has no one to copy from hence being stuck.
Where is the rush? An experienced surgeon explains and gives hope to a patient that once he carries out an operation the patients health would start improving till life returns to normal. An agreement as per procedure is reached with patient and relatives then the surgeon retreats to his examination room most likely to review procedure…..then…… he’s startled by the banging on his office door and voices shouting that he’s delaying conducting the operation! Simply put the patient with the relatives take over scheduling of carrying out the operation! It’s like malice filled curiosity is what is energizing the impatience being exhibited for lets face it, many a Zambian have their own imagined ideal cabinet that they would like to compare with one HH comes up with! Tekanyeni mwebantu,…
cotnd…… lets face it, many a Zambian have their own imagined ideal cabinet that they would like to compare with one HH comes up with! Tekanyeni mwebantu, to be fair HH has to break with the Sata and Lungu approach of not appointing people from areas that “did not give UPND parliamentary members!”
When Lungu was President..Spaka and Tarino used to sleep on Lusaka Times condemning his every move…now they’re hiding in shame because they know that non of the campaign promises will be met…I just fired 3 youths from my Project in Livingstone because I have to make my adjustments with the US$/Kwacha rate…..2 of my friends building in Lusaka did the same thing….shiiiit is about to hit the ceiling
@Saulosi Stop spreading FAKE NEWS. Where have you gotten your false information from that Joe Biden is resigning??? You must be part of the January 6 mobsters.
@Saulosi What are you taking about. When Lungu was president shiiiit was all over the ceiling. Its the reason Zambians booted Lungu from office and now have a task of cleaning up all that shiiiit
Explain why the Moderation…..why?
This clearly shows that we dont need these ministers after all. HH is doing away with them. Why are people waiting when there will be no Cabinet Ministers. We want to save the money. Their budget is just too high. PSs can do the work with civil servants kwasila. They are just parasites big time. Anyway lets wait for that smallest cabinet that does not include Ministry of RE, Gender, Community Development, Higher Education, Infrastructure, fisheries, etc.
Perhaps the easy way to find out is to ask at which date does the salaries of MPs start accruing. Will their salaries start accruing on 10th Sept???
Why can’t MPs be sworn in expeditiously? Why is the Speaker of Parliament not in a hurry to organize the Swearing Ceremony for the New MPs? Ministries are not legally run by shadow Ministers. The President can’t appoint MPs to be Ministers until they are Sworn in. So the answer lies in swearing these New MPs urgently. Can’t the Speaker of Parliament shade some light on this? People are anxious to get on with their lives knowing their newly Elected Govt is working for them. This is another lacuna in our Constitution which needs to be rectified.
There must be scramble for positions, I can just imagine! Yes the President will definitely name his Cabinet before officially opening Parliament. If he doesn’t who is going to take the front bench in Parliament on 10th September?
Why is it taking forever to swear in the New MPs? Can the Speaker of Parliament Dr Matibini issue a Statement on this? This process is delaying the Appointment of a New Cabinet by the New President. Parliament should deal with this urgently.
If he cant appoint Ministers before they are sworn in what stops him from appointing Advisors ?
This clearly shows that all of you upart from HE do not know of how to run things well in a company there is what we call an induction process this is were people are chosen from when they had sent their applications and it is in this process that the directors hear to what those applicants have said and it is in in this process that the directors and mangers go through the applicants papers to asks their references to find out if that employee was working well at the former company that they have come from and if they have no criminal records it is in this process that directors also replace those people in the company that had Cora put or bad work attitudes. So please please in the name of God let HH do his job in a professional educated manner so that in this induction process that he…
Sorry about the typing mistake l meant corrupt or bad work attitudes. ……..
@Matt
Just wait and see you seem to blind….you can’t see whats happening in America right now ….yes this is the change that we voted for. ..yes change…..my asssssss
This clearly shows that all of you upart from HH do not know of how to run things well there is what we call an induction process this is were people are chosen from when they had sent their applications and it is in this process that the directors hear to what those applicants have said and it is in this process that the directors and mangers go through the applicants papers to asks their references to find out if that employee was working well at the former company that they have come from and if they have no criminal records it is in this process that directors also replace those people in the company that had corrupt way of working and had put bad work attitudes in their works. So please please in the name of God let HH do his job in a vey professional educated manner or way so that…
This clearly shows that you all those how are pushing HH don’t know of how to run things well there is what we call an induction process this is were people are chosen from after the have sent their applications and it is in this process that directors hear to what the person the applicant is saying and it is in this process the the directors and managers go through the applicants papers and choose the right person for the job to be done the directors and mangers ask questions to the applicant to see and judge if they are the right person for the job, the even go as far as calling the references to see if what the applicant is saying is true some even go as far as going to the police stations and agency’s that fight corruption to see if that applicant has any criminal record or fraud…
I hope he is not in a tight corner where no fixed abode Felix Mutati is demanding a position…. just hope so.
LEAVE a lUNGU ALONE