DAILY PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES FOR THE FIRST SESSION OF THE ELEVENTH ASSEMBLY

Thursday, 10th November, 2011

The House met at 1430 hours

[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

NATIONAL ANTHEM

PRAYER

_______

ANNOUNCEMENT BY MR SPEAKER

REFERRAL OF THE ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST JANUARY TO 31ST DECEMBER, 2012 TO THE EXPANDED COMMITTEE ON ESTIMATES

Mr Speaker: Hon. Members, I wish to inform the House that the hon. Minister of Finance and National Planning will tomorrow, Friday, 11th November, 2011, present to this House the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the Financial Year, 1st January to 31st December, 2012.

In accordance with the established practice, therefore, the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 2012 will be referred to the Expanded Committee on Estimates for further consideration. The Expanded Committee on Estimates will comprise hon. Members of the Committee on Estimates, Chairpersons of all General Purposes and Portfolio Committees and the Chairperson of the Committee on Reforms and Modernisation. While the Expanded Committee on Estimates will be meeting, the House will continue with the general policy debate on the Budget and other business.

The Expanded Committee on Estimates will hold its first meeting on Monday, 14th November, 2011 and will be expected to present its report to the House on Tuesday, 29th November, 2011.

Thank you.

__________

QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

MWENSE DISTRICT SHOOTING INCIDENT

3. Mr  Mwewa (Mwansabombwe) asked the Minister of Home Affairs:

(a) whether the Government was aware that three Zambian fishermen were shot at in the lagoons of the Luapula River near Lukwesa area in Mwense District on Saturday, 5th November, 2011, by authorities of a neighbouring country and that two of them died on the spot while one is in a critical condition in Mansa General Hospital; and

(b) what short-term and long-term measures the Government had taken to protect the lives of its citizens from being killed in similar circumstances.

The Minister of Home Affairs (Mr Sakeni): Mr Speaker, I wish to inform the House and acknowledge that the Government is aware of the incident that occurred in Mwense on that 5th November, 2011.

Mr Speaker, the facts are that six Zambian fishermen were shot at between 2300 hours on 5th November, 2011 and 0100 hours on 6th November, 2011 along the common border on Luapula River in Mwense District of the Luapula Province of Zambia. The fishermen were shot at by suspected Congolese marine and fisheries officers who were patrolling the area. Investigations in this matter indicate that a confrontation between the six Zambian fishermen and officials of a neighbouring country, comprising marine and fisheries officers took place on Luapula River after the said Zambians where found using prohibited nets of small mesh.

Mr Speaker, it was during this confrontation that the Congolese officials fired six gun shots at the Zambians. Kelvin Mulundu, a Zambian aged 21, was shot in his foot. He sustained a bullet wound and is currently admitted to Mambilima Hospital. Thomas Kasongo, aged 28, died after sustaining severe head injuries. He is suspected to have been hit by a hard object. Four others escaped unhurt while the boat and the fishing equipment they were using were confiscated by the officials from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Sir, in both the long and short term, the Government will continue to engage our colleagues from the DRC at country level through the joint permanent commission on defence and security. It will also engage the DRC at provincial and district levels through the Provincial Joint Operations Committee (PJOC) and District Joint Operations Committee (DJOC) in trying to find lasting solutions to similar occurrences.

Mr Speaker, at political level, politicians from both sides of the countries will continue to sensitise their nationals who live in such areas on the need to respect the territorial sovereignty of each country to prevent similar occurrences.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Mwewa: Mr Speaker, has anything been done by the Government to reach the Congolese authorities and notify them about this incident?

Mr Sakeni: Mr Speaker, our District Joint Operations Team and the Provincial Joint Operations Team are currently interacting with their colleagues along the common border to find the way forward, especially that guns are being used on our people and yet other methods of policing can be used.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Muntanga (Kalomo Central): Mr Speaker, I would like to find out how many people died. The question states that two people died and one is in Mansa General Hospital but, in his response, the hon. Minister indicated that one died and one is in Mambilima Hospital.

Mr Sakeni: Mr Speaker, my answer was very clear. I said one person died and one was injured and not that two people died as reported.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Mwiimbu: On a point of order, Sir.

Mr Lubinda: On who?

Mr Speaker: The hon. Member for Chavuma.

Mr Konga (Chavuma): Mr Speaker, I thank you ...

Mr Mwiimbu: On a point of order, Sir.

Mr Konga: Oh, boy.

Mr Speaker: Order!

A point of order is raised.

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, I thank you for giving me this rare opportunity to raise a very important point of order pertaining to the procedure of this House. I also wish to apologise to my colleague who was about to ask the hon. Minister of Home Affairs a follow-up question on the sad incident in Luapula.

Mr Speaker, I have been agonising over the procedure for raising points of order in this House that we have undertaken.

Mr Speaker, you have rightly advised us on the procedures that are obtaining pertaining to raising points of order and that this House is regulated by the Standing Orders, the Constitution of Zambia and the Statute on privileges of hon. Members of Parliament and precedents that have been made in the Commonwealth and in this House on raising points of order.

Mr Speaker, I am also aware of your recent directive on the procedure for raising points of order.

Mr Speaker, I would like you to cure the difficulty I have encountered. I am aware that, in the past, this House allowed points of order on issues that were life threatening and of a very urgent nature. I am also aware that recently, we have been directed to write these questions so that they can come up either the following day or any other day within the week, if they are of an urgent nature.

Mr Speaker, the difficulty I have is that there are issues that arise which need the urgent attention of the Presiding Officer in the House. I can give various examples. Assuming that there is a bomb in this House and one is aware of it and wants to bring it to the attention of the Speaker, does one need to wait …

The Vice-President interjected.

Laughter

Mr Speaker: Order!

Mr Mwiimbu: I have noted that Hon. Dr Guy Scott is now the Presiding Officer.

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: I am raising this issue so that you may, at your convenience, vary the directions which you have given pertaining to raising points of order because there may be issues that the public would require attended to on a particular day and if we are not given the opportunity to ensure that they are attended to, members of the public will find us wanting. This is the issue I am raising.

Hon. Opposition Members:  Hear, hear!

Interruptions

Mr Speaker: Order!

As much as Hon. Mwiimbu has raised a pertinent issue relating to the Business of the House, particularly, in reference to the circular which was issued earlier, I think that this particular issue and the point of order is, unfortunately, out of order.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Speaker: A point of order is meant or directed to correct a Member who may not be following or has flouted the law of the House.

 Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Speaker: As it is, there is no one who has flouted the law of the House. Therefore, as much as Hon. Mwiimbu may want to seek clarification and pursue this issue, it has been canvassed in a wrong context.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Speaker: I will, therefore, ask the hon. Member for Chavuma to continue.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Konga: Mr Speaker, following the sad incident that happened on the Luapula River where the two Zambian fishermen were shot at by the DRC marine officers, what measures has the Government put in place to ensure that Zambians do not fish in other countries’ territorial waters?

Mr Sakeni: Mr Speaker, people who stay along common borders are difficult to police in terms of stopping them from crossing boundaries, especially when it comes to fishing waters. It becomes difficult to establish where the boundary is. On water, whether paddling or fishing, a person cannot tell if he or she has crossed over to the DRC or is still on the Zambian side.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Mr Mbewe (Chadiza): Mr Speaker, I would like to find out from the hon. Minister of Home Affairs why he did not bring a statement to this House on this incident, but rather waited for the question to be tabled.

Hon. Government Members: Aah!

Mr Sakeni: Mr Speaker, this would mean that the hon. Minister of Home Affairs will make statements in this House every day because people are killed in Lusaka and other districts every day. This is just one of the many unfortunate incidents.

I thank you, Sir. 

Mr Simbao (Senga Hill): Mr Speaker, I would like to find out from the hon. Minister whether the Zambian fishermen were armed because, from his explanation, a discussion took place.

Mr Sakeni: Mr Speaker, the fishermen were not armed. It is very unfortunate that our colleagues opened fire on unarmed civilians. This is why I said that these are matters which we will need discussed at our Joint Permanent Commission. The commission is engaging its colleagues on the other side on why such incidents are occurring on our common borders. This is very unfortunate and it is one of those rare cases where a Zambian has been killed along our common borders in the recent past.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Speaker: The hon. Member for Keembe.

Mr Kambwili: Chanda Chimba!

Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha (Kembe): Mr Speaker, I am rather worried. The hon. Minister of Home Affairs said that people are killed in Lusaka every day. Would he confirm that there is lawlessness in Lusaka and that is why people are killed everyday?

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sakeni: Mr Speaker, thank you.

I think …

Mr Mbulakulima: On a point of order, Sir.

Mr Speaker: A point of order is raised.

Mr Lubinda: On the hon. Minister!

Mr Mbulakulima: Mr Speaker, I would like to apologise to the hon. Minister who is on the Floor. It is not my intention to disrupt the free low of information.

Sir, I stand on a very serious point of order. It is serious in the sense that it borders on the security of this country, and I pray that it will be sustained. The hon. Minister of Defence, who is a very senior Member of the Cabinet, has said that there is a group of former leaders who want to assassinate current leaders. This is a very serious matter as it is a threat to life and is of an urgent nature. If this plot is executed, it is most likely to create chaos in the country. Is the Government, through the Leader of Government Business in the House, in order not to inform this House who the former leaders involved in the plot are and what appropriate measures have been taken to preserve peace and order in this country? I need your serious ruling on this matter.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Speaker: Unfortunately, the hon. Member is out of order because the issue he has raised is not procedural.

Laughter

Mr Speaker: There are other means and mechanisms of raising such issues in the House.

Mr Lubinda: Yes!

Mr Speaker: As I indicated earlier, that circular should not be read, but studied in order to avoid such points of order. In any case, it is also improper to raise a point of order on an hon. Minister in this context.

Please, continue, hon. Minister.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwila: Seminar!

Interruptions

Mr Sakeni: Mr Speaker, my answer was clear. There will be no need for an hon. Minister in my portfolio to be giving statements on every death that occurs in the country. Imagine a situation in which five people die within a week throughout the country; how many statements would I make on each day that Parliament sits?

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Chishiba (Kafulafuta): Mr Speaker, may I find out from the hon. Minister of Home Affairs whether we also have patrols on the Zambian side or there are any intentions of conducting them in the future? At the moment, the situation is that the DRC side is patrolled frequently, unlike our side, where the Zambian lives have been put at risk. Hon. Minister, is there something you are doing about this?

Mr Sakeni: Mr Speaker, our Immigration officers and other security agencies also conduct border patrols along our common border. I wish to take this opportunity to inform the House that, barely three weeks ago, Zambian officials patrolled Lake Mweru and, in the process, apprehended over 114 Congolese nationals who have since been repatriated back to the DRC.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Mwiimbu (Monze Central): Mr Speaker, I am aware that similar incidents happen at the common borders between Zambia and her other neighbouring countries. Is it not the case that Zambians have been straying into neighbouring countries because there are no clearly marked borders as the case is in Luapula? Is the hon. Minister not aware that, in some instances, the DRC is also claiming parts of Zambia as its own?

Mr Sakeni: Mr Speaker, I think my answer was very clear. Both Zambians and Congolese nationals do stray into each other’s territory. The point you have raised is important and I believe, in future, either our Government or future governments, will have to look at these matters. The border is just too wide to do anything about that.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

Laughter

__________{mospagebreak}

MOTION

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS

The Vice-President (Dr Scott): Mr Speaker, I beg to move that Standing Orders 19 and 20 be suspended to enable the House to sit from 1415 hours until business has been concluded on Friday, 11th November, 2011.

Sir, the House is aware that, in accordance with its tradition, the hon. Minister of Finance and National Planning presents the National Budget on a Friday afternoon each year. However, Standing Orders 19 and 20 provide that the House shall sit from 0900 to 1300 hours on Fridays.

Mr Speaker, it is in this regard that I move this Motion to suspend Standing Orders 19 and 20 so that the House sits in the afternoon on Friday, 11th November, 2011, from 1415 hours, to enable the hon. Minister of Finance and National Planning to present the 2012 National Budget.

Sir, this is a straightforward and uncontroversial Motion. I, therefore, urge all hon. Members of this august House to support it.

Mr Speaker, I beg to move.

Hon. Government Member: Hear, hear!

Mr Muntanga (Kalomo Central): Mr Speaker, in supporting the Motion on the suspension of Standing Orders 19 and 20, I would like to put a question for consideration in future. There has been no explanation given why we should traditionally have the Budget presented in the afternoon. Why should we have it in the afternoon and not in the morning? I know it is tradition, but I would like to know why.

Interruptions

Mr Muntanga: We should be able to question why we have set the precedent of presenting the Budget on Friday afternoons, because I want to leave for my constituency on Friday. Why can we not change this? We have accepted because the precedent is that we should meet in the afternoon. Having suspended Standing Orders 19 and 20, His Honour the Vice-President should have scheduled his question time to this afternoon as well because I have questions to ask him.

Laughter

Mr Muntanga: Mr Speaker, as he moves this Motion to change time of sitting for Friday, he should remember that we also need the His Honour the Vice-President’s Question Time to ask him questions. He should move it to Thursday for hon. Members to ask him questions. As we agree with the change, perhaps, we should have His Honour the Vice-President’s Question Time on Monday morning.

Mr N. Banda: You just want allowances.

Mr Muntanga: Mr Speaker, I have been in this House for ten years and we are not allowed to debate allowances.

Interruptions

Mr Speaker: Order!

Address the Chair and debate the Motion.

Mr Muntanga: Mr Speaker, I get paid for talking. Therefore, I will not allow those who have been petitioned to question me as I debate.

Laughter

Mr Muntanga: Mr Speaker, I support the Motion.

I thank you, Sir.

Laughter

Colonel Chanda (Kanyama): Mr Speaker, I thank you for allowing me to contribute to the debate on the Floor.

Mr Speaker, as I add my voice to this non-controversial Motion on behalf of the people of Kanyama, I would like to underscore the fact that the important business that we will transact tomorrow in this House is unprecedented in many ways. I have had the opportunity to listen to many Budget presentations on the Floor of this House, but this one is special and must be taken as such.

Interruptions

Colonel Chanda: The people of Zambia, I am aware, as Member of Parliament on the Government side, are very expectant. Their expectations were expressed in the way they celebrated the PF victory on the 20th September, 2011.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Colonel Chanda: Mr Speaker, coincidentally, this special Budget presentation by the PF Government will be made on a very special day: the eleventh day of the month in the eleventh month of the twenty eleventh (2011) year of our Lord. That, in itself, speaks volumes.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Colonel Chanda: Mr Speaker, this responsible PF Government is mindful that the people of Zambia have been marginalised in the various budgets that have been presented in this House by successive governments.

Mr Mwiimbu: On a point of order, Sir.

Mr Speaker: A point of order is raised.

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, I need your serious ruling. Is it in order for my good friend, whom I have worked with for a long time, to start debating issues that will be presented tomorrow by the hon. Minister of Finance and National Planning? If he proceeds on those lines, we will also be compelled to start debating the Budget and the intentions of our various parties and governments-in-waiting. Is he in order, Sir?

Mr Kambwili: Question!

Laughter

Mr Speaker: Order!

The line of debate is obviously premature. Let us debate the Motion at hand, which is straightforward. It is to suspend Standing Orders 19 and 20 to enable the House to sit tomorrow from 1415 hours until business is concluded. That is the Motion before the House. Will the hon. Member continue, please?

Colonel Chanda: Mr Speaker, I thank you for your guidance. I will be brief because this is a non-controversial Motion. My appeal is that this Motion should be supported by all well-meaning hon. Members.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Colonel Chanda: As the Budget is presented by the hon. Minister of Finance and National Planning, we should give the Patriotic Front (PF) Government time and the benefit of the doubt that it means well.

Interruptions

Colonel Chanda: I will not dwell too much on the details of the Budget as I have been rightly guided, but suffice for me to say that the Budget will be pro-poor and for the people of Zambia.

I thank you, Sir.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

The Vice-President: Mr Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. Member for Kalomo Central for those constructive interventions. We will think about it, especially on the His Honour the Vice-President’s Question Time, because, clearly, he has a lot of energy left from the election campaign, which he did not expend.

Laughter

Mr Speaker: Order!

Will His Honour the Vice President wind up debate.

Laughter

The Vice-President: Mr Speaker, I thank the House for the overwhelming support given to this Motion.

I thank you, Sir.

Question put and agreed to.

MOTION OF THANKS

The Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry (Mr Sichinga): Mr Speaker, I thank you for granting me the opportunity to not only contribute to the debate of the President’s Speech to this House, but also make my maiden speech. This is the third maiden speech I am making in this House, having done so on two previous occasions. The first was in November, 1996, when I first came to Parliament as an Independent hon. Member, representing Isoka East. The second time I made a maiden speech was in 2001, again, in November as the Deputy President of the United Party for National Development (UPND), representing the voice of the people of Kafue.

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mushanga: He is no longer with you.

Mr Sichinga: Sir, let me begin by paying tribute to you for your well-deserved election to the position of leader of this august House. Similarly, let me pay tribute to Hon. Mkhondo Lungu and Hon. Chifumu K. Banda, SC., who have been elected to their respective positions. I am delighted that somebody like you, Mr Speaker, of great integrity and outstanding reputation is leading this House.

Mr Kambwili: Hear, hear!

Mr Ntundu: Question!

Laughter

Mr Sichinga: We, in the Patriotic Front (PF), look forward to working and co-operating with you in delivering development to the country. Let me also pay tribute to the people of the then Isoka East, but now Mafinga Constituency. It is to their confidence they showed in me in 1996 that I owe my first experience to this distinguished House. I recall that the Opposition then comprised only eighteen hon. Members who occupied that location there (pointed in the direction of Hon. UPND Members). The Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) Members, who are now here (pointed in the direction of hon. MMD Members), had 140 Members and they occupied the place from there up to this side (pointing at the benches of hon. Government and MMD Members). It was virtually a One Party State. However, it also taught me many lessons.

Sir, I wish to further pay tribute to the people of Kafue who were magnanimous enough to elect me to represent them in this House in 2001.

Mr Ntundu: On the UPND ticket.

Laughter

Mr Sichinga: Sir, my acknowledgements would be incomplete without me paying tribute to the late President of the UPND, Mr Anderson Mazoka, …

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: … a man whom I have great love and admiration for. It is a pity that his electoral victory in 2001 was stolen by the evil people who were in the MMD then.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: I am certain he would be shocked to see the UPND, a party that he founded and was so passionate about, today conspiring with the evil people who stole his victory.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Interruptions

Mr Sichinga: Frankly, I cannot stop being amazed at the strange political marriage of convenience between today’s UPND and the adversary it challenged since the party’s foundation in 1998.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Mr Speaker, in 2006, I stood on the ticket of the PF in Isoka West. Although I was unsuccessful, I had laid the foundation on which Hon. Malozo Sichone subsequently built and was successfully elected as a PF hon. Member of Parliament to this House last September and I congratulate him.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Mr Speaker, allow me to thank my God and Lord by whose infinite hand I have received mercies and recognition by his servant, His Excellency the President, Michael Chilufya Sata. Although I was one of the three founding members of the MMD in 1990, the others being Dr Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika and Dr Mbita Derrick Chitala, I did not receive any recognition from successive MMD administrations. I left the MMD in 1993 on account of corruption in that party.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Today, by God’s grace, through President Sata, I have been offered the privilege to serve God’s people in this great and peaceful nation. I wish to thank President Sata for this recognition, especially that my appointment as a Government Minister was through a nomination. Allow me the opportunity to acknowledge with deep appreciation the many Zambians, both friends and people of good will, who have wished President Sata, the PF Government and me well.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Mr Speaker, I also would like to acknowledge with a sense of deep gratitude the members and officials of the PF and the many patriotic citizens of our nation, especially the youths, who braved the MMD propaganda machinery with the simple ‘Donchi Kubeba’ slogan.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: To them all, I would like to say that God Almighty heard their lamentations. I thank them for giving us, in the PF, the opportunity to serve them. As for my friends in the Opposition, especially those from the MMD, I wish to say that there is still life outside the Executive arm of the Government, as President Sata clearly demonstrated in the Opposition. He exhibited high levels of resilience and tenacity.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Mr Speaker, I wish to publicly acknowledge the forbearance of my family, especially my wife, Phosile Makwakwa Sichinga, my five sons and daughter and my grandchildren. I thank them for the sacrifices they have had to make while I spent time working both behind the scenes as well as on open platforms campaigning for the PF. I say well done to my comrades-in-arms, especially Hon. Colonel Panji Kaunda, MP and Dr Mbita Chitala, who worked with me on the campaign trail. I also say well done and congratulations to many other hon. Members of the PF in and outside this House, who were sleeping on the floor and campaigned with us without resources.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Mr Speaker, my acknowledgements must, of necessity, therefore, also include my friends at The Post Newspapers, particularly the Managing Director, Fred M’membe, who gave me the platform of the Newsmakers Forum to explain to the Zambian people in not less than twenty-two locations the economic challenges that had been confronting our nation and the performance of the then MMD Government. Had it not been for coverage of The Post, many Zambians would not have heard the other side of the story, that is, by the Opposition. The public media was exclusively Mr Banda’s territory. Both the PF and I, individually, are indebted to The Post for giving us an opportunity to be heard by the Zambian people.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Mr Speaker, having dealt with issues that brought us this far, let me now turn my focus on the future. Why did the people of Zambia remove the MMD Administration from power? We, in the PF, believe and know that the people seek the things which I will now talk about and which the MMD failed to deliver.

They want jobs as a means to feed and fend for their families. As many as 4.5 million of our people, especially the young people, are unemployed. The people of Zambia seek the freedom to participate in the economic and social affairs of their country and not to be excluded from the scene as the MMD did. The business-minded people want to establish and operate their businesses without the President’s children running corrupt economic cartels that exclude others.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: The people of Zambia hate corruption and corrupt leaders, who steal their gold or maize to sell for personal gain. They hate parties and presidential candidates who are so selfish and extravagant that they even cloth trees, but not the people they seek to serve.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Mr Speaker, the electorate hates dictators who cheat and deprive them of their vote. Our people detest economic policies that show growth for a few and deprive the majority of their basic needs. They hate economic policies that deprive them of a good livelihood. The people of Zambia hate to pay heavy taxes that, at the end of the day, are not properly accounted for. They detest seeing those who earn a lot of money from the nation’s natural endowments pay only token taxes.

Mr Speaker, it is these and similar policies and actions that the MMD perpetrated and pursued that caused Zambians to end the former Ruling Party’s tenure of office.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Does the PF know what to do with regard to these issues? Firstly, the party will put in place measures aimed at correcting the misguided MMD economic policies. President Michael Sata’s Inaugural Speech, address to this House and address to the country on the eve of the Independence Day have been consistent in elucidating the PF’s vision and platform that won the election for the people of Zambia. What shall we do?

Sir, allow me to commend President Sata for his commitment to this country. Having had so much propaganda against him, if he was a lesser individual, he would have given up, but his tenacity, resilience, perseverance and endurance finally paid off. I am certain that the same commitment will help him to deliver to the people of Zambia. I will personally ensure that his success is shared with the rest of the Zambian people. We, on this side, will not stop at anything, including the Opposition’s catcalls, to improve the lives of the Zambian people.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Mr Speaker, as President Sata’s Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, it is my task together with my hon. Deputy Minister, Hon. Mukata, who is seated behind me to provide the ministerial leadership involved in the implementation of the policy direction relating to the portifolio that is contained in the PF Manifesto. How shall we, as a ministry, contribute to addressing Zambia’s economic malaise? In summary, the following will be the ways in which we will do it:

(i) create wealth;

(ii) create job opportunities;

(iii) organise local small and medium entrepreneurs(SMEs);

(iv) encourage matchmaking between Zambians and foreign investors to create wealth and a win-win situation for all;

(v) attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to complement our own entrepreneurship efforts. We will not allow a situation where Zambians are simply bystanders who will watch development bypass them in their own country; and

(vi) provide employment for the unemployed, especially the young ones.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!{mospagebreak}

Mr Sichinga: Mr Speaker, I cannot agree more with the earlier speakers that our greatest challenges in this country include, among others things, high levels of poverty, high unemployment levels, especially amongst the youth and a lack of proper infrastructure in sectors such as energy, and transport and communications, particularly in the rural areas. These challenges, especially the high levels of poverty and unemployment, are a direct consequence of the mismanagement of our highly endowed economy by the people who were part of the previous Government and are now on your left.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: It is with this background that the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, an institution charged with the responsibility of formulating, administering and implementing Government policies and regulating activities in the trade and industrial sectors, will work tirelessly to enhance these sectors.

Mr Speaker, we want this country’s economic development to benefit the people of Zambia. The major thrust of the ministry, during the medium term, will be to guide the development of trade, commercial and industrial sectors in a liberalised, but well-managed and market-oriented economy. In this vein, my ministry will implement various developmental policies and programmes as outlined in the PF Manifesto.

Mr Speaker, my ministry will focus on strengthening and expanding the country’s manufacturing base that has been neglected with emphasis on the backward and forward linkages, given the country’s wide resource base. We would like to ensure that these linkages are benefiting our people as well.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: We also want to encourage value addition in the agriculture sector. This is an important component in agriculture that has, unfortunately, been neglected. It is an area that can provide massive employment that would result in reduction in the poverty levels amongst our people. My ministry will intensify the development of the resources …

Interruptions

Mr Speaker: Order!

Can hon. Members avoid making running commentaries?

Mr Sichinga: … in this sector with the aim of promoting agro-processing and value addition. To achieve this, we shall be seeking to enhance the competitiveness of the manufacturing and trade sectors.

The ministry will focus on the micro, small and medium enterprise development and in as much as we will seek to attract the FDI, we shall seek to industrialise the rural areas.

Mr Speaker, I would like to state that my ministry attaches great importance to the development of this sector. A large population of the country can benefit by encouraging the development of SMEs.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Mr Speaker, the Government attaches great importance to issues to do with economic empowerment for our people. Accordingly, the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) was put in place to specifically target the disadvantaged and marginalised of our society. It is regrettable that the performance of the CEEC has not been to the expected standards. The commission has failed to address challenges such as the lack of affordable finances, inadequate technological skills and financial illiteracy amongst our people. These challenges impede the development of SMEs into large firms.

Mr Speaker, to fulfill its commitment of empowering the citizens of our country, the PF Government, through the ministry, will streamline and strengthen the operations of the CEEC. It will also review the commission’s legislative framework so as to ensure that it provides quality service to as many SMEs as possible, particularly, those for women and youths. Let me further state that specific sectors will be reserved for targeted citizens. We will reserve certain sectors for our own citizens. I am not expecting that a foreign direct investor will go to the market place and start cooking nshima, which our people can do, but which the MMD Government had allowed.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: It is also of utmost importance that the CEEC refocuses its efforts on its nine core pillars rather than just emphasise on access to finance as the case has been hitherto. I am glad, therefore, to mention that already we have started implementing some measures intended to address the concerns of the SMEs such as the lack of access to finances. The Government in collaboration with the African Development Bank (ADB) has established credit lines specifically for those who would want to venture into productive sectors such as agro-processing, manufacturing, mining, agriculture, communication and information technology.

I would like our colleagues from that side to listen carefully to what I am saying because the intention of this Government is to serve all the people of Zambia in all the constituencies of our country.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: That is the mandate that President Sata has given to us. Unlike the previous Government, we will not be selective in our approach. The previous Government used to withhold the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) from constituencies that were represented by some hon. Members of Parliament from the Opposition.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Mr Speaker, we have provided ourselves a self-imposed ninety-day period to help us monitor our progress. The reduction of the statutory reserve ratio at the Bank of Zambia (BOZ) from 8 per cent to 5 per cent by the Government will go a long way in reducing the cost of borrowing for the SMEs.

Mr Speaker, it is also a well-known fact that the SMEs meet many hurdles in trying to penetrate other markets outside Zambia as their products may not meet the approved standards. The Government recognises this challenge and, therefore, hopes to develop a National Quality Policy through which an effective quality assurance programme will be implemented. This is intended to help industries improve the quality of their products and services so as to ensure that they conform to COMESA and international standards.

Mr Speaker, the Government will only continue to attract the FDI that benefits our own people. In order to ensure that this objective is met, it will encourage partnerships between local entrepreneurs and foreign investors.

Mr Speaker, on Monday, I officiated at an occasion at which the Dutch Government had brought in a delegation of entrepreneurs who seek to partner with the local business people. You may also wish to know that during our visit to Perth in Australia, we received commitments based on the presentations that the His Honour the Vice-President, Hon. Kambwili and I made. As a result of those presentations, there was a pledge for investment in the country of US$1.5 billion.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: I am following it up now with another visit to Europe. All this is intended to ensure that the people are able to participate in the development of their country.

Mr Speaker, the ministry will also see to it that these partnerships are a practical vehicle for knowledge transfer from the multi-national expertise to the people. This will enhance the skills of the people.

Mr Speaker, it is also reviewing the Companies Act of 1984 in order to harmonise it with other legislation, which was subsequently introduced on the scene after its enactment such as the CEEC Act of 2006 and the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) Act of 2006. At the moment, most of the legislation in place is not inter-linked.

Mr Speaker, the majority of the Zambian population are classified as poor. The poverty is more prevalent in rural areas. Eighty per cent of the hon. Members of Parliament represent rural areas. The Government will consider rural industralisation as an effective strategy in the development of rural areas. Accordingly, the industralisation strategy will be focused on absorbing the rural labour force and the slowing down of rural to urban migration. This is intended to contribute to the national income growth through the rural areas. It shall also promote effective and efficient utilisation of local resources. It also intends to establish, in each province, a one-stop-shop that will provide the services of the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and other facilities such as those provided by the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA).

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Sichinga: Already, three of these one-stop-shops have been established. There is one in Lusaka, Livingstone and on the Copperbelt in Kitwe. This start will give the ministry the propensity to go into other provinces. The ministry will not stop there, but also go to the district and constituency levels, using the private sector, lawyers and accountants who can register companies in conformity with the Companies Act that it will bring to this House.

It is my sincere hope that the hon. Members on that side will also be able to support these measures.

Mr Speaker: Order!

The hon. Member’s time has expired.

The Minister of Community Development, Mother and Child Health (Dr Katema): Mr Speaker, may I begin by expressing my gratitude to you for allowing me to contribute to the debate on the Motion of the President’s Address to the National Assembly. Permit me to also thank you for allowing me to make my maiden speech.

Sir, may I also take this opportunity to congratulate you on your election as Hon. Mr Speaker of this noble House. I extend my congratulations to the hon. Deputy Speaker and hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House on their elections to this august House.

Mr Speaker, the President’s Speech was very inspiring and has set the tone and pace for development in this country. The President made known his pledge to make Zambia a better place for all to live in. This is in line with the PF’s vision that, if we need to be reminded, reads:

“The citizens of this great land not only deserve better lives, but are entitled to better lives.”

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Katema: Mr Speaker, the vision implies that this Government will take development to all parts of Zambia and ensure that the national cake is shared equitably amongst every Zambian. This will be realised through the provision of equal opportunities for all citizens.

Mr Speaker, allow me to illustrate how this will be realised. In the President’s Speech, under socio-economic affairs, the President pointed out that the lower middle-income status needs to be translated into substantial reduction in poverty indicators in all the communities. This Government will, therefore, work on improving the quality of life through the introduction of programmes to accelerate the socio-economic empowerment of the citizens, especially the youths and women.

Mr Speaker, the President’s Speech went further to state that offering employment opportunities for the people, especially the many young men and women leaving education institutions in the country, is critical to the realisation of the ‘more money in our people’s pockets’ slogan. The President was also mindful of the fact that not everyone can be in formal employment. Therefore, emphasis was put on skills training and creating self-employment opportunities, especially for the youths.

Mr Speaker, with regard to the PF’s national development agenda, the President pointed out the need for the Government to promote pro-poor growth for the vulnerable in our society. The Government is also committed to promoting favourable interest rates to facilitate borrowing and investment by the private sector and individuals.

Mr Speaker, this Government will ensure that the cost of doing business is reduced for all so as to ensure that more Zambians are able to participate in national development, unlike what existed under the previous Government where wealth was confined only to a selected few.

Mr Speaker, the Government has prioritised key development policies and programmes that, once implemented, will inspire development and assure the people of a decent living. The four core development programmes are on education, health services, agriculture development and local government. In addition to these, other sectors will play a supportive role to national development.

Mr Speaker, allow me to draw the attention of the House to the President’s vision on social protection. He emphasised that the Government shall pursue all possible means to ensure a dignified life for all citizens, especially those who are unable to create security and livelihoods for themselves. In order to realise this, the Government shall formulate a Social Protection Policy to define the context for implementation of programmes. Such a policy is necessary as it will spell out the Government’s intention in the sector and provide an entry point for external support as well. In addition to setting up of minimum standards for operating in the sector, the policies that affect the sector will be reviewed to ensure conformity and harmonisation with the social protection policy.

Further, the President’s Speech pointed out that specific measures will be taken to strengthen the existing social safety net and protection programmes. As a key reform, the sector will direct resources to programmes with the highest impact on people’s lives. Therefore, an evaluation of all the key social protection programmes will be undertaken with a view to implement appropriate and sustainable interventions.

Mr Speaker, on the welfare of persons living with disabilities, the speech pointed out the Government’s resolve to domesticate a number of United Nations Conventions on the rights of people living with disabilities. This will ensure that these persons begin to enjoy equal rights, opportunities and freedoms at every level of society that is necessary for fundamental living, and full and effective participation in the development process.

Mr Speaker, as regards mother and child health, it is a well-known fact that from the time of Independence, there has been goodwill from co-operating partners, both international and local. A lot of resources have been put into the health of the child and the mother. However, to date, we are still grappling with the high infant and maternal mortality rates during the child-bearing process. Therefore, this Government looked through and asked itself where it was going wrong. The resources are there, but maternal and infant deaths are continuing. If both human and financial resources are available, where have we gone wrong?

Mr Speaker, even if there are vaccines, and nurses and doctors in our health institutions as it is in ours, as long as the community does not send an expecting mother to the health institution, she will deliver at home as it is happening. Three quarters of mothers are still delivering in their homes even in areas where health facilities are available. Children are not vaccinated even if vaccines are available. Therefore, upon realising that there is a gap, this visionary Government has seen that the answer is in the community. That is why it has entrusted the health of the mother and child with an appropriate ministry, the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health, that knows better the vulnerability of both the mother and the child.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Katema: It is only proper that the springboard from which these activities to mobilise the community to take part in the welfare of mother and child health are the community health centres themselves. Therefore, there will be no conflict as opposed to what I heard from the former Deputy Minister that there will be a conflict as a result of duplication of work. If we asked for title deeds of all clinics, we would realise that they are in the hands of the local government in the various councils. Since time immemorial, these have been run by the local government. Thus, there is no conflict whatsoever.

Sir, the Ministry of Health will work together with the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health, using the same manpower , the nurses and doctors, and infrastructures. However, it will be done using a different approach to this problem. This approach will be based on the perspective of the community because it is the best organ to mobilise the mother and child to be vaccinated and access health facilities. This has been done before.

Mr Speaker, in our effort to mobilise the community and assist the vulnerable in the community in totality, the Government is cognisant of the fact that there are other partners it has to work with who also have the capacity to assist the Government in looking after the vulnerable. I do agree with the former country’s representative to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Mr Peter McDonald, who challenged the Zambian people by saying:

 “There is only one institution that can make an immediate and lasting difference. The Church has the mandate, the resource, the presence, the permanence, the expertise and the compassion required to give orphans and the vulnerable people in the country the rights and assistance they deserve for the chance to mature into responsible citizens.”

This Government will work hand-in-hand with all Christian churches, religious organisations and well-wishers to look after the vulnerable.  This will be done in conformity with the policies that we are working out.

Mr Speaker, let me end my contribution by thanking the people of Chingola Constituency for giving me a chance, for the second time, to represent them. I also thank the PF leadership, starting from His Excellency the President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, the Central Committee, provincial leadership, constituency, wards, branches, sections, all PF members and the entire Zambian population. I thank, in particular, the hon. Member for Lunte for giving me financial assistance.

Hon. Members: Aah!

Laughter

Dr Katema: With these few remarks, I thank you very much.

The Minister of Education, Science and Vocational Training (Dr Phiri): Mr Speaker, through God’s grace, I stand in this House to add a word to the debate on His Excellency the President’s Speech and also, for the first time since I was born, give my maiden speech.

Firstly, I congratulate you on your election, Sir. I have followed with admiration and, many times, envied your rapid upward mobility, especially in the recent years.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: I have known you for a number of years now. We were neighbours, as you remember, in the university neighbourhood, as lecturers and our offices were adjacent to each other when I worked for the School of Education and you in the School of Law. I have no doubt at all that you will bring, with you, rich experiences. In this connection, I pay tribute to the PF for having chosen you as its candidate. It could not have chosen a better one.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: I say so because it is time for Zambia to put an end to this practice of trivialising important offices such as that of Speaker.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: By trivialising, I mean parading cadres for election. The best way of bringing this to an end is, through you giving the guidance that we pray you will. If separation of powers is to work in this country, then all the three arms of Government demand men and women of integrity. I am, therefore, glad that, in this wing, you are the man.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: This, also, should be the last time hon. Members, be they in Government or Opposition, are shepherded and quarantined so that they voice with one decision. I hope we are seeing the last of such attempts.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: Yes, you belong to political parties but, above all, you are individuals worth the title, ‘honourable’.

 Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: Mr Speaker, let me also congratulate the Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House on their election. I pray that God continues to give them wisdom to discharge their duties above the political divide.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: The House would not have chosen better men than these two from the east where wise men usually come from.

Interruptions

Dr Phiri: Mark my word. I am saying where wise men usually come from ...

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: … because lately, experience tells me that not all of us from the east may be wise.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: Otherwise, we would not be in a Presidential term for only three years.

Laughter

Dr Phiri: Mr Speaker, it is with a sense of pride that I congratulate His Excellency the President, firstly, on an excellent speech. I know that many on your left thought that he could not even read. From the propaganda that we heard, some of them were expecting disaster. However, to their amazement, his performance was above board.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: Secondly, I congratulate His Excellency the President on his performance in the last election. Lesser mortals would have collapsed. The barrage of attacks, prayers for his downfall, relentless announcements that he had collapsed and died would have killed even a buffalo. I praise my President for his resilience.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: I will reveal that whilst he was in Kalomo, I sent him a text to ask him to be our Joshua; not to be afraid, but be brave because the Lord is with him. Truly, the Lord is with him.

Mr Speaker, let me register this. The 2011 election campaign, especially by the MMD, was simply a disgrace. Yes, I know there are hon. Members of the MMD in this House who are generally honourable. My attack is targeted at the star campaigners whom you chose. The star campaigners you chose were a disgrace. Listen to this.

Hon. Opposition Members: Policy!

Dr Phiri: I will come to policy. This is general debate.

Interruptions

Mr Speaker: Order!

Dr Phiri: You have failed three times and you will kiss the dust again.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: These were the messages: mambala, mad man, uneducated, crude, sick old man, snake, homosexual, and you will never rule Zambia. Chanda Chiimba joined in, sponsored by the MMD, which was a total shame to all those who value the family. You were such shameless models for the young. I feel sick even to mention this. Hon. Cabinet Ministers moved around with pictures of boys kissing boys. What message were we sending to our children? You do not need to be sarcastic or insulting for you to win an election.

Hon. Government Members: No!

Dr Phiri: Your actions speak for you. Wait and watch. Efforts have been made to justify this type of campaign. We heard it on the Floor of this House. What politics; what movement of multiparty democracy has the MMD become? Did you not see the political Tsunami coming?

Laughter

Dr Phiri: My President started this party in 2001 with one hon. Member of Parliament, thanks to the people of Lupososhi Constituency. In 2006, there were forty-three hon. Members of Parliament, but twenty-two of them were sponsored to become rebels. Does it surprise you that the fortunes have followed this great party? In 2016, you may all be swept away and I look forward to this.

Interruptions

Dr Phiri: Mr Speaker, my plea to my colleagues in the UPND who are busy making running commentaries is that the failed marriage with the PF will haunt you for a long time.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Hon. UPND Members: Never!

Dr Phiri: Re-examine your strategies. Do not condemn wonderful hon. Members of Parliament who belong to this side of this House who were condemned to be members of the Opposition perpetually. I also advise, free of charge, that this marriage proposal to a widow or widower who is still in mourning …

Laughter

Dr Phiri: … is not logical.

Laughter

Dr Phiri: Give the MMD time to mourn.

Laughter

Dr Phiri: As the Reverend will agree with me, grieving must be given an opportunity to have its full course. Otherwise, the widow or widower will go mad.

Laughter

Dr Phiri: Mr Speaker, allow me now to turn to the President’s Speech, particularly pertaining to the area of Education, Science and Vocational Training, the portfolio that His Excellency the President has entrusted me with …

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: … and my hon. Deputy Minister, Professor Willombe. I have headed the Education, Science, Technology, Research and Vocational Training Sub Committee of the PF Central Committee since 2005.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: I have had cosntructive debates with one of the UPND members, Dr Beyani, and we all agreed in all the debates that something drastic should be done to our education system.

Hon. Member: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: I have invested my life in the education sector for the past thirty-seven years, twenty of them at the University of Zambia. As you heard from Hon. Mweetwa the other day, he passed through my hands when I lectured Education Psychology.

Hon. Member: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: It is at this university that I gained strength to join the political field at a time many were saying that politics in the PF were for the uneducated. I also have a very rich student union leadership background. You had better find out. I would like to use all these experiences to defend the rights of children. Join me in doing so, hon. Members of Parliament.

Mr Speaker, I pay tribute to the PF’s Central Committee for having given the education Sector the number one slot. As you know, there are four core development programmes, namely education, health services, agriculture and local Government and housing.

I pay tribute to the PF for making education the number one core programme, putting the welfare of the children at the centre of all programmes. Let the children have the first bite at the national cake. Let education be a right for every child regardless of its circumstances. As the President put it on page 12 of his speech:

 “Education is the key to unlocking the human potential leading to prosperity and national development.”

Sir, I agree with this entirely. In addition, the President observed that the whole education system requires extensive review.

Mr Speaker, there are a number of challenges I can catalogue. One of them is the lack of commitment and doing things for political expedience. In order to open a rural school somewhere, you need a President’s Speech. In this way, the nation will know how many schools are being built.

Sir, secondly, reforms did not match with adequate preparation, be it financial, material or human resources. This is evident when you assess how many schools conformed to the planned reforms. I am talking about the 1996 Educating Our Future Education Reforms that proposed that schools should be transformed from primary into basic and from secondary into high school.

Mr Speaker, let me report that there are 8,493 primary schools. Out of these, only 3,176 were transformed. This is according to this policy. There are 644 secondary schools and only 232 secondary schools were transformed.

Sir, this means that only a small number of schools conformed to this directive. A large number resisted the reform, suggesting that we are running a parallel system of Government comprising one for the elite and the other for the poor.

Mr Speaker, the third challenge was the failure to implement planned reforms, particularly in teacher training. There was no deliberate effort to train teachers who would teach from grades 1 to 9, as colleges were not transformed, but continued training teachers, separately for grades 1 to 7 and grades 8 to 9 while universities continued to train teachers for grades 8 to 12.

Sir, in all these training programmes, teacher output has still not met teacher-demand at all levels.

Mr Speaker, the MMD’s effort in the education sector is recognised as evidenced by the progress made in this sector. I agree with that.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: I agree that the foundation that Hon. Professor Lungwangwa laid was quite solid.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: Sir, this country has 8,493 primary schools and 2,851 community schools. You know the nature of community schools. As a result, there is a generally low performance of learners at primary school level. I will not go into the details because I am running out of time.

Hon. MMD Members: You wasted time!

Dr. Phiri: It was not wasted time. That was crucial for your political life.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Phiri: Mr Speaker, there are also challenges at secondary school level. Most teachers are ill-qualified. The system is using mainly diploma-holder teachers. There is a need for expansion at this level.

Sir, the Vision 2030 Development Plan that has been talked about many times is looking at making Zambia a middle-income nation by 2030. I doubt if we will achieve that. To reach this dream requires investing in the skills and education sector so as to produce the critical cadre of human capital with relevant skills.

Mr Speaker, my Government is committed to expanding not only education, but also entrepreneurship and vocational training, particularly to the population that is in need of it. The majority of these are young people.

Sir, if we want Zambia to move towards being a middle-income country by 2030, we must address the challenges encountered and increase the proportion of the labour force with technical schools to drive the development process.

Mr Speaker, as I end my debate, I would like to advise the hon. Members of this House that this is a mammoth task that demands that we work together. I will not discriminate against anyone because I am nominated. I will not discriminate on the basis of constituency.

I hope you wish me well in my portfolio.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

The Minister of Health (Dr Kasonde): Mr Speaker, I thank you for giving me the Floor.

Sir, let me begin by joining the wise man from the east in congratulating you on your election to a very high office. It is agreed unanimously that the appointment is welcome and should lead us to progress.

Mr Speaker, may I also benefit from your earlier ruling about parental involvement by invoking the name of your eminent father. I was a student of your father. He taught me English in the formative years of my life. It is a matter of great pride to me that the area of Parliamentary Language, which my eminent teacher omitted in my education, will now be completed by your excellent service.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Kasonde: Mr Speaker, as the most maiden of maiden speakers, perhaps, you will allow me also to make some observations of impressions on arriving in this august House.

Sir, I am glad to say, for example, that I was absolutely overwhelmed by the mutual admiration by hon. Members of this House on your left and right. I think it can truly be described as a mutual admiration society.

Mr Speaker, my second impression was that of a great sense of humor on your left and right, perhaps, more on the right, which is characteristic of our Zambian society in general.

Sir, I may also refer, perhaps, to the glamour on your left and right. I think it was nice to have this glamour on entering this House. What we now await the jury to come out on is the comparative intellectual cut and thrust of debate. Let the jury carry on with their deliberations and let us, perhaps, come to a conclusion at some point. Let the jury carry on with their deliberations and let us, perhaps, come to a conclusion at some point.

Mr Speaker, I intend to share with hon. Members the principles and priority actions that we intend to carry out in the Ministry of Health. I shall, therefore, begin by referring to the guiding principles that we are using and will continue to use in guiding our work.

Mr Mushanga: Muleumfwa ichisungu?

Laughter

Dr Kasonde: In fact, there are three guiding principles. The first guiding principle is that of focus. We have made it clear that in interpreting the mission of our ministry, we shall focus on three elements of the delivery of health services. These elements are clean or cleanliness, caring and competence. These three Cs will, from now onwards, be followed by my colleagues in the profession and other workers in the ministry.

Hon. Government Members: Quality!

Dr Kasonde: Mr Speaker, I think these Cs have the advantage that hon. Members of the House, as they visit our institutions, will be able to comment on whether a centre or hospital or institution is clean, caring and competent. That way, we shall share our observations and know who is doing what and where.

Hon. Government Members: Quality!

Dr Kasonde: Sir, a second guiding principle is that of multi-sectoral collaboration. My colleague, the hon. Minister of Community Development, Mother and Child Health, referred to the arrangement for maternal and child health. He made it clear that we have fallen short of achieving our objectives in the area of maternal and child health because we did not sufficiently include the participation of the community. Therefore, we welcome and will work with this arrangement which mobilises the community towards health care.

Sir, we shall remember that local government is very important in this area. We shall also remember that the chiefs are very important in this area and that, therefore, we have a partnership or consortium approach to a subject that is so important and so dear to all of us that it may be said that health is too important to leave to doctors.

Mr Speaker, our third guiding line is that of decentralisation. It has been said, many times, that the ministry has failed to deal with water supply at a given clinic in a given district, and yet we know that matters of water and energy supply are handled very effectively by the provincial ministries, if only they are informed. Let us move from this central direction only…

Mr Speaker: Order!

Business was suspended from 1615 hours until 1630 hours.{mospagebreak}

[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

Dr Kasonde: Mr Speaker, I am grateful for the interruption of the coffee break because I am not accustomed to speaking for more than ten minutes, though I am learning quite rapidly how to speak for much more than that.

Laughter

Dr Kasonde: Mr Speaker, before business was suspended, I was talking about the guiding principles that we are applying and will apply in the Ministry of Health. I will just summarise them. The three principles are focused on what I have described as the three Cs, namely clean, caring and competent. The second one is the multi-sectoral approach and the third is decentralisation. I emphasised that we need initiative from the most peripheral areas and that we should find ways of increasing their capacity to do what they ought to do in their centres instead of referring them to the Ministry of Health in Lusaka.

Mr Speaker, I now wish to just mention what we consider priority actions. These are five and are based on evidence. At this point, I might wish to acknowledge the contribution of Hon. Professor Lungwangwa who, two to three years ago, inspired me in pursuit of the concept of evidence-based decision making. I believe that this is the way to go forward although I wonder whether in his decision to be on that side of the House, he had actual evidence to support it.

Laughter

Dr Kasonde: Mr Speaker, we propose following priority actions and the first is on drugs. It is often said that there are no drugs, there are a few drugs or that there are drugs. Our first action has been to devise an index of availability of drugs. Without knowing exactly what we mean by saying there are no drugs, it is impossible to take remedial action. This index, which I shall be circulating across the country to my colleagues, has been developed, as it happens, by a young scientist from the east. I am actually proposing to call it the Mbewe Index, after the scientist who developed it.

Mr Speaker, our second priority action is on human resources for the health sector. Here, again, we are united in believing that there is a shortage of professionals in the health sector. Indeed, we have looked at the output and shown that at the rate at which these professionals are being produced, there will not be an end to this shortage in the next thirty, forty or fifty years.

We have, therefore, decided to develop a plan to increase production, the extent to which drugs are stored in the country, and ensure that all the areas of specialty are covered. We are calling this the Master Plan for Human Resource Development, which I have occasioned to explain to the House later.

Mr Speaker, the third priority action concerns epidemics. We have asked ourselves when we have an epidemic such as cholera or the one which occurred in Kalabo, which we knew what it was, but was being described as mysterious, we will be able to explain and understand what is going on and take action. What we lack and have lacked for some time is a scientifically-based system for constantly watching the epidemiological changes or trend of diseases in the country.

We have on the statutes the Tropical Diseases Research Centre which was opened in 1977. One of its functions that has been lying dormant for a long time is the concept of surveillance. In America, they call it Centre for Disease Control and it is called by other names in other countries. We have an instrument that will enable us to constantly observe what is going on and keep us informed on a scientific basis. This is already on the statutes. I shall not need to come back to the House to ask for permission for this to be done. I shall do it.

Mr Speaker, the fourth priority action is communication. I think that we are all getting a little tired of questions that could have received answers long before they are asked. This is because the great amount of information that we, in the ministry, have does not reach the people who are interested in it. It is our intention to ensure that the communication system is adequate to, at least, deal with some of these issues.

Finally, there is the issue of infrastructure. As this is a matter that we believe should receive urgent attention and resources, it would probably be improper for me to discuss the plans for infrastructure development and maintenance. Indeed, I can say that this is more in the hands of hon. Members, depending on how they look at our budget tomorrow. Perhaps, I could say that it is not in my power, as my colleague, the Hon. Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs, would say, “mazwele ayekuna”.

Laughter

Dr Kasonde: Mr Speaker, perhaps, the hon. Minister might wish to explain what that means.

Laughter

Dr Kasonde: However, it is better understood as a song. If she were to sing it, you would probably understand it better. Would you like to sing it?

Mrs Wina shook her head.

Dr Kasonde started singing “Sinjoko, sinjoko, mazwele ayekuna”

Laughter

 Dr Kasonde: Mr Speaker, I would like to conclude by thanking the President for the speech he gave in the House that covered almost everything I have to do. He made very clear what I should do, when and with what resources. He made it easier by appointing me to this House to be a Member of Parliament which I very much cherish. I cherished it before I became one, but I cherish it even more now that I am. It assures my wife where I am and what I am doing …

Laughter
 
Dr Kasonde: … at any given time.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

The Minister of Lands, Energy and Water Development (Mr Yaluma): Mr Speaker, allow me to congratulate you on ascending to a position which was a foregone conclusion. You deserve it. I also would like to congratulate Hon. Mkhondo Lungu and Hon. Chifumu K. Banda, SC. on being elected in their respective positions.

Mr Speaker, before I start, I would like to just run back and not run for elections all over again, …

Laughter

Mr Yaluma: … but take myself back to reality.

Mr Speaker, when I was approached to contest the Malole seat by the people, it changed my entire outlook to life. It took me quite a while before I could give them a firm response. I had to speak to my parents and they were agreeable, as long as the people wanted me. I went in, but I did not know what I was going in for. The campaign period was one of the most painstaking experiences of my life such that I did not know whether I would complete the trail. We used to sleep in classrooms without roofs.

Hon. Government Member: Classrooms?

Mr Yaluma: Yes, classrooms.

I come from a very remote area which I will talk about in the next few minutes. In some cases, we had to leave our campaign vehicles and walk to reach the electorates in the area. Therefore, it was something for which, at one point, I had to ask myself if I was mentally fit. However, the people on my team always encouraged me to go ahead and do it. I did it and now I am here in this august House.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Yaluma: Mr Speaker, it is with great pleasure and honour that I stand in this august House to deliver my maiden speech. As a party to the historic ascendance into power of the PF Party led by President Michael Sata, allow me to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the people of Malole Constituency for giving President Michael Sata and me massive votes, and I do mean massive votes. I am talking in the range of 28,000 plus for the President and 24,000 for me as opposed to 4,000 for my runner up. 
  
Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Yaluma: This demonstrates the continuous support of the people of Malole for President Michael Chilufya Sata. I can safely say that they are die-hard PF members. They will never die.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Yaluma: Mr Speaker, I wish to pay tribute to the late Mr Francis Kasonde. He was one of the people who played a major role in encouraging me to persevere until the finishing line even as he lay in bed sick. He kept reminding me that I could make it.

Mr Francis Kasonde, known as shi Manchester, was the PF Secretary in the district. He worked relentlessly, despite his poor state of health, to see us pull through. While in bed, he asked me to go pick him up on election day so that he could cast his vote for, in his own words, “the one and only Michael Chilufya Sata.” Unfortunately, immediately after witnessing the ascendance to power of President Sata, he did not hang on. He passed on. I want to say that whatever I will do wherever I may be will be dedicated to his memory.

Sir, I wish to pay tribute, once more, to the people of Makasa, including Chief Makasa, who played a major role in mobilising support for me in the area, as well as Chief Chimbola, Chief Changala, Chief Chandaweyaya, Chief Mfungo, Chief Chimba, not forgetting all the churches in Mungwi District that were very instrumental in rendering me spiritual support in persevering in my quest to run for the Malole Parliamentary Seat.

To my parents, my wife, Euphresia, and my three children, Clive, Mimi and Shushu, I have no words to say, but only to let them understand that I love them. They did for me what they did because they love me.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Yaluma: Mr Speaker, I would be failing in my duties if I did not pay tribute to the Constituency Chairperson of Malole Constituency, Bwalya Bwikalo, the District Chairperson, Mr Joseph Chiluba, and my entire campaign team, which also included the fabulous dancing queens provided by Felix, the musician who composed ichintu cintu umwene, lekeni uno mwaka Sata ateke. I thought Hon. A. Mwamba was around so that I could remind her of something.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear! Translate!

Mr Mukanga: Bwekeshenipo!

Mr Yaluma: I will repeat in vernacular. Ati, lekeni Sata ateke, ichintu cintu umwene cilachitika lekeni Sata ateke. This means that it was already a foregone conclusion that whatever they were going to do, the time was ripe for Sata to rule.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Yaluma: Mr Speaker, if I have not translated the song correctly, somebody might help me, but it is alright.

Sir, I would also like to express my deep appreciation of all those I have not mentioned here for, without their commitment and support, my winning the election could not have been possible. I say thank you to all them. I thank most sincerely the people of Malole, Chambeshi, Kayambi, Mungwi and all other places in the outlying boundaries of Mungwi District.

Mr Speaker, I am a freshman in politics, but I can see that many colleagues on both your left and your right are sophomores as well as juniors. Therefore, I have had time to learn during this October Meeting. I hardly knew what I was going to present here but, through observation and listening to others, at the last moment, I designed my presentation. Hon. Members, thank you very much. You did not realise that you were coaching me.

Mr M. B. Mwale: You are welcome.

Mr Yaluma: Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to thank all those who contributed to the formation of the PF Government. I pledge my diligent and loyal service to my constituency and the country as a whole. I would also like to thank President Michael Chilufya Sata for having shown confidence in me by appointing me to run this very important ministry. I would like to guarantee that I will not let him down.

Mr Speaker, Malole Constituency is in Mungwi District, which is about 28 km from Kasama. This constituency is not different from other rural constituencies earlier referred to by other hon. Members. The feeder roads in my constituency are in a deplorable condition. They are totally not motorable. Serious attention should be paid to the electrification of rural areas and water and sanitation. Communication infrastructure is lacking in most of the remote areas of the constituency. There are no cellular phone installations and, so, communication is barely possible. This should be looked into as a matter of urgency.

Mr Speaker, the previous Government put up a number of basic schools for which we commend it, …

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Yaluma: … but they forgot to build more secondary schools. There are only two secondary schools in my area and they were built before Independence. Neither the United National Independence Party (UNIP) nor the MMD put up any new schools in my area. As a result, 75 per cent of the pupils from the basic schools are left as dropouts. The PF Government shall go ahead and put up schools to cater for these pupils. To my surprise, I found that there is not even any girls’ school in the area. Girls are forced to get married at the age of fourteen when they cannot go to secondary school. This is pathetic. We must seriously consider building schools in the area.

Sir, in Malole Constituency, there has been no district hospital for quite some time. Mungwi was established in 1959, but there has never been a district hospital. We look forward, in these coming years, to having district hospitals built in the area. People walk long distances to seek medical attention in Kasama which is 28 km away. I think this matter should be given serious attention. I have no doubt that the PF Government will ably attend to them.

Mr Speaker, may I commence my speech by highlighting the developmental projects that the ministry thinks should be implemented in the energy sector. We do realise that energy plays a key factor in our economic development. It is a crucial input in socio-economic activities in the country. It is common knowledge that there exists a direct correlation between per capita energy consumption and a country’s development levels.

Hon. Members of this House are aware that petroleum is the only energy source that is exclusively imported and is mainly consumed by the mining and transport sectors. The focus of my ministry in the petroleum sector will be to adopt the available least-cost options to ensure a secure and efficient supply of fuel to enable the wheels of industry to continue turning without disruption. This will be achieved through entering into long-term supply contracts for supply of fuel, maintenance of the petroleum strategic reserves as well as maintenance of existing infrastructure and development of new ones.

The PF Government will spearhead the maintenance of strategic reserves to be supported by a programme for the rehabilitation or construction of Government bulk-petroleum depots in each of the nine provinces. Under Phase 1 of the project, the Lusaka Depot, with a storage capacity of 24 million litres, the Mongu Depot, with a storage capacity of 6 million litres, the Solwezi Depot, with a storage capacity of 12 million litres and the Mpika Depot, also with a 6 million litres capacity, are all expected to be completed in the first half of 2012.

Mr Speaker, in accordance with the PF Manifesto, the ministry will continue with the implementation of the Uniform Petroleum Pricing Programme (UPP) whose major objective is to standardise fuel prices throughout the country in order to contribute to the reduction of the cost of doing business. The UPP programme will be enhanced by the Government constructing filling stations in the rural areas where the private sector do not find it economically convenient to do so.

Mr Speaker, the ministry is currently identifying potential sites for the construction of these filling stations in provinces that have been identified to have an urgent need for them. The Government has also embarked on the modernisation of the Ndola Fuel Terminal in order to improve its operational safety and efficiency. The project is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2012. The ministry is also rehabilitating the bitumen processing and packaging plant at Indeni. This project is also expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2012.

It should be noted that the Indeni Petroleum Refinery is a simple hydro-skimming refinery that does not have complex refining units and, for this reason, it cannot process pure crude oil. Furthermore, it processes petrol at a relatively high cost as it has to operate at high duty to meet the required product specifications.

Mr Speaker, the processing of diesel processed by the refinery has relatively high levels of sulphur, which is undesirable. The refinery requires installation of a hydro-cracking unit that can enable the processing of pure crude oil, an isomerising unit, which can enable the refinery to process petrol without stressing plant operations, and a desulphurising unit to enable the plant remove sulphur from the diesel.

In order to streamline the country’s fuel supply chain, the ministry, in liaison with the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, will commission a detailed study to all the feasible petroleum supply options with the intention of recommending the most cost-effective option. The consultant has since commenced preliminary work on the study. The recommendations will be submitted to the Government for consideration and implementation. At all times, the PF Government will also endeavour to ensure that crude oil or refined fuel is sourced from cheaper suppliers. The so-called middlemen in the oil supply chain will have to be re-evaluated to see if they are adding value to the chain. Unnecessary overheads will be dropped in an effort to provide cheaper fuel to the customers. We need a serious input into this by all hon. Members. I urge our colleagues on both sides of the House to give us suggestions on how we can reduce the fuel prices.

Mr Speaker, as for electricity, it is the most widely used locally-sourced energy resource in Zambia. This is mainly used by mining companies. It is also used for commercial, agricultural and domestic purposes. The current issues in the electricity sector are generation constraints, whereby our generating capacity cannot meet the demand. We have been running our machines for the past few years without any reserve margin. This means that should we have one machine break down, we will go into load shedding. It is up to us to put measures in place to prevent any possible total failure of the plant.

Mr Speaker, another challenge is the aging network. Many hon. Members, mostly those from Mansa and Chipata, have complained about low voltage and overloaded networks. This, again, was due to a lack of maintenance on the network and the absence of proper master plans on the network. The aging network will be remedied by implementing what has been stipulated in the maintenance plans. I hope our current technicians and engineers will implement solutions that will replace the aging network with something that can sustain the loads.

Mr Speaker, the ministry is spearheading research in other types of primary energy, such as …

Mr Speaker: Order!

The hon. Minister’s time has expired.

The Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs (Mrs Wina): Mr Speaker, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to give my maiden speech.

First and foremost, I salute His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, whose resounding victory in the September 20th Tripartite Elections was not a mean achievement, but one directed by God’s hand.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mrs Wina: Let me take this opportunity to congratulate you, Mr Speaker, on your ascension to the position that allows you to preside over the affairs of this august House. Your vast experience in the administration of justice, and dedication to the defence of human rights will, indeed, enhance the stature of this House. I also wish to congratulate the hon. Deputy Speaker, Mr Lungu, the Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House, Mr C. K. B. Banda, SC., and all hon. Members on both sides of the House on winning such a hotly contested election.

Above all, I salute my sisters, all the female candidates in the last elections, who put up a gallant fight under harsh conditions. For those who could not make it and those who have made it, I say, persevere, as time will come for your kind to be recognised.

I am grateful to His Excellency the President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, and my party, the PF, for the creation of the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs of which I was appointed hon. Minister. However, before I present the role and functions of this ministry, allow me to say something about the constituency I represent.

Nalolo Constituency is situated between Mongu and Senanga on both sides of the Zambezi River. Like many other areas of the Western Province, it has suffered neglect and marginalisation for the past twenty years of the MMD rule.

Mr Speaker, 90 per cent of the Nalolo inhabitants have never seen a tarred road, electricity or running tap water. Most of the schools in Nalolo are grass-thatched and the majority are without chairs and desks. They also have very few teachers.

Mr Speaker, Nalolo has suffered terribly under the previous Government’s rule, such that I do not know how, as the PF Government, we are going to rectify the situation. However, I know that somehow, we are going to change the situation in my constituency.

Interruptions

Mrs Wina: I know this because the current Government is capable of working hard. The people of Nalolo were very elated when, in his speech to Parliament, the President indicated that the Kalongola/Kalabo/Sikongo Road will be constructed and we are looking forward to that.

Mr Speaker, I now turn to my portfolio which is the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs. It has the mandate to spearhead the development of our rural areas in collaboration with chiefs. From now on, chiefdoms shall become the nucleus of our rural development efforts through genuine decentralisation. It is time to involve our traditional leaders in all our development and good governance efforts. The PF Government has scored a first in this area.

Until now, chiefs were only made prominent in Zambia during elections. During the previous Government’s era, chiefs were usually remembered for theirs and their people’s votes in their jurisdiction. For the PF Government, chiefs will be part and parcel of governance. My ministry will work closely with all the other ministries to promote development at chiefdom level. Chiefs, through their headmen and women, will soon start registering births and deaths in their villages.

We expect to put in place facilities and services that will boost cultural tourism through the rich traditional ceremonies Zambia has. The role of chiefs in the promotion of investment is vital. I am referring, here, to investments both by local and foreign investors. We always have to remember that chiefs are the custodians of traditional land.

Mr Speaker, as the President stated, it is our view that the people of all the chiefdoms must benefit from the exploitation of the resources in their areas. This must include benefits from wildlife through their participation in the conservation of our natural resources. Is it not ironic that chiefs in some of our mining areas have been denied access to a share of the proceeds from the mineral and other resources that are exploited in their areas?

Mr Speaker, allow me to take the House back to 1964, at Independence. At the time, the Native Authority Ordinance, 1956 Chapter 157 of the Laws of Northern Rhodesia and Barotse Native Ordinance were abolished. These ordinances spelled out the functions of chiefs in the then Northern Rhodesia and Barotseland. Most of the functions of native authorities were taken over by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing as it was called then and other ministries. The functions and powers of chiefs were enshrined in the Local Government Act of 1965. The Chiefs Act, Chapter 287 of the Laws of Zambia was enacted by Parliament and, from then on, this Act became the bible of those dealing with chiefs in this country.

In spite of the inadequacies of the Chiefs Act, chiefs have performed their constitutional duties as advisors of the Government on traditions and customs of the country. Chiefs have contributed a great deal to good governance. They continue to contribute to socio-economic development by disseminating information about Government policies in their chiefdoms. They also play a key role in the dispensation of justice through traditional courts.

Mr Speaker, this new ministry, therefore, must perform a role of optimising the participation of chiefs in the governance and development of their areas and Zambia, in general. It must enhance their roles and their capacity to deliver to their people and stop the system of using them as pawns in our politics. In the recent past, what was given to chiefs was presented as a favour and not in recognition of their contribution to the country’s development. It is important that we move away from this practice so that we can accord our chiefs the dignity they deserve.

Further, it is the position of the PF-led Government to seek to resolve the outstanding issues of disputes and conflicts between and among some of our chiefdoms. As the House is aware, the President prioritised the need to resolve the hitherto outstanding issues relating to the Barotseland Agreement of 1964. It is our intention to involve all the stakeholders in addressing this matter.

Mr Speaker, in his landmark speech to this House, President Michael Chilufya Sata said:

“To promote decentralisation and active involvement of traditional leaders in the governance of the country below the district council level, my Government will introduce ward/village councils, district chiefs’ councils and provincial chiefs’ councils.”

All these initiatives are aimed at promoting the attainment of sustainable socio-economic development, starting from the village level. Under this new ministry, are the following departments and statutory bodies:

(i) House of Chiefs and Chiefs’ Affairs;

(ii) Department of Cultural Affairs;

(iii) National Arts Council;

(iv) National Heritage Conservation Commission; and

(v) National Museums Board. 

The ministry will be responsible for the co-ordination of the above in order to promote, conserve and preserve Zambia’s cultural and natural heritage for sustainable development. It will, therefore, be necessary to review the Chiefs Act and other related pieces of legislation so as to facilitate the full and meaningful participation of chiefs and their people in this country’s development.

Mr Speaker, as you are fully aware, this is a new ministry composed of various statutory bodies and departments that were under various ministries. Therefore, there is a need to review the legal framework such as the Museums Act, National Heritage Conservation Act and develop policies in line with the new ministry’s mandate.

Mr Speaker, let me appeal to my colleagues in this House to support the new ministry that will have to start its work from scratch. I have made this appeal because some of the functions of this ministry will require parliamentary approval of expenditure for it to perform its duties to the satisfaction of the Government and the nation. In conclusion, it would be remiss if, in my maiden speech, I did not raise my voice and join all those who are calling upon all Zambians, men, women and youths, to embrace the urgent need for gender equality in our country.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

The Minister of Labour, Sport, Youth and Gender (Mr Shamenda): Mr Speaker, thank you for according me this opportunity to join the hon. Members who spoke before me in contributing to the debate on His Excellency the President’s landmark speech given to this august House on 14th October, 2011.

Since this is also my opportunity to give my maiden speech in this House, Mr Speaker, I would like to start by congratulating you, on your deserved election as Speaker of the National Assembly. My heartfelt congratulations also go to the Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chairperson of the Committees of the Whole House on their election to their respective positions. I am positive that your team will take the business of this House to greater heights by initiating more reforms that will assist us in meeting the expectations of the people of Zambia who confidently voted for us.

Mr Speaker, allow me to congratulate His Excellency the President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, and the PF on winning the 20th September, 2011 tripartite elections. The smooth transition of power exhibited on the 20th September, 2011 has gone a long way in demonstrating what the true tenets of democracy are to other African countries. It is for this reason that I would like to commend the former President, Mr Rupiah Bwezani Banda, for showing patriotism to this country by smoothly handing over power to His Excellency the President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, and the PF even after telling the whole world that Mr Sata would never be President.

Mr Speaker, I used to be worried, sometimes, with the confidence that was being shown by the previous Government. As a trade unionist, I spent most of my life being subjected to elections as a livelihood. Being part of those who established the MMD, I knew that it would lose the elections this time around since it had lost direction. Thus, I was worried about the source of the MMD’s confidence.

Laughter

Mr Shamenda: Before going any further, allow me to thank the PF for nominating me candidate for Ndola Central Constituency. I also wish to thank the President of the PF, now the Zambian Republican President, His Excellency, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, for appointing me Minister of Labour, Youth and Sport. I hope the President is not listening to this debate.

Laughter

Mr Shamenda: In 2006, I had a discussion with the President in which we had differences regarding his approach to the campaigns in the rural areas. After he lost the 2006 Presidential elections, I told him that if he was going to lose the next elections, I was going to kill him. He assured me that he was going to win the 2011 Presidential elections and that there was no need for anyone to be killed. I was, thus, relieved when I heard the announcement that the PF had won the mandate to rule the country. 

Sir, I am very lucky that one of the hon. Members of the House is not in the House because he caused a problem for me because of the situation I was in at one time. 

Laughter

Mr Shamenda:  Allow me, Mr Speaker, to comment on a few thorny issues affecting our country. I have never experienced what I went through during the run-up to the last elections in any election campaign. I would like to thank my dear wife, my children and my family for helping me in my campaigns. I do not think that my wife will ever forget an incident that happened when she and my daughter accompanied me to Chipulukusu Compound for my campaigns.  We were stoned by unruly members of a known political party. One of my campaign manager’s sitting rooms in Chipulukusu Compound was petrol bombed. The thought of the previous Government retaining power scared my daughter. She told me that if the MMD maintained its hold on power, she would have to start telling people that I was one of her distant uncles so as to avoid trouble in her workplace which is a Government institution. Under the MMD, anybody with dissenting views from those who were in authority was victimised.

Mr Speaker, as Minister of Labour, Sport and Youth, I will make sure that the workers of this country are freed from their problems.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Shamenda: Under the previous regime, the Government controlled the elections for institutions that were supposed to be independent. Employers were also not spared from Government control. Statutory instruments were issued in order to control institutions that were supposed to be independent. Investors had so much political patronage to the extent that labour laws were not respected in this country.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Shamenda: Against this background, let me inform this august House that we will liberate the Zambian workers from their problems from now on.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Shamenda: Mr Speaker, we will protect the interests of all the workers within the boundaries of our country. There are expats who are working in the country who are equally working in appalling conditions. Some of them are serving their prison sentences outside their countries of origin. This has to come to an end. Expats who come to this country have to live as such. They have to live in decent accommodation so that they can pay for services that will go a long way in contributing to the development of this country. However, if they continue to live as they do, like sardines, in some of the houses, I will work hand-in-hand with the hon. Minister of Local Government, Housing, Early Education and Environmental Protection to carry out inspections of their homes to ensure that there is enough space for them to live as decent workers.

Mr Speaker, there have been some contradictions in certain quarters that the PF, as a party, has shifted its stance on condemning the abuse of the investors who are operating in the country.

Sir, the PF was in the Opposition when it noticed the abuse and the flouting of the labour laws by some investors. Therefore, we lamented because we were not in charge. However, now that we are, we need to work towards correcting those shortcomings.

Mr Speaker, the coming into Government of the PF provided relief to the workers and the youth as His Excellency categorically stated that his Government would concentrate its efforts on skills training and creating self-employment opportunities, especially for the youth.

Sir, the ministry embraces the vision expressed by His Excellency the President regarding the welfare of the youth. The President pledged his support towards the efforts aimed at improving the welfare of the youth because it is well known that, largely, the victory of the PF is owed to the young generation. He said:

 “The PF’s electoral victory achieved in the just-ended election is owed, in large  measure, to our young generation.”

Mr Speaker, as hon. Minister responsible for Youth Affairs, I would like to assure this House that we shall do what we promised to uplift the well-being of the youth. The youth campaigned, voted and protected their vote.

The ministry will accelerate the establishment of district youth vocational training centres for the youth to acquire life and vocational skills for improved livelihoods. Furthermore, we shall work closely with the hon. Minister of Defence to turn the Zambia National Service camps into non-military youth skills training centres as directed by His Excellency the President.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Shamenda: Mr Speaker, the ministry will review relevant pieces of legislation governing labour, employment and social security schemes. It will also intensify and strengthen labour and factory inspections in order to ensure compliance.

Hon. Government Member: Boma ni Boma!

Mr Shamenda: Mr Speaker, job security is one of the top priorities of the ministry, unlike the casualisation and exploitative contracts in the past regime. The trend was that even permanent jobs became temporary. Those on contracts, in many cases, were casual workers.

Mr Speaker, I would like to echo the sentiments made by His Excellency the President that job creation will be a priority in the development agenda. The former Government told people that it would create jobs. I come from Ndola Constituency and it is a sorry site. Dunlop was closed and a market was built in the place where this manufacturing industry was, and whose closure saw jobs being lost.

Mr Speaker, we were told that the Government was creating jobs by selling the Zambia Telecommunications Company (ZAMTEL). At the time of sale, ZAMTEL had more than 3,000 workers, but after it was sold, it had less than 750 employees left.

Hon. Government Members: Shame!

Mr Shamenda: The arithmetic was very difficult for me to add up.

Mr Speaker, social security is another important matter which needs to be prioritised. Workers’ retirement and compensation packages come from the workers’ capital. In many countries, workers’ capital is supposed to be used for investment ventures where the returns benefit the retirees.

Mr Speaker, His Excellency’s Address was inspiring and gave hope to the labour force. The choice of the four core development programmes, namely education, health, agriculture and local government and housing, supported by infrastructure and social protection, commerce, trade and industry, energy and tourism, provides a whole range of employment opportunities.

The ministry, in collaboration with the Central Statistical Office (CSO), will, in the coming year, conduct a comprehensive Labour Force Survey. How can you talk about unemployment when you do not know the number of people who are unemployed? We shall ensure that we have up-to-date information on employment characteristics in this country, an issue that has been neglected for a long time. We shall undertake to address the bottlenecks in the labour market and work on reducing the levels of unemployment in the economy.

Further, we shall work with stakeholders to ensure that the life skills imparted in the youths are fully protected by limiting investors who intend to engage in sectors that could be exploited by the youth. It is sad that when you go to Soweto Market, you find some of our investors cooking nshima. This has to stop.

Mr Mbulakulima: Sport!

Mr Shamenda: Mr Speaker, the sports infrastructure in this country is dilapidated and Zambia’s performance in most sports disciplines has been poor. The PF Government will work with the private sector, through the provision of incentives, to review the sports and recreation framework in order to enhance participation of our citizens in sport.

Mr Speaker, the ministry will co-operate with the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training to implore stakeholders to develop sports infrastructure with a view to availing access to the majority of citizens.

Mr Mabumba: Hear, hear!

Mr Shamenda: Mr Speaker, as I conclude, I would like to thank my Constituency Chairperson, the former Member of Parliament for Ndola Central, Mr Mark Mushili, …

Hon. Members: Chief Mushili

Mr Shamenda: … the hon. Minister for Luapula Province,

Mr Mwila: Hear, hear!

Mr Shamenda: … the hon. Minister of Local Government, Housing, Early Education and Environmental Protection, who is well-known as my twin sister for the suffering we went through as we, sometimes, got scared of the confidence I talked about earlier.

Mr Speaker, once again, I would like to thank His Excellency the President for giving me an opportunity to serve in this ministry and promise that we shall work together with this House to improve the well-being of the majority of citizens.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

The Minister of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication and Chief Whip (Mr Mukanga): Mr Speaker, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to the debate on this important Motion, which is on the Floor of the House, and also give my maiden speech.

Sir, allow me to firstly congratulate you, your hon. Deputy and the hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House on your election to the posts that you currently hold.

Sir, you deserve to be the Hon. Mr Speaker of this House, the Zambian Parliament.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: You deserve it and it is not a favour. Your curriculum vitae (CV), uprightness and integrity speak volumes. Your experience is the right one we needed to replace the former Speaker. Your academic qualifications cannot be easily challenged and those who would wish to do so without looking at your CV can be forgiven for being short-sighted.

Laughter

Mr Mukanga: Mr Speaker, in the same vein, allow me to commend our Republican President, His Excellency, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, for winning the elections in the manner he did.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: Sir, his victory has definitely sent some of his competitors into oblivion and others into early retirement.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: Sir, it is premature retirement. The results indicate that our President’s performance on the Copperbelt is unprecedented.

Mr Speaker, even in my constituency, the election results were unbelievable ...

Hon. Government Member: What about in Mansa? 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: The election results in Mansa are even more difficult to describe.

Sir, when the entire country shouted for change, it was so loud to the effect that, on 20th September, 2011, history was made. The ‘Don’t kubeba’ slogan, which means do not tell them, a slogan that was coined after much thought and understanding, on 20th September, 2011, rekindled the hope for survival for most of the citizens of Zambia.

Mr Speaker, this day has become a day of a second liberation and independence to the people of Zambia. It has become a second liberation from the bondage of unemployment, slavery, under-development and corruption. The list is endless.

Sir, it is for this reason that I salute my President, the Vice-President, the Central Committee, the Provincial Committees, the District Committees, Constituency Committees and officials and the entire PF for adopting me to represent them in this august House and for vigorously campaigning on my behalf so that I would win a seat in this House.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!{mospagebreak}

Mr Mukanga: Mr Speaker, I also would like to thank my lovely wife, Elizabeth, my children Mukaya, Mapesho, Natasha, Waluse and Joshua for always being there for me during my campaign. They made the campaign very easy and bearable.

Sir, the people of Zambia and Kantanshi, in particular, looked at the suffering and the poverty levels that were prevailing at that time; the poor infrastructure, in terms of roads and hospital facilities; and the high levels of corruption and unemployment that existed in the country, and decided, on that particular day, to vote wisely. They decided to vote for the PF and said no to time-wasters and wasters of tax payers’ money.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: Some people brought them money and offered them gifts of bicycles and chitenges and even took new cars as never seen before to Mufulira, but the people still decided to say no to the MMD and say yes to the PF. They decided, on that particular day, to get everything that the MMD had offered them. When the MMD gave them food, they got it and ate it. When they were given chitenges, they received them with both hands. However, on that particular day, they said no to this type of corruption. They said no to a type of government that the MMD was proposing and gave the PF a chance to change Zambia so that it could become a better place to live in.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: On that particular day, they decided to give the PF the desired vote. They spoke loudly through the ballot box. They decided that they needed a transparent government that was corruption-free. They needed a better Zambia of employed youths and not the situation that has been prevailing in this nation. They, therefore, voted for change and decided to change Zambia and because of this, dear ones, let us together give them the change that they need in this country.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: Mr Speaker, the MMD was given a chance to rule Zambia and change things for twenty years, but all of us know what happened during this time.

Mr Speaker, now that the PF has been given a chance, let us give it all the support to change the lives of the people. As a PF Government, we will create employment opportunities for the youths.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: We have not changed our stance on the commitments that we made from the first day we were voted into power. The President’s Speech was very clear on our commitments to fulfill the manifesto that we had on job creation and putting more money in the pockets of people.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: We are still just as committed as we were when we first made this statement as a party.

Mr Speaker, the Government will concentrate its efforts on creating opportunities for youths in the country. The Government will improve infrastructure and its maintenance effectively and efficiently. It will try to do everything it can to ensure that each and every Zambian sees the change that he/she desires.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: Mr Speaker, this Government wants jobs and contracts to be given on merit. It wants to give jobs to the right people. It wants to ensure that Zambians are given the very best. Zambians are tired of always being the second best. This time, they want to be the best in this land.

Sir, it is for this reason that this Government has a principle of doing the job right the first time because it believes that if it does the same job many times, that is, reworks, it will be very expensive. The money that it has cannot be spent on such situations. The money that it has will be used properly and sparingly on the right requirements that the people want to see. The Government will follow the law and provide the necessary transparency that is required in this country.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: Mr Speaker, through you, fellow hon. Members of Parliament, let us learn to change our attitude towards issues because our attitude will determine our altitude. If your attitude is very bad, then, your altitude will be just as bad.

It is, therefore, important that we change the way we perceive things. We should change our mindset because we have only one Zambia and we need to make it better for ourselves and our children.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: Let us give our children a better Zambia than that we have lived in. We are here, today, because there is a purpose that we need to filfill.

Interruptions

Mr Mukanga: By the way, Mr Speaker, I am speaking as Chief Whip. Therefore, it is important that hon. members understand these issues.

Interruptions

Mr Mukanga: Sir, we need to realise that Zambia has been kneeling. The PF Government wants it to start walking and running. It wants to run and achieve things. However, in doing so, it should run according to the rules. By doing this, it will ensure that it gives the very best to our people. How fast it does this depends on the commitment of all of us. Zambia needs to see this change now and not later.

Mr Speaker, seven years ago, I was seated somewhere in that corner on the left and the PF had only two hon. Members of Parliament then. Every time I debated, I used to warn the MMD Members that from the way things were going, one day, they would be on your left side and we would be on your right. I told them that we would take the reigns and rule this country accordingly. Every time I spoke, other people took it as a joke. People called me a prophet of doom but, today, I am a true prophet because those who were on your right are on the left. I would like to tell them that sitting that side, …

Interruptions

Mr Speaker: Order!

Mr Mukanga: … may be a time of reflection on how their performance was. Those of us who are on your right have learnt from them. Our prayer and hope is that we do not make the mistake the MMD made because we have woken up to reality. Therefore, we know what to do. We thank the people of Zambia for voting wisely and for giving us the mandate. We have the vision and direction. We have only one Commander-in-Chief and we are going to get the instructions from that Commander-in-Chief and move as he directs.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: Mr Speaker, we are going to give direction to all the people of Zambia. Regardless of who they are, they will follow what the Commander-in-Cheif says. Today, we can make Zambia a better place to live in if we work together.

Yes, I am Minister of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: Sir, I am actually the first hon. Minister of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication and I am also the Government Chief Whip. It is the same as three in one. I also have a Deputy Minister, Hon. Mwenya Musenge, and we are both determined to bring sanity to this ministry. This means that we are working tirelessly, as a Government, to check on everything that was done. Therefore, do not just shout. We are looking at issues and when matters arise, the right course of action will be taken.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mukanga: We are not afraid to perform. As a ministry, we desire to work efficiently. As a ministry, we desire to ensure that what we talked about when we were on that side, is effected now. We are going to work on roads and ensure that the …

Interruptions

Mr Speaker: Order!

Hon. Members, the Chair is here.

Laughter

Mr Mukanga: … the right contractor gets the job. We are going to do all this transparently. This is my only maiden speech and I promise to say more after the Budget Speech. I, therefore, fully support the President’s Speech, keeping in mind that the Budget is yet to be announced.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

The Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism (Mr Lubinda): Mr Speaker, praise be to God Almighty for what happened on the 20th day of September, 2011. I thank Him specially for touching the lips of that one great woman, Justice Irene Mambilima, for her to make the very important pronouncement of the victory of President Michael Chilufya Sata.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: One shudders to contemplate what would have become of this great nation had the announcement been otherwise. Mr Speaker, the likes of my friend, Hon. George Kunda, SC., and Hon. Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha, because of Mr Sata’s victory, confessed and apologised on the Floor of this House for having used very uncharitable language against us during the campaign. Had the result been different, I am sure, they, together with Hon. Siliya, would have gone to all lengths to justify their vulgar and intimidating language.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, given the diabolical threats that were being issued against Mr Michael Chilufya Sata and the PF on the national media by their vuvuzelas such as Chanda Chimba, Gregory Cifire, Lifwekelo and others, I have no doubt that many of us, on this side (right) of the House and some of those of our colleagues (some hon. Opposition Members), would have been declared long-time residents of the overcrowded Zambian prisons by now. Hon. Kunda, SC., would not have even brought the Motion he brought to the House yesterday …

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kunda, SC.: On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker: A point of order is raised.

Mr Kunda, SC.: Mr Speaker, I am listening quietly to the hon. Minister’s lopsided debate. Is he in order to mention the insults uttered by his President during the campaign?

Mr Speaker: Order!

That point of order is not procedural and I will not uphold it. In any event, the person on the Floor has the right to determine the content of his speech.

May the hon. Member continue.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, I thank you for your protection.

For emphasis, I would like to say that had the elections been won by our colleagues under Mr Rupiah Bwezani Banda, Hon. Kunda, SC. and his team would have spent a lot of time on the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), in the Times of Zambia, Zambia Daily Mail and even here in Parliament justifying the violence they meted out against us on this side during the campaign. Therefore, it is only by God’s grace that Zambia was spared the agony of continued misrule of the MMD. Again, I would like to say Glory be to God for saving this country.

Hon. Government Members: Amen!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, having said this, let me join my fellow hon. Members of this House in congratulating His Excellency the President, Michael Chilufya Sata, on laying such a clear and focused agenda for the development of our dear country when he officially opened the First Session of the Eleventh National Assembly on 14th October, 2011.

Allow me, Sir, to also congratulate you on your election as Speaker of this august House. Some have said a lot about your integrity and credentials. No doubt, Mr Speaker, that even those who camped at hotels knew they were camping in futility because your integrity alone, would have won you the election even without anyone casting his/her vote.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, let me also congratulate the Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House on their well-deserved election to their positions.

Sir, I would like to say to you and share with the rest of the House that it was our thought that after the elections, the Ruling Party would sponsor the Speaker. The second largest party would have sponsored the Deputy Speaker and the third largest party would have sponsored the Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House. Unfortunately, for my former party, that eluded it because of overestimating its size and support.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: I am sure it is a bitter lesson and, next time, it will be more careful and moderate in estimating its power.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Sir, let me also congratulate my very good friend, Hon. Felix Mutati, on his election as Leader of Opposition.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, it was no easy feat, considering that my friend, whom I used to refer to as Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and, if he allows me, I will continue to refer to him as such, holds a very junior position in his party. For him to have assumed the position of Leader of Opposition, leaving behind his seniors in his party such as my good friend, George Kunda, SC., …

Laughter

Mr Lubinda: … my uncle, Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha, …

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: … and the ever present Dora Siliya, …

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: … shows that his in that party, is a sure success.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: I wish you the best.  

Mr Speaker, I now would like to thank and congratulate the people of Zambia on electing President Michael Sata and the PF Party during the September, 20 Tripartite Elections. To all of them, I say your vote and your choice were not misplaced.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Together, we are on the way to building a better and prosperous Zambia; a Zambia in which greed and corruption shall be abhorred by everybody and fought vigorously; a Zambia in which all of us shall be proud and free; a Zambia to which we shall voluntarily give our total dedication and loyalty; and a Zambia that will inspire all of us to be truly patriotic.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, I am surprised though by some of my colleagues on both sides of the House who have been singing songs of praise for the former President, Mr Rupiah Banda,  for having handed over the instruments of power to President Sata.

Interruptions

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, these praises make it appear as though Mr Banda had an option. The fact of the matter is that the people spoke through the ballot and Mr Banda and the MMD had no choice, but to vacate office. Period.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: I will not give them any commendations.

Except to pack their bags and go, they had zero option.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Unless, some people here know that Mr Rupiah Banda is a man who has the capacity to go against the democratic will of the people.

Mr Speaker, I now would like to thank the wonderful people of Kabwata Constituency for voting for me and President Sata in the 20th September Tripartite Elections. Against all odds, including the malicious propaganda of the MMD Government, through the Ministry of Local Government and Housing Authority against members of the Lusaka City Council (LCC), the people of Kabwata said no to their lies and gave me …

The Vice-President: A massive vote.

Mr Lubinda: … a massive vote.

Mr Speaker, 75 per cent of all the votes cast that translate into 30,000 were cast for the PF Candidate against a paltry 5, 800 for their sponsored candidate, Dr Machungwa.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda:  The people of Kabwata told him Kabwata is Kabwata.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Even after abusing Government transport with their allies, the people of Kabwata said no to Dr Machungwa and the MMD. Sir, whereas their candidate had 5,800 votes, the next candidate got close to zero in view of the number of votes cast because he only managed 2,000 votes.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: I am sure it is a lesson to them too.

Mr Speaker, to the people of Kabwata Constituency, I pledge to work hard in improving their quality of life in the next five years. I also pledge to continue to be their voice and speak fearlessly like never before.

Mr Speaker, I also wish to thank President Michael Sata for appointing me to work in his Cabinet. To him and through him, I pledge to the people of Zambia to execute the functions of my office to the best of my ability.

Sir, the PF Government, among other hallmarks, came into office on the premise of giving power to the people. There can be no better way to do this than to empower people through information so that they make informed choices and decisions in their lives. For this reason, the PF Government’s policy is to defend and promote freedom of the press and expression. This is evident in the landmark policy pronouncements and decisions we have taken since coming into office over a month ago.

Mr Speaker, we inherited a public media that had stagnated and suffocated under heavy political patronage at the hands of the former Ruling Party.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, we inherited a public media whose only agenda was to sing praises for those in power at the expense of national interest. We inherited a media in which the public had completely lost confidence because of its highly partisan, unprofessional and unethical conduct.

Sir, at the moment, all the three public media organisations, namely the ZNBC, Times of Zambia and Zambia Daily Mail are in serious financial difficulties arising from partisan instructions dispensed by the MMD Government.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: For instance, about two to three months before the elections, the MMD Government, for purely political reasons, instructed the Times of Zambia to increase its circulation from 12,000 copies a day to 20,000 even when there was no market demand to justify the increase.

Laughter

The Vice-President: It is like producing maize.

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, they further instructed that part of the Times of Zambia be printed in Lusaka using the Zambia Daily Mail printing press on the premise that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services would meet the cost of this costly venture.

Sir, this decision cost both the Times of Zambia and Zambia Daily Mail hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money.

Hon. Government Members: Shame!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, the Times of Zambia, for example, owes more than K400 million due to this unethical and politically-motivated instruction by those on that end.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, the Zambia Daily Mail, too, incurred colossal losses in newsprint and other consumables in printing the Times of Zambia, and now the ministry has failed to provide the necessary financial back-up for printing the Times of Zambia in Lusaka.

Mr Speaker, as though that were not enough, the Zambia Daily Mail, under the instruction of those on your left, was further instructed to print a paper called Stand Up for Zambia and other MMD propaganda publications, much to the erosion of the Zambia Daily Mail’s financial capacity.

Sir, further, on the three public institutions, our inquiry into the shameful chronicles of the disgraced journalist, Chanda Chimba, clearly shows that the programmes were sponsored by the MMD, using Government resources.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: I am sure that my friend, Hon. Sakeni, is listening.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, against professional advice, the former MMD Government proceeded to broadcast the highly libellous and malicious programmes on the national broadcaster and even engaged private legal practitioners to defend the Chanda Chimba matter in court.

Hon. Government Member: Chanda Chimbwi!

Mr Lubinda: Sir, these lawyers have since sent a fee note amounting to K500 million, half a billion kwacha to the ZNBC for the services rendered in the Chanda Chimba matter.

Mr Speaker, the ZNBC has, in turn, forwarded the note to the ministry for payment because the MMD promised that it would use Government resources to pay those lawyers …

Hon. MMD Members: Aah!

Mr Lubinda: … K500 million.

Hon. Government Members: Shame!

Mr Lubinda: Sir, ultimately, because of their political greed and corruption, the taxpayers and citizens of this country will have to bear that burden.

Hon. Government Members: No!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, let me also turn to the allegations made by my predecessor when he took the Floor a few days ago. Hon. Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha questioned the qualifications of the new ZNBC Director-General, Mr Joe Chilaizya.

Mr Speaker, let me state that I find it extremely shameful that Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha could be questioning the credentials of Mr Joe Chilaizya when it is an open secret that Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha, himself, had approached that young man and offered him the Director of Programmes job at the ZNBC.

Sir, this is the second position to that of Director-General. If he has no qualifications now, how did he have qualifications then?

Hon. Government Members: Shame!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, the truth of the matter is that Mr Joe Chilaizya is qualified for the position of ZNBC Director-General and has done a very good job so far.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Nobody in Zambia can doubt the fact that the ZNBC, under the PF Government, cannot be compared to the ZNBC under those people on your left.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Today, we can even show our friends in the Opposition on the ZNBC, something that never happened during the twenty years of their misrule.

Mr Speaker, our agenda in this regard is to re-emphasise that we want the media to be the eyes and ears of the public. We want a media that will serve nationwide and not narrow partisan interests. I would like to reiterate what I have said to the press before that, please, do not dare sing songs of praise for these people on the right of this House because their work shall speak for them.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Do not blindfold us because we have learnt the bitter lesson that the press can easily blindfold like they did our friends there.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Sir, the PF Government places high premium on tourism as a key generator of jobs and wealth creation for our people. This is why His Excellency, President Sata, in his speech to this House, made a major policy pronouncement to shift the provincial capital from Livingstone to Choma so that Livingstone is left to develop as a truly Zambia’s tourist capital.

Hon. Opposition Member: Sichifulo!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, my colleagues would like me to comment on Sichifulo.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!{mospagebreak}

Mr Lubinda: However, before I do, Sir, let me state that that former MMD Government was not serious with the development of tourism in Zambia. Presently, Zambia has lost a grand opportunity to develop the Great Kafue National Park by losing a project with the generous support of more than US$94 million from the Millennium Challenge Co-operation (MCC) chaired by the United States of America Secretary of State, Mrs Hilary Clinton. This follows a decision by the MCC to withdraw its grant to this project due to those people’s failure to address simple and straightforward policy issues. The laissez-faire situation they put themselves in and the bigger desire for their back pockets than their country’s is what has cost this country more than US$94 million.

Hon. Government Members: Shame!

Mr Lubinda: That money will not come to this country.

Hon. Government Members: It went into their back pockets!

Interruptions

Mr Lubinda: Sir, I would like to tell my friends that this Government has listened to the plight of the people of Sichifulo.

Mr Ntundu: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: None other than His Honour the Vice-President has taken this matter as a national priority. He has sent a team of experts to investigate this matter with the intention of giving back to the people the land that is truly theirs.

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: I would like to assure you that His Honour the Vice-President shall instruct one of us, if he will not do so himself, to inform this House the Government position on Sichifulo. This is one of our landmarks within the first fifty days of being in Government.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: Mr Speaker, as de facto Government Spokesperson, I would like to say that on day sixty of being in Government, I shall request that I present a statement on all the achievements of this noble Government in meeting its promises, starting with the first sixty days.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: I know that those on your left look at us on your right and say, “Those men and women deserve to be supported because they mean nothing, but the very best for this country.”

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Lubinda: These men and women were elected on the basis of a truthful campaign. They were also elected on the basis of sacrifice that we shall continue to do for the good of our dear country. I call upon my colleagues on the left to join us because Zambia is ours together.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

The Vice-President (Dr Scott): Mr Speaker, in 1991, when we, in the MMD, and I mean we, not these Johnny come lately whom you see on your left, …

Laughter

The Vice-President: … determined to bring multi-party democracy back to Zambia and defeated the humanistic, scientific and socialist regime of Dr Kenneth Kaunda, the father of the man seated behind me, we all thought that UNIP was going to learn its lesson and apply itself to a post-mortem, considering how and why it had lost that election so heavily. 125 seats in this House went to the MMD and twenty-five to UNIP. Now there are no UNIP seats. So, clearly, in this case, the learning curve is pointing downwards rather than upwards.

I am wondering, today, whether the MMD as it now is, having lost an election in a similar way, will learn why it lost. I have not seen much evidence of some insight there. In fact, perhaps, the most Egregious Theory I heard from the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Mutati, who saw in a picture of me shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth the evidence of some sort of secret exchange, a whisper to say, “Your Majesty I have done it, thank you. Can I have my knighthood now?”

Laughter

The Vice-President: If that is the best the MMD can come up with as a reason for losing the election, they are doomed to lose the next one …

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

The Vice-President: … and if they are still in existence, the one after that.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

The Vice-President: Mr Speaker, I wanted to come back to why they lost, but apart from that, I must congratulate the Members of this House. It is not easy to conduct such a protracted cross-country debate when you have just changed Government and there is no one to complain against. There being no policies that have been formally approved by Government, people are rather guessing or bluffing as to what policies to pronounce. It is not easy. I have read through the whole of the verbatim record and I must say what we have heard is very commendable.

Sir, let me get the formalities over first. I suppose this is yet another maiden speech, but I may have made two already, this year, one at the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) gathering where I was Zambia’s First PF Government speaker and the other at the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHGM) where it was, again, a first. In fact, David Cameron followed me and said, “It is my maiden speech, too.” I think if I make a third one now, it is justified.

I think it is on record that the goddess Venus used to bath in the sea and renew her maidenhood once a year in spring. In this House, we usually come back every five years and three times, I think, is getting on for maximum rate.

Mr Speaker, I congratulate you yet again, after your heated and very tightly contested election to the position that you hold. I congratulate your Deputy and Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House. It was a good thing that after all the quarantining in Lusaka hotels, some people remembered what a gentleman’s agreement is and stuck to it. Otherwise, we would now be in a much more bitter arrangement vis-á-vis each other.

I wish to thank the voters of Lusaka Central Constituency, arguably the most special constituency in the whole of Zambia.

Mr Speaker: Order!

Business was suspended from 1815 hours until 1830 hours.

[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

The Vice-President: Mr Speaker, I have just learnt that I am the 143rd speaker on this Motion, and this obliges me, again, to commend this House for persistence and victory in the face of the overwhelming ease of having nothing to say.

Mr Speaker, when business was suspended, I was saying that the Lusaka Central Constituency is very special because it hosts the central business district, the richest residential areas of Zambia as well as some of the poorest urban areas of Zambia and even has portions of rural areas. It is mixed in many other ways although it is has been the home of all five of Zambia’s Presidents. I apologise if I have removed the last one from his home, but I understand he is still sleeping in my constituency.

My constituents were very loyal and tolerant of me because, instead of going house to house as I did in 2006, I went province to province, looking for votes where they were least likely to be obtained automatically by the PF. My councillor candidates, ward and constituency officials kept up the fight and people understood that the PF had to get out there if it was to neutralise some of the opposition that was around. I say thank you to the officials in Lusaka Central Constituency and I will not let you down. This time, we do not just control the council, but the Government, including the ministry that controls the council. Therefore, we know longer have to wonder where the money for the drainage system has gone.

I would also like to say that William Banda is also a resident of Lusaka Central Constituency and he provided a fair amount of entertainment, if you like your entertainment rough. But I am sure even he was won over  to “Don’t Kubeba” and, in the end, voted for the PF and for me …

Laughter

The Vice President: … or, at least, wishes that he had. I want to thank my family, especially my wife, who had to tolerate a lot of strange hours; my coming home late, getting up early or vice versa, and money that was meant for house repairs such as roof repairs and swimming pool chlorine going to electioneering. We, in this House, including my friends over there, all know that this is what happens and it is very difficult to believe you will ever get your head above the water again. My family, wherever they were, at home or away, were very supportive, friendly and proud, even though their school friends and contemporaries were making fun of them, saying, “What is your father trying to be? A senior politician in a black country? He is crazy.” Well, we showed them wrong and, to them, I say thank you very much.

Mr Speaker, the big question that has been lurking, which I referred to earlier is why the MMD lost these elections so comprehensively and so, in their eyes, unexpectedly. Let me give some free advice, for what it is worth. If you are the sort of person who follows what academic research projects that are carried out in Zambia have to say, I would refer you to some output from a very long-running project called the Food Security Research Project and some papers recently published regarding the distribution of fertiliser and maize buying in Zambia in practice and not theory. This paper starts, and I will only read a bit of it and lay the rest on the Table:

“Zambia’s small and medium-scale farmers produced an impressive maize surplus in 2011.”

It goes on to mention the amount of money spent and the quantity of maize produced. It goes on to say that in spite of all this, real poverty declined very little between 2006 and 2010. Although the real poverty rate declined from 83 per cent in 1998 to 77 per cent in 2004, it was virtually unchanged at 77 per cent in 2006 and, while official poverty rate estimates for 2010 have not yet been released, the preliminary estimates are that the rural poverty rates remain in the range of 74 to 78 per cent. This was despite the so-called bumper harvest and the so-called MMD visionary policy of producing more maize than anyone, including the rats, can eat.

Laughter

The Vice President: If you want to know why it is so and you have a bit of patience, there is a table over the page that shows very clearly that the great bulk of the fertiliser that was pushed out into the rural areas, the great majority of those bags of ‘D’ and Urea ended up with large peasant farmers, people with typically two to ten hectares of land. Whereas the four bags, in principle, is enough for a half hectare or 2 limas, the people with ten times that amount of land were the ones who increased their production during the course of this exercise. This proved, without doubt, that there were forces at work getting their hands on all the subsidies, whether in form of money or fertilisers, that were being distributed. I have no doubt that they were the people who were also getting preferential treatment when it came to selling their maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) and getting paid for their produce.

Mr Speaker, theory is one thing, reality another. As Mr Vernon Mwaanga said, and for once I believed him, the MMD lost touch with the people and what was happening under their feet. They concentrated on theories, beautiful phrases such as the gross domestic product (GDP) and magic numbers. You cannot eat the GDP, unless you get part of it in your hand. If an increase in the GDP gets into the bank account of a very rich Zambian official who uses it to buy giraffes, is that progress or vote-winning?

Laughter

The Vice-President: It is not. Likewise, inflation is not good to somebody who has nothing that is inflating or deflating, money. Therefore, whether there is single or triple digit inflation, it makes no difference, unless you can distribute the wealth that you are creating. There was no serious effort, apart from this bumper maize exercise, to distribute the wealth. The result of this was the creation or consolidation of a two-class society to degrees it had never been since the days of colonialism, when people of my colour were the bosses and those of other colours were the bossed.

Hon. MMD Members: We are coming back!

The Vice President: Mr Speaker, this is the worst class bifurcation that has occurred since forty-seven years ago. The rich are getting very rich, but they only have one vote each. The poor are stuck and stagnating. They also have only one vote each, but if they outnumber the rich, chapwa, chasila, kwamana or however you want to say it, for the Ruling Party.

Laughter

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

The Vice-President: Mr Speaker, people who are unemployed cannot be told that they are employed. Those who have no money cannot be told that they have been given money. We have to walk the talk by providing jobs and wealth. We are not the first country to have this problem. Brazil realised, many years ago, that it had a serious problem of a two-class system, whereby there were the elite on one side and the terribly poor class on the other. Brazilians worked very hard through social transfer mechanisms which ensured that salaries were paid to parents for educating their children. The parents were paid for more than 200 days a year so as to ensure that they sent their children to school. The Government in Brazil managed to also bring 20 million people, twice the population of Zambia, out of poverty. The Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, did this not by socialist or humanist methods, but by common sense methods based on the realisation that the job of the Government is to take people out of misery.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

The Vice-President: It is not the job of the Government to make anybody rich. However, it is the job of the Government to stop anybody from being miserably poor. That is what your friends – sorry, Mr Speaker, I will not drag you into this. This is what my friends on your left forgot when they went on rampage and thought it was just simply a matter of distributing enough chitenges to win votes. I found one woman with seventeen MMD chitenges.

Laughter

The Vice-President: Who was fooling who? She could make a tent out of those chitenges and rent it out.

Mr Lubinda: She did don’t kubeba.

The Vice-President: She did don’t kubeba in a big way. There were people with surplus bicycles after the elections because, in the end, they could not find anyone to give them to.

Laughter

The Vice-President: There were vehicles with number plates that run from zero up to 1,000 without a gap. It did not do any good and, out of that, a lesson will be learnt.

Mr Lubinda: What about the sweets?

The Vice-President: Mr Speaker, I find reading stuff wherever I go. I was flying in an aeroplane and I tore this article out of a magazine because I thought it was about Zambia, only to find that actually it is not about our country. It says:

“Mpume has found work at last. She is thirty years and has been looking for work since she left school at eighteen with a good matric pass. It is not what she aspires to be, but South Africa bears the unfortunate distinction of being one of the world’s unequal societies. Brazil’s Gini Index is about fifty-six while ours is around sixty-five, compare that with Sweden at twenty-three. The Gini Index, the bigger it is, the more unequal the distribution of income is and it is unhealthy for the rich and poor alike. The rich do not escape the consequences of inequality. Crime and other forms of such a fallout impact on them as well. What kind of country are we creating when only 50 per cent of job seekers between fifteen and twenty-four end up finding jobs, compared with an average of 80 per cent in other emerging economies.”

Mr Speaker, similarly, what we have recently seen in Zambia is economic growth without job creation. The party in power cannot win an election based on economic growth without creating jobs. The machines or copper ore are not going to vote for anyone. Even the foreign investors are not going to vote for any party.

Hon. Government Members: hear, hear!

The Vice-President: The people who are going to vote against those in power are the ones gazing at the open pit mines, wondering what is happening there and knowing they will never be down there to work as the holes sink deeper.

Interruptions

Mr Speaker: Order! Order!

The Vice-President: That is my five cents worth of advice to my friends on that side. I think this is also a warning to my own people on this side who of the House. We have to find the solutions to the problems being faced by the people.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

The Vice-President: The idea that we can just continue with bumper harvests of this and that or that we can just get more and more foreign investment is not going to bring any meaningful change to the quality of life for the majority of people in this country. In fact, rather the opposite will happen because such developments will only deprive them of land. There will be not one Sichifulo, but fifty of them, if we do not protect the interests of our own poor and unemployed people.

With those few words, Mr Speaker, …

Mr Hamududu: No, go ahead and continue.

Laughter

The Vice-President:  There will be plenty of time for more such rhetoric when the Budget is presented. That will be another opportunity for cross-country debates.

Mr Speaker, I  thank you.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kapeya (Mpika Central)(on behalf of Mr Malama) (Mfuwe): Mr Speaker, my task is a very simple one. It is to thank all hon. Members who have participated in this debate on the Motion of Thanks to His Excellency the President’s Speech. I am also grateful to His Honour the Vice-President, the hon. Ministers and hon. Deputy Ministers for the answers they have provided to some of the questions that were raised during the interesting debate we had. Like any other debate, it had its high and low moments, but the high moments, fortunately, outweighed the low ones.

Mr Speaker, the building of a growing democracy such as Zambia’s demands that we exchange views and engage in constructive criticism with a view to improving our national welfare. I thank everybody who has contributed to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to His Excellency the President’s Speech. It is an indication that the hon. Members of this august House, on both sides, are willing to work hard for the development and improvement of the welfare of the Zambian people.

Mr Speaker, I thank you so much.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Question put and agreed to.

ADJOURNMENT

The Vice-President (Dr Scott): Sir, I beg to move that the House do now adjourn.

Question put and agreed to.

____________

The House adjourned at 1849 hours until 1415 hours on Friday, 11th September, 2011.