RULING BY THE HON MADAM SPEAKER ON A POINT OF ORDER RAISED ON WEDNESDAY, 4THOCTOBER, 2023, BY MR K MUKOSA, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR CHINSALI CONSTITUENCY, AGAINST MR A KATAKWE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR SOLWEZI EAST CONSTITUENCY, FOR INSINUATING THAT THERE WERE PEOPLE IN THE GOVERNMENT WHO HAD BORROWED MONEY AND PUT IT IN THEIR POCKETS

Hon Members, the House will recall that on Wednesday, 4thOctober, 2023, when the House was considering the Motion of Supply for the 2024 National Budget and Mr A Katakwe, Member of Parliament for Solwezi East Constituency, was on the Floor, Mr K A Mukosa, Member of Parliament for Chinsali Constituency, raised a Point of Order.  The Point of Order was premised on Standing Order 65 (1) (b) of the National Assembly of Zambia Standing Orders, 2021, which requires a Member who is debating to ensure that the information he or she provides to the House is factual and verifiable.

In his Point of Order, Mr K Mukosa, MP, inquired whether Mr A Katakwe, MP, was in order to suggest that there were people in Government who had borrowed money and put it in their pockets without providing evidence.
In his immediate response, the Hon Mr Second Deputy Speaker reserved his ruling.  I have studied the matter and will now render my ruling.

The Point of Order raises the issue of a Member’s duty to ensure that the information he or she provides to the House, when debating, is factual and verifiable. 

Hon Members, Standing Order 65 (1) (b) provides, on the subject, as follows:

“65. (1) A Member who is debating shall –
(b) ensure that the information he or she provides to the House is factual and verifiable.”

Hon Members, in investigating the matter, I had recourse to the relevant verbatim record of the proceedings of Wednesday, 4th October, 2023.  The statement that led to the point of order is as follows:
“Mr Speaker, let me end by saying that in the 2024 Annual Borrowing Plan, the Government has outlined how it is going to borrow money, and it has shown that this has to be done transparently by bringing the plan to this House. It shows how prudent the Government is on sustainable borrowing. Not a situation in which we saw people borrowing money in order to put in their pockets.”

Hon Members, the above excerpt confirms that Mr A Katakwe, MP, in his debate, insinuated that there were people in the past who had borrowed money and put it in their pockets.  He, however, did not lay any document on the Table to support his assertion.  Mr A Katakwe, MP, was, therefore, out of order.

I thank you.
____________________