DAILY PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES FOR THE FIRST SESSION OF THE ELEVENTH ASSEMBLY

Wednesday, 26th October, 2011

The House met at 1430 hours

[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

NATIONAL ANTHEM

PRAYER

_______

ANNOUNCEMENT

WORKSHOP ON THE BUDGET PROCESS

Mr Speaker: Hon. Members, I wish to inform you that the House, in collaboration with the Parliamentary Centre in Ghana, will conduct a workshop for all Members of Parliament on the Budget process in Zambia.

The workshop will be held from 29th to 30th October, 2011, in the Chamber, starting at 0900 hours. The objective of the workshop is to introduce Members to the National Budget and equip them with tools used in budget analysis.

The programme for the workshop will be availed to all Hon. Members by the Office of the Clerk. All Members of Parliament are expected to attend this very important workshop.

Thank you.

_____

MOTION

MOTION OF THANKS

(Debate resumed)

Mr Mulenga: Mr Speaker, I thank you for allowing me to present my Maiden Speech, which I will combine with my contribution to the debate on the President’s Address.

Mr Speaker, on behalf of the people of Chinsali and my family and, indeed, my own, I wish to congratulate His Excellency, the President of the Sovereign Republic of Zambia, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, on his election to this important office. I also wish to congratulate you, Sir, the Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House on your election to those important respective portfolios.

Mr Speaker, let me thank the wonderful people of Chinsali for exercising their democratic right by contributing to the removal of the seemingly impervious MMD Government from power, …

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: …and for giving me another mandate to represent them, a gesture that is unprecedented in the post-Independence history of the constituency. I shall, therefore, forever remain indebted to them. Sir, I will fail in my duties if I do not also thank the entire leadership of the mighty Patriotic Front (PF) …

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: … for adopting me to represent the great people of Chinsali. To you all, I owe my loyalty and may the Almighty God bless you abundantly. I would also like to commend my competitor on the MMD ticket, my sister, Chileshe Kapwepwe, the former Deputy Minister of Finance and National Planning, whose father, the late Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe is a gallant son, father and founder of this country. We, the people of Chinsali are proud of this man and nothing will ever separate us from his family. I thank the President for recognising this noble man by naming Ndola International Airport after him. 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: I also commend the President for naming Livingstone International Airport and Lusaka International Airport after Harry Mwanga Nkumbula and Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, respectively, the icons of freedom in this country and the whole Southern African region.

Mr Speaker, I also thank the President for making Chinsali proud by giving it yet another university at Lubwa Mission, in addition to Mulakupikwa University College for Science and Technology, which is currently under construction.

Mr Speaker, the moving of the administrative capital of Southern Province from Livingstone to Choma and the creation of Muchinga Province is a sign that His Excellency, the President, is in a hurry to develop the rural parts of this country.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: He, therefore, needs the support of all well-meaning Zambians.

Mr Speaker, you will agree with me that the creation of wards, constituencies, districts and provinces is a constitutional right that makes it easier for the Government to develop the country and effectively deliver services to the people.

Northern Province, as many colleagues who debated before me have already stated, was too big and is still the furthest from Lusaka, the Administrative Capital of the nation. It also had the highest population growth rate. All these posed a great challenge for the Government in meeting the needs of the people of that province.

Mr Speaker, I was very objective over the development of Northern Province in the last National Assembly. I actually challenged my colleagues, the Cabinet Ministers from Northern Province that they had failed the people of Northern Province because the allocation of resources to the province was always smaller compared to those to provinces with fewer districts. In fact, what the President has done for the people of Northern Province is long overdue. This should have been done a long time ago. He, therefore, means well.

Sir, I would like to advise some of my colleagues on your left, especially the new hon. Members, to be objective in their deliberations. Our job, here, is to engage the Government to bring development to our areas. I managed to do so even when I was in the Opposition. I was convinced that the only people in control of the resources were the ones in power. The MMD, at the time, were the only ones in charge of Government resources. Today, we are as the PF.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: Mr Speaker, I rejuvenated Mbesuma Ranch. I was also involved in  the construction of Mulakupikwa University College, the construction of a road from Chinsali to Kasama, the electrification of  Mulilansolo Rural Health Centre run by the Catholic Church, under the Rural Electrification Authority, and the construction of about thirteen new basic schools and many other projects.

Hon. PF Member: Efyo wabwelele kanshi!

Mr. Mulenga: Mr Speaker, all this happened through my engagement of the Government.

As a Back Bencher in the Ruling Party, it is a great privilege for me to continue to objectively engage the Government to ensure that all Government assurances such as the construction of the University at Lubwa Mission, the construction of the famous Mbesuma Bridge, and Fonkofonko and Chunga bridges over the Kalungu River at the border of Chinsali and Nakonde are honoured.

The MMD Government failed to electrify Mundu Health Centre, Mbesuma Ranch, Chief Mubanga’s and Chief Nkweto’s palaces. All this will need to be done by my Government.

Mr Speaker, let me now turn to the Presidential Speech. It has been a long time since I listened to such an inspiring Presidential Speech in this House. The President’s Speech is specific, ambitious and action-oriented. It is gives a lot of hope to the people of Zambia regardless of which ethnic grouping, religion or political affiliation they subscribe to.

Mr Speaker, to support my claim, let me highlight some of the issues the President touched on in the speech.

The President talked about socio-economic affairs. On Page 7, he President said, and I quote:

“Zambia will this month be celebrating forty-seven years of Independence amidst high levels of poverty in the country. Despite being endowed with a lot of natural resources, the country has continued to face staggering poverty levels and low formal sector employment opportunities. The recently pronounced economic growth characterised by the classification of Zambia as a middle income country for country’s economic performance is meaningless if it has only a limited impact on poverty reduction amongst our people.”

Mr Speaker, Hon. Mwansa Mbulakulima and some MMD Members, in their debate last week, claimed to have achieved the macro-economic indicators during the twenty years of their reign. They gave statistics on inflation rates which they claimed to have reduced to a single digit, gross domestic product (GDP) growth to about 7 per cent, reserves to about US $2 billion and domestic borrowing reduced significantly. I may agree with them that, to some extent, some little economic growth was achieved, especially during the late President Mwanawasa’s administration, …

Hon Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: … may his soul rest in peace, but the problem was that this growth ended up existing only on paper. It never trickled down to the grassroots, where the majority of the poor people of our country are. The reason for this was simple: there was too much capital freight in the MMD administration. Externalisation of resources from our country by the so-called investors was the order of the day.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: These foreign investors were not re-investing the profits within the country to enable Zambians benefit through job-creation and other social benefits. All the resources were being taken out of the country without care by the Government. That transferred our GDP to the outside world and created employment in those countries leaving our own people yawning without any benefit.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: This is what the President was talking about in his speech. You can boast that you lowered the rate of inflation even up to a negative figure, but if the cost of living for the people remains high, then your low rate of inflation is meaningless. You may even have hundreds of billions of dollars in reserves, but if your people are still wallowing in poverty, you are like a person who claims to have 100 bags of mealie-meal in the house, yet he cannot open a single bag to feed his children.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: That is bad economics.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: You claim to have scored economic successes, but look at the high cost of mealie-meal in the midst of bumper harvests, the high electricity and water tariffs, the high cost of fuel, which is the lifeline of our economy, and the high cost of doing business resulting into the high cost of food and other products. Surely, you cannot boast of having achieved anything. That is why the President said that he would like to see the gains in the growth of the economy translate into substantial reduction in poverty indicators in communities all over the country.

Mr Speaker, the President also touched on social protection. On Page 30, he talks about the chronic poverty the country has been experiencing, which has continued to be a major obstacle to the welfare of vulnerable groups such as women, children and people with disabilities. As a solution to this, the President said that the PF Government will adopt a vibrant social protection policy aimed at ensuring that all citizens have access to basic social needs such as education, health, water and sanitation, and also address the needs of vulnerable groups that face special challenges such as the disabled and the street children.

When you analyse this statement, Sir, you will realise that the President clearly understands that poverty is a social problem.

Mr Speaker, poverty, as a social problem, is a deeply embedded wound that permeates every dimension of culture and society. It implies sustained low levels of income for members of a community and a lack of access to social services like education, markets, health care, lack of participation in decision-making and lack of access to communal amenities like water and sanitation, roads and transport and communications.

Mr Speaker, chronic poverty is referred to as ‘poverty of the spirit’ because it makes people believe in and share despair, hopelessness, apathy, and timidity. Poverty, and the factors that contribute to it, are social problems that call for social solutions.

We cannot fight poverty by alleviating its symptoms, but by attacking the factors that perpetuate it, such as ignorance, disease, apathy, dishonesty and dependency.

Sir, at the macro or national level, a low GDP is not, in itself, the poverty that we have continued singing about here in Zambia; it is simply a symptom. To reduce poverty, a serious Government has to identify the factors that cause it and remove them. The President is very much alive to this fact. On Page 30, Paragraph 4, he talks about adopting a vibrant social protection policy aimed at ensuring that all citizens have access to basic social services such as education, health water and sanitation. This is because it is these factors, in turn, that contribute to secondary factors such as lack of markets, poor infrastructure, poor leadership, bad governance, under-employment, lack of skills, lack of capital and corruption. Each of these is social problems and their solution is, therefore, social. Each of them contributes to the perpetuation of poverty and their eradication is necessary for the eradication of poverty.

Mr Speaker, in conclusion, let me echo on issues raised concerning the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). The concerns raised by my fellow hon. Members on the CDF are genuine, …

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: … except that …

Hon. Opposition Members: Aah!

Mr Mulenga: … I am not for the idea of raising the CDF to K5 billion.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Interruptions

Mr Mulenga: Listen, please. I want to partly agree with Hon. George Kunda SC. that a CDF Act needs to be passed in the House so that it is regulated and comes as a percentage in the National Budget. The issue of coming up with different figures will then go. We will not be lobbying for different figures. Also, the hon. Minister of Finance and National Planning will not be challenged to allocate the CDF in the House because it will regulate itself each time the Budget is presented to the House.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: Let the CDF be controlled by Parliament, not councils.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: All we need is to build capacity in our constituency offices as part of the reforms.

Mr Speaker, during the Tenth National Assembly, I and Hon. Chimbaka attempted to bring a Motion in this House. I came up with ideas like these and brought them to the attention of the Government through the Office of the Vice-President, then, Hon. George Kunda, SC., but the document was left to just lie on his table throughout until today, but today is when he is waking up and proposing that we implement the ideas. Please, …

Interjections

Mr Mulenga: Yes, lying on the table of the office of the former Vice-President, Mr George Kunda SC.

Sir, I am simply saying that we have to enhance the management of the CDF to ensure that the money reaches our people. It is the only money that is seen to be trickling down to the grassroots in our constituencies.

With these few words, Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mbewe (Chadiza): Mr Speaker, I stand here on behalf of the people of Chadiza who have trusted me to represent them for the second time. It is not easy for people to give you a second mandate to represent them in Parliament. It is equally difficult, like the hon. Member for Kalomo Central, Mr Muntanga, said, to come for the third time. So, I congratulate those who have come to Parliament for the third time.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mbewe: Mr Speaker, the people of Chadiza congratulate His Excellency, the President, Mr Michael Sata, on winning the 20th September, 2011General Elections. They wish him good luck and health.

Mr Speaker, the people of Chadiza congratulate you on your election as Speaker of the House. The people also congratulate the hon. Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the whole House on their coming unopposed into their respective positions. I wish to congratulate the Clerk of the National Assembly and her staff on the good job they are doing. If ministries were run like the National Assembly, there would be development in our country.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mbewe: Mr Speaker, the people of Chadiza give the Presidential Speech an average score because there are some issues that affect them that he has addressed, but there are others on which it is silent. The people of Chadiza say that education is the pillar of our nation’s development and, therefore, there is need to continue building schools in Chadiza. There is Kafulansoni Secondary School under construction and I urge the Government to finish building it. We do not want our pupils and teachers to be at a school that looks like a station. They are waiting for you to finish building this school.

Interruptions

Mr Mbewe: The MMD Government started the project, but you have to finish it because this responsibility has no ending. There are also basic schools that were started by the MMD Government which you must continue building. Whether you like it or not, the people of Chadiza will judge you by your performance.

Mr Speaker, the people of Chadiza are very happy that the MMD Government gave them a beautiful hospital that is about to be completed. Through you, I humbly ask the hon. Minister of Health to immediately open it. If we were still in power, we would have opened it by now. However, the people of Zambia have given you power so you should open our hospital…

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mbewe: … You should treat this as a matter of agency. We also have clinics or health centres that the MMD Government started. These should be completed by yourselves because the money is in your hands and you are ruling, so we are …

Interruptions

Mr Mbewe: Sir, we were told that when people have grey hair, it is a sign of wisdom, but in this House it is something else.

Laughter

Mr Mbewe: Mr Speaker, the people of Chadiza…

Interruptions

Mr Mbewe: Mr Speaker, the people of Chadiza say that the pronouncements being made by His Excellency, the President, Mr Michael Sata, are very good in terms of road infrastructure, but they will only believe when work starts. After that, they will say, “thank you”. If you do not start the work, the people of Chadiza will doubt you. We are grateful that the Chipata-Chadiza, and Chadiza-Katete roads are in the speech. We say “thank you”, but we are waiting for work to start before we can believe you.

Mr Lubinda: Tom and Jerry!

Mr Mbewe: You should not only start the work, but also finish it. The hon. Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism, Mr Lubinda, can agree with me that they told the people when they were campaigning in Eastern Province that they would construct a dual carriage way from the Airport Turn-off to Chipata. The people are waiting.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mbewe: However, they were disappointed that it never came out in the speech. These are some of the issues on which we are saying, “they must drink the medicine which they manufactured”.

Mr Lubinda: Boza lako iwe!

Mr Mbewe: Mr Speaker, the people of Eastern Province depend on agriculture. They do not have even a single mine. Therefore, if you tamper with agriculture by not implementing good policies, you will be annoying the people. The Government needs to take this very seriously.

Mr Speaker, some of the people on your right were in this party and, at one time, were hon. Ministers of Agriculture and Zambians have not forgotten that they imported yellow maize.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mbewe: This issue is still fresh on our minds. When you go through the speech, agriculture is not clearly brought out and the people in the Eastern province are worried. The issue of saying marketing will take its course and that the private sector will play a role is the way you would like to do it, but it should be done with caution. It is not just a matter of implementation, but of caution as well.

Mr Speaker, the people of Chadiza do not want to eat yellow maize again from that Government and, …

Interruptions

Mr Mbewe: … as such, we should not play around with agriculture. We should make sure that our agricultural policies improve for the better. We had two consecutive bumper harvests, so we would like a third and fourth from that Government. Where we did not do well, we are asking them to do better. It would be shameful to see them start reversing the situation where we had made strides because the people of Zambia will judge them.

Mr Speaker, on increasing the CDF, I say that it is a good idea and that a minimum of K5 billion would do. I am grateful that the hon. Member for Chinsali has agreed with me that K5 billion would be acceptable in this House and that it should be audited properly. When people talk about auditing, they should not only look at the Opposition but at themselves as the Ruling Party …

Mr Speaker, I need your protection from the hon. Member for Kabwata.

Laughter

Hon. Members: He is now an hon. Minister.

Mr Mbewe: Yes, from the hon. Minister.

Mr Speaker, it is not true that whatever the MMD did while in Government was bad. The hon. Members on your right should look at what we did very well and compliment us for having done it well. Where we did not do very well, they should advise us because we will be back in Government in 2016.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mbewe: Mr Speaker, whether they like it or not, the hon. Members across will not run the Executive for long and will come back to this side of the House because they are used to being here.

Laughter

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mbewe: Mr Speaker, when you look at the way they handle themselves, you can even see that they miss being this side. The people of Zambia will bring them back here and we shall go back to your right.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mbewe: Mr Speaker, lastly, I want to say that people should get worried when they see others being buried in a shallow grave because when their time comes, they might not be buried at all, but eaten by birds.

Laughter

Mr Mbewe: What I mean is that hon. Members of the Ruling Party should not celebrate when they see us having problems because, whether they like it or not, other people will celebrate in 2016 when they lose …

Hon. Government Members: Aah!

Mr Mbewe: … and the jubilation will be more than the one they had after their recent electoral victory.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mushili Malama (Chitambo): Mr Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity to present my Maiden Speech and contribute to the Motion on His Excellency, the President’s address to the First Session of the Eleventh National Assembly.

Mr Speaker, I am delighted to be part of this House and wish to contribute positively to the debates and functions of this House during my tenure as hon. Member of Parliament for the people of Chitambo provided the losing PF candidate withdraws one of the many petitions that are flying around.

Laughter

Mr Mushili Malama: I was duly elected by the wonderful people of Chitambo.

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

Mr Mushili Malama: Mr Speaker, allow me to thank my party, the MMD, for adopting me as its candidate for Chitambo. This was the right choice and the party shall not be disappointed.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mushili Malama: Mr Speaker, let me also thank the people of Chitambo for approving that choice. I shall endeavour to ensure that they are well represented.

Mr Speaker, I thank the Lord Almighty to whom we all owe our successes. I also express gratitude to my late father and mother to whom I owe my being here today to make this historic speech. I also thank my wife and children for the patience they exhibited during my campaigns.

Mr Speaker, may I also take this opportunity to congratulate His Excellency, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata …

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mushili Malama: … on his victory in the just-ended general elections. I must hasten to say that I am impressed with his tenacity, zeal and desire to assume the presidency.

I also wish to congratulate you, Sir, on your election as Speaker of this House. I am sure you will guide us well, especially those who, like me, have come here for the first time. I also wish to congratulate the hon. Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House. Let me also take time to congratulate my fellow hon. Members of this House on their election by their respective constituencies or their nomination by the President.

Mr Speaker, I now wish to refer to the President’s Speech at the opening of the First Session of the Eleventh National Assembly on 14th October, 2011. I sincerely hope that His Excellency, the President’s campaign slogans and all the promises he made to the electorate such as making Zambia better, lower taxes and putting more money in people’s pockets will be fulfilled. I hope they were not just a means to an end or mere rhetoric.

Mr Speaker, the speech by His Excellency touched on numerous issues, some inspiring, others not. The pronouncements made were not entirely new for such an occasion. A major difference would only have been there if the implementation and periodic referrals were put in place as a control-check for ensuring that outlined objectives are being met.

Mr Speaker, let me comment on the President’s remarks regarding parliamentary affairs as delivered in his speech. He said:

“Parliament, being one of the arms of Government, is an institution which is used in the governing of our country. It does not only make the laws of the land, but also provides checks and balances on the Executive.”

It is my prayer that the President was sincere in his address and I urge him to respect the role of this House in the dispensation of our democratic tenets, which the electorate expects us to support in a constitutional manner. Hopefully, we will not be forced into falling prey to the whims of each passing day.

Mr Speaker, it is any Government’s desire to reduce the high poverty levels of its people and I, therefore, salute His Excellency for highlighting this in his address to this House. It is a fact that our beautiful country is endowed with abundant resources, which are the lifeline for the majority of our citizens. Therefore, more has to be done to exploit these resources and provide more opportunities to uplift the living standards of our citizens.

Mr Speaker, it is unfortunate that the President did not talk about how more formal jobs were going to be provided for the citizens of this country. The problem of unemployment is partly aggravated by the high urbanisation levels in our country and the expectancy that upon graduation, one has to be employed in the formal sector. What is often ignored is the fact that gaining entrepreneurial skills can be another form of employment if one chooses to utilise the skills learnt meaningfully. Instead of utilising the skills learnt meaningfully, the majority of the youths loiters on the streets and imbibes the so-called tujilijilis. What are we going to do with this sector of our society? The Ruling Party has to remember that most of the votes it got were from this segment of our population and should, therefore, be careful with how it handles their expectations.

Mr Speaker, we know that agriculture is the mainstay of the rural parts of Zambia. Hence, complimentary industries should be established in the rural areas to process the agricultural and related produce into finished products. There is a need to encourage youths to form co-operatives so as to widen their production base and, therefore, reduce limitations on their access to financial resources.

Mr Speaker, the MMD Government made provisions and policies to assist youths in form of empowerment programmes and funds. It is, therefore, important to find ways of changing the attitudes of our people towards work and appreciation of entrepreneurship.

Mr Speaker, the “more money in people’s pockets” promise might end up being the PF’s undoing if those who voted for it based on this promise expect handouts. The Government has to honour its promises quickly, may I say in fifty-nine to sixty days from today.

Mr Speaker, we will support progressive programmes that have a direct impact on poverty alleviation and improving people’s lives, but have to be mindful that the right mix of all the promises made has to be found.

Mr Speaker, lower taxes may put money in our pockets, but this may also have adverse effects on our Treasury.

Mr Speaker, the MMD Government left an unprecedented credit balance of over US$2 billion in the reserves.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mushili Malama: I hope our colleagues are not enviously eyeing this money to use in honouring the campaign promises they made. Or is it still ‘Don’t Kubeba’. It is time to kubeba.

Hon. Opposition Members: Yes!

Mr Mushili Malama: These are not jokes. This is not about the PF, the MMD or the UPND: it is about the thirteen million Zambians.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mushili Malama: Mr Speaker, I expected the President to highlight the measures that the country is going to put up to collect tax from the informal sector, which is large enough to make a significant contribution to the National Treasury. The people in this sector also use health and education facilities and services to which they must contribute.

Mr Speaker, Zambia currently has a development plan, the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP), which is pro-poor. I urge the new Government to take it into account. I also urge the Government to continue with the programmes started by the previous Government and also come up with more, particularly infrastructure development- road works, health centres and schools. The Government should also build high schools and health centres in every district like the previous Government had started doing.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mushili Malama: Mr Speaker, let the Government prioritise the development programmes based on the needs of the people and those that are for the economic benefit of our country. A perfect balance is required so that we do not retrogress and lose the momentum of our economic gains in the last five years by concentrating only on fulfilling our election promises. Doing so will take us back to the dark ages and there will be no economy to support the “more money in your pockets” phenomenon.

Mr Speaker, today, we have a single digit inflation rate that we have sustained for the past three years. We also have a stable exchange rate. Putting undue pressure on these successes will raise inflation and the Kwacha will go into a free fall.

Mr Speaker, my constituency, Chitambo, is a rural area in Serenje District, Central Province. It basically has farmers on the plateau and fishermen and women on the Luilimala, Luombwa and Luapula riparian areas.

Mr Speaker, I wish to direct this to the hon. Minister of Agriculture and Livestock that, due to the unprecedented bumper harvests of the last two farming seasons, the sheds at Chalilo, Kanona and Katikulula are full to the brim. We urge the hon. Minister to ensure that the thousands of bags lying on the ground are stored, especially that the rains have started.

Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister of Education, Science and Vocational Training knows that the MMD Government did a great job and he inherited these positive developments. However, we lack teaching staff for whom, when acquired, we will require adequate accommodation. We wish to request the hon. Minister to urgently intervene and address the issue of Mukando High School, which does not have examination centre status and, therefore, the pupils will not be eligible to sit for their examinations. To make it worse, there are no laboratories, dormitories or learning aids. This will make it extremely difficult for the pupils at this school to compete with others in the country.

Mr Speaker, I wish to inform the hon. Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism that my constituency has very interesting historical sites. Stone Age caves abound in this area, yet nothing has been done to improve or capitalise on any of them. Over 500 years of Lala Culture is illustrated by the Chibwela Mushi Ceremony, which has been underrated.

Mr Speaker, we have an area called Luombwa which you would think is not part of Zambia. The children in this area have never seen either a car or a lorry because of the Luombwa River, which is very difficult to cross. Therefore, we need a bridge across this river.

Mr Speaker, we have abundant mineral resources and I would like the Government to facilitate their exploration to benefit the country and the local people in particular.

Mr Speaker, the MMD Government did tremendous work with regard to health service delivery. We, however, request that the Government constructs three more clinics in Lubembe, Katonga and Mukando, which should be adequately staffed. Chitambo Zambia Enrolled Nursing School, which has just been rehabilitated, needs lecturers and adequate funding.

Mr Speaker, the Citizens Economic Empowerment Fund (CEEF) has assisted only one youth club, namely, Mateyo Kakumbi. It is on record, at the Chitambo Constituency Office, that there are 122 women’s clubs and fifty youth clubs. We, therefore, wish to receive more funding for all these clubs.

Mr Speaker, allow me to emphasise on the riparian areas of Luombwa, Lulimala and Mukulu. Half or two-thirds of the fish sold on the Copperbelt comes from this area, whose people have to be provided with adequate funding to develop and uplift their living standards.

Mr Speaker, I urge the Government to work on the roads as basic infrastructure is necessary for any meaningful development.

Mr Speaker, it should not be forgotten that Chitambo Constituency was the earliest to receive education with Dr David Livingstone, whom we knew as Njelesa Katelema. He died in Chitambo and his heart is buried there. Education started there. So, we ought to do something to preserve this heritage.

Mr Speaker, in conclusion, I wish to, again, congratulate His Excellency on his election and I pledge to support him and his Government on all progressive developments that will make the lives of Zambians even better. I also want to thank my constituency for electing me and I pledge to deliver the expected results. I also wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge the support given to me by my family and friends.

I thank you Sir.

Mr Mwiimbu (Monze Central): Mr Speaker, thank you for according me this rare opportunity to give my Maiden Speech in this august House.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: First and foremost, I would like to sincerely thank my party, the UPND, led by one gallant son of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, …

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: … for according me the opportunity to, once again, serve the people of Monze Central. I shall always respect and cherish their support. I also want to thank my wife and children for supporting me in the elections held on 20th September, 2011. Without their support, it would have been difficult for me to achieve what I have so far.

Mr Speaker, I also want to congratulate the MMD and PF for forming the coalition Government that is ruling this country. They are going to be rule together for sometime to come.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, on that note, I want to state that there have been many sentiments expressed by various members of the public and of the PF pertaining to the perceived alliance of the MMD and ourselves as the UPND. I want to state, very categorically, that our colleagues, the PF Government, are envious of our perceived alliance with the MMD.

Interruptions

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, I want to assure them that we shall go further and have alliances with them over so many issues …

Hon. PF Member: Not any more!

Mr Mwiimbu: … that will affect our people in various constituencies. We shall have an alliance with the PF Government over the increase of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to K5 billion.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: We shall have an alliance with the PF Government to achieve the aspirations of so many Zambians who have been crying for a new Constitution for this country. This is provided that they do not deviate from the so many good ideas my colleague, Hon. Lubinda, has been pronouncing to the people of Zambia.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: We shall have an alliance with the PF Government in improving the railway line from the Copperbelt to Livingstone to ensure that there is modernisation in rail transport.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: We shall have an alliance with the PF Government in ensuring that there is money in the people’s pockets as well as ours.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: We shall have an alliance with the PF Government to ensure that all of us here are assisted in developing our constituencies.

Mr Lubinda: But why did you go to Chrisma Hotel?

Mr Mwiimbu: We shall have an alliance with the PF Government to ensure that Zambian workers, who have cherished their promises, get the assurances that they were given by the PF Government on the minimum wage of K5 million per month.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: We shall have an alliance with the PF Government to ensure that all the squatter settlements are removed within ninety days and new houses built for every Zambian to live in a decent house within the same period.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Muntanga: We shall have an alliance over Barotseland!

Mr Mwiimbu: Yes, I have been reminded.

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: We shall have an alliance with the PF Government so that our cousins in Western Province, Barotseland, are honoured by the acknowledgement of the Barotseland Agreement, which was an assurance given to them during the campaigns.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: We shall have an alliance with the PF Government to ensure that the people of Zambia have a new Constitution and hold a referendum within ninety days.

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: To ensure that the impossibility happens, we shall have an alliance.

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: We shall have an alliance with Hon. Lubinda who I recall calling our colleagues, …

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear! Boma!

Mr Mwiimbu: … MMD Members, malukulas. Now he has assumed the office of malukula.

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, we will have an alliance with the PF Government in ensuring that all parastatal heads and boards are appointed transparently by responsible boards of directors, not hon. Ministers or His Excellency, the President. We shall have an alliance with you, the PF Government, as long as you follow the rule of law and do not dismiss people at public places or press conferences without according them an opportunity to be heard.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: We will have an alliance with you if the UPND hon. Members of Parliament from Southern Province are accorded the dream they have cherished from 1963 to-date: that of having the Bottom Road tarred.

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: We will have an alliance with you if there is parity in developmental projects in the country. After all, we had a pact with you.

Laughter

Mr Nkombo: It will not be strange.

Mr Mwiimbu: It will not be strange. We will have an alliance with you if your Government devolves the Bantustan called Southern Province.

Hon. PF Member: What is that?

Mr Mwiimbu: According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “Bantustan” means:

“Derogatory, a partially self-governing area set aside during the period of apartheid for a particular indigenous African people; a homeland.”

I am not ashamed to admit that Southern Province is a Bantustan.

Mr Mwaliteta: You have said it.

Mr Mwiimbu: A Bantustan was created during the apartheid regime in order to discriminate against the Bantus. It, therefore, follows that the people of Southern Province, who are being called Bantustans, are being discriminated against by another group of people. That is what it means.

Mr E. Lungu: On a point of order, Sir.

Interruptions{mospagebreak}

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, my learned colleague, Hon. Lungu, should go for a seminar and know that there are no points of order that can be raised when one is presenting a Maiden Speech.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, it is unfortunate that we, the people of Southern Province, are being called Bantustan in a country …

Hon. Government Members: By who?

Mr Kakoma: By PF Government friends.

Mr Mwiimbu: I am not going to state who is referring to us as such.

Hon. Government Members: Name them!

Mr Mwiimbu: Don’t kubeba!

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, we, the people of Southern Province, have never discriminated against anybody.

Hon. Government Members: Aah!

Mr Mwiimbu: You may wish to note that, when the MMD came into power, all the hon. Members of Parliament in Southern Province were MMD members.

Mr Muntanga: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: Who was the President of the MMD? You all know who it was.

Mr Muntanga: He died.

Hon. PF Members: So?

Mr Mwiimbu: That shows that we do not discriminate. Why, then, should we be discriminated against and be called Bantustans?

Hon. Government Members: By who?

Mr Mwiimbu: We are not a Bantustan. If we are, I am not ashamed. I want to state without fear of any recrimination that those who call us Bantustans should go to that place which is so hot and which most of you dread to go to.

Hon. Government Members: Where?

Mr Muntanga: To hell!

Mr Mwiimbu: If it was not unparliamentary, I would have said ‘to hell’.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Hon. Government Members: That is unparliamentary.

Mr Mwiimbu: No. I did not say it. I have withdrawn it.

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, I have noted with concern that when we associate with the so-called bad people in the MMD, it is bad, but when our PF colleagues do so, it is very good. They even have dinner dances to welcome those bad people who are joining them.

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu:  Why?

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: The other day, there was a ceremony by the PF to welcome the bad people joining the party ...

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: ... because, according to them, politics is about numbers.

Mr Muntanga: Tell them.

Mr Mwiimbu: When it is we associating with the MMD, it is considered wrong because they are very bad people. We should not do it. To the PF, MMD members are a pariah: they infect you with political diseases, which you should not allow. However, they even have a coalition Government with the same bad people. The bad people from that side are seated there.

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: I recall, Mr Speaker, in the last Parliament, I think over twenty PF hon. Members of Parliament had rebelled against the party. The party went to court, but did not succeed in keeping them out of Parliament, but they were hounded. They were called rebels in this House and outside. There are rebels from that side and they have been welcomed by the PF Government ...

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: ... and have become good people. I have also noted that there are very good friends of mine who are very qualified and experienced, but have been left in the cold. They are somewhere down there on the gonakuzingwa bench ...

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: ... but the rebels are this side. Let us not be envious of the bad things or the purported bad things the MMD used to do. You are doing the same bad things that you used to condemn. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. It is now your turn. Mr Speaker, my colleagues on your right are collectively answerable to Parliament and are supposed to advise the leadership in their party to do things right. It is unfortunate that, within one month, hon. Minister of Justice, there have been many violations of the law by your Government.

Hon. PF Members: Aah!

Mr Mwiimbu: Do you want me to mention them?

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: Thank you. Mr Speaker, I have been challenged to do so. The removal of the Director-General of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is incorrect, inconsistent and against the law. You know that for you to remove the Director-General of the ACC, you were supposed to have a tribunal that should have recommended that action to the President, but you did it without appointing the tribunal. You want another example?

Hon. PF Members: Yes.

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: You went ahead and nominated ten Members of Parliament. Do you realise that it was actually against the Constitution?

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: Do you want another one?

Hon. PF Members: Yes.

Mr Mwiimbu: You abolished the position of Secretary to the Treasury publicly without realising that it was a violation of the law. Do you want another one?

Laughter

Hon. PF Members: Yes.

Interruptions

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, the appointment of a Commissioner of Police for Muchinga Province, which does not exist legally. Do you want another one?

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, the point I am making is that my colleagues are answerable to this nation by ensuring that the right advice is given to the President. That is their duty.

Hon. UPND Member: Mudabwa chani?

Mr Mwiimbu: That is my appeal to you.

Finally, Mr Speaker, I agree with all the hon. Members of Parliament that we shall have the opportunity to have our Constituency Development Fund (CDF) increased to K5 billion this year. I have no doubt about that, ...

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: ... and I can see the hon. Minister of Finance and National Planning nodding. He agrees with me because he knows that, once he does that, he will have an alliance with us ...

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: ... and will have no difficulty in having the membership of the Public Accounts Committee approved.

Thank you, Sir.

Laughter

Dr Kazonga (Vubwi): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to make a contribution to the Motion on the Floor of this House.

Mr Speaker, I would like to start my debate with a definition of an election. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, an election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which representative democracy operates since the 17th Century.

Mr Speaker, we are all here as products of that decision-making process known as an election. Whether one won an election or was nominated an hon. Member of Parliament, it was as a result of somebody that was elected. I wish to congratulate the President and the Patriotic Front on winning the presidential elections. I wish them well. Let me also pay special tribute to the Former President, Mr Rupiah Bwezani Banda, for having accepted the results as a true reflection of the people’s will and surrendering power accordingly to the new President within the overall democratic framework.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!
 
Dr Kazonga: To the new President, I ask him to start working.

Hon. Government Member: He has already started.

Dr Kazonga: We are yet to see the real output. There have only been mere pronouncements.

Furthermore, I wish to congratulate you, Sir, on your election as Speaker of this House and, in the same vein, congratulate the Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chairperson of the Committees of the Whole House on their accession to their respective positions.

I wish to also pay special tribute to the former Speaker, Mr Amusaa Mwanamwambwa, for his contribution to this House and to the nation as a whole. May I also congratulate all my colleagues here on winning the elections, regardless of their political parties.

Mr Speaker, my sincere gratitude goes to the people of Vubwi Constituency. For the sake of the hon. Deputy Minister for Luapula Province in particular, Vubwi Constituency is in Chadiza District, which has two constituencies. Fortunately enough, my colleague has already debated and my debate will add to what he has already indicated because we belong to the same district.

Mr Mbewe: Hear, hear!

Dr Kazonga: Mr Speaker, I am the fourth hon. Member of Parliament for Vubwi Constituency since it was created in 1991. Historically, none of the first three Members of Parliament was ever given a second mandate. I am the first win a second mandate.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Kazonga: I want to thank the people of Vubwi for the confidence they have shown in me.  I shall endeavour to do my best in order to deliver to them. Of course, we shall work together with the Government as far as projects and programmes are concerned in that we shall support them when they do good things and condemn them when they do bad things. That is our role.

Hon. MMD Member: Hear, hear!

Dr Kazonga: Sir, my constituency is faced with two main challenges. The first is that of the road network. Unfortunately, the hon. Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism is not here to attest to this. He has been to Vubwi to campaign for my colleague from Chadiza Central and I to lose the elections, but the people of the two constituencies preferred to continue with us based on what we had done.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Kazonga: We also need attention to be paid to the bridges by our Government. One of the bridges is the Mwami Road Bridge on the Mwami River. We need it to be reconstructed because it provides a shorter route to Vubwi from Chadiza. Currently, we have to pass through Chipata to get to Vubwi. Within the magic ninety days, we hope something will be done about the bridge. The people of Vubwi expect the road network to be worked on.

For some of the people who may misunderstand this, I would like to say that, when elections are conducted, that is the end. Whether one voted for you or not, you have to move forward. People’s needs have to be attended to regardless of their voting pattern. One hon. Minister commented that they did not vote properly.

Hon. PF Member: That is what you used to say.

Dr Kazonga: Mr Speaker, let me now move to the Presidential Speech, which I analysed. According to my word count, it comprised 6, 424 words. I analysed it carefully using my surgical cross-section knife and found that it had two very simple layers. The first layer concerned issues of governance while the second layer was basically on poverty reduction strategies. Whatever was contained in the developmental programmes addressed poverty reduction, whether rural or urban. These are the two layers that I found in the Speech.

Let me now move to one of the sectors that was extensively captured in the speech. I am happy to note that the hon. Minister of Agriculture and Livestock is here listening.

Hon. Government Member: He is always here.

Dr Kazonga: By the way, he is the most consistent hon. Cabinet Minister so far in terms of attendance in the House.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Kazonga: I am sure that he has carefully followed the debates in the House with regard to agriculture. I wish others could emulate him.

Hon. Government Member: Even the pronouncements.

Hon. Member: Yes!

Dr Kazonga: There are some that disappear for one or two days, but he has been consistent.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Kazonga: That is the spirit.

Interruptions

Dr Kazonga: Mr Speaker, the pronouncements made in the speech were good to hear, especially with regard to agricultural potential, employment-creation, crop-diversification and marketing, construction of storage facilities, review of the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) operations and disease control measures. All these were good to hear. However, a careful study of the Speech reveals that it had a number of omissions or inadequate coverage on some important matters, such as infrastructure development. I will go into the details later. Science and technology and co-operatives development were totally missing in the speech.

As regards the issue of infrastructure, my analysis of the Speech revealed that the speech was limited to roads in the country. There was no other infrastructure mentioned. People expected policy guidance in as far as airports are concerned. Instead of simply renaming them, you add value by having new airports while those in existence are rehabilitated. Nothing was captured on airports. Equally, nothing was captured on the development of railway systems in this country. These are very serious omissions.

Sir, I advise the PF Government that it should not feel shy. The MMD Government left important documents, one of which is the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP), in which there are a number of programmes on infrastructure development. They will not break any of the Ten Commandments, the principles that they have pledged to follow, by taking those programmes on board.

Let me now move to the Farmer Input Support Programme. I am happy to note that the PF Government has acknowledged that this is a good programme and that it will continue with it. That is the spirit. If you want to improve, go ahead and improve upon it but, of course, we have left a record where we had the number of farmers increasing every year.

Hon. MMD Member: Hear, hear!

Dr Kazonga: One issue that was of concern to me in the speech was the concept of weaning off farmers.  Let me advise that weaning farmers off the Farmer Input Support Programme is not as easy as making the pronouncement. It is important to look at many economic fundamentals first, such as the limiting factors that stopped people from migrating or being weaned off, one of which the cost of production. Those are the issues that they need to tackle so that weaning off farmers becomes possible. The concept of weaning off farmers is the one I said is good to hear about, but difficult to implement. It is one of those things that will not be possible within ninety days or one year. It is not possible.

Mr Speaker, the President’s Speech is completely silent on co-operatives. I wish to advise the Government that there are immense economic opportunities, employment-creation and human development attributes goals that can be achieved through co-operatives. Actually, co-operatives are serious business entities. They can be used as tools for service delivery.

Sir, I totally agree with the programme of crop diversification mentioned by the President in his Speech. It is important to diversify crops. The MMD Government introduced the Crop Diversification Programme and I inform this House that, by the time the MMD was leaving office, there was a pilot programme known as Rice under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP). Farmers were given 30 metric tonnes of rice seed in nine districts. This year, we wanted to increase to 39 metric tonnes of rice seed. Therefore, diversification was started by the MMD and I urge the PF Government to continue with it.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Kazonga: If they want to abandon whatever we did, they will do it at their own peril.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Kazonga: Development is continuous. They should make use of the building blocks that they have.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Kazonga: We are carefully watching, and we expect a number of programmes to be implemented within ninety days.

Mr Speaker, science and technology was not fully captured in the President’s Speech. As a country, we need to build a highly skilled and dynamic scientific workforce for the future.

Hon. Government Member interrupted.

Dr Kazonga: Yes! Including the ones you know.

Mr Speaker, let me end with one very important aspect in agriculture that the MMD introduced: the National Food Balance Sheet. Achieving food security is very important for any country. The country’s National Food Balance Sheet for the marketing season, 1st May, 2011 to 30th April, 2012, is very good. The MMD Government left a record of two bumper harvests of maize. That is not all. It was also interested in production. We have seen a big improvement from 1.68 metric tonnes to 2.73 metric tonnes per hectare. We hope that the current Government will do better than that. In fact, they can take advantage of these statistics and use them as their baseline because the people will judge them.

Hon. MMD Member: Ema doctors, aba!

Dr Kazonga: Mr Speaker, in terms of rice, we have seen an increase in production. We are also happy to note that the production level was slowly increasing; rising from 0.75 to 0.85 metric tonnes at the time we left office. This is for the Government to use as its baseline. Cassava production has been good. We left it at 1,130,000 metric tonnes. Cotton production was at 121,900 metric tonnes in the last season while tobacco production also increased by 18 per cent. The major challenge that the Government faced was value addition in a number to areas such as crops. In terms of livestock, we left a number of programmes, such as vaccinations and construction or rehabilitation of dip tanks, among others. We hope our colleagues will continue with these programmes. Concerning fisheries development, there was a programme that addressed that sector. Our colleagues can continue with it. In the period 2006 to last year, we saw kapenta production increase by 25 per cent.

Sir, in conclusion, I would like to state that all of us need to play our role. We, in the Opposition, shall play our role as Opposition hon. Members of Parliament. That does not mean that we are going to oppose everything. We shall oppose issues that will negatively impact Zambians, but will support progressive programmes and bills.

Mr Speaker, I urge the Government to complete projects that were not completed by the MMD.

Hon. Government Members: Awe, Awe!

Dr Kazonga: If they do not, we shall use them as campaign tools in 2016.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Kazonga: Lastly, I wish to quote one philosopher, Aristotle, who said:

“For a while, it is satisfactory to acquire and preserve the good even for an individual. It is finer and more divine to acquire and preserve it for a people.”

Mr Speaker, I advise the Government to continue with those projects and preserve them for the good of the people.

Sir, the MMD is …

Hon. Government Members: Gone, gone!

Laughter

Dr Kazonga: … currently in reflection. It will be back in 2016.

Hon. Government Members: Aah!

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Kazonga: Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Taima (Solwezi East): Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for according me an opportunity to add my voice to the many that have already contributed to the Motion on the Floor and given their maiden speeches.

Sir, like many hon. Members who spoke before me, let me begin by congratulating the President and the PF on their victory and subsequent ascension to power. I also congratulate you and your subordinates on your election to your respective offices. I equally congratulate the old and new hon. Members on your left for putting up a spirited fight to come back to the House in good numbers. This will help strengthen our young democracy as we ensure that we provide meaningful checks and balances in Parliament. I also pay tribute to the gallant people of Solwezi East Constituency for deciding to rally behind my party, my party President, Mr Rupiah Bwezani Banda, and me. They gave us an emphatic victory over our opponents.

Mr Speaker, I must mention here that even the much-dreaded 50% + 1 Clause did not matter in Solwezi East because we made sure that we convincingly beat our opponents. How I wish the then Government had accepted the inclusion of the 50% + 1 Clause in the Constitution because we could have been on the other side of the House this time.

Laughter

Mr Taima: I am very humbled by this high level of confidence shown in me by the people of Solwezi East Constituency. All I can pledge in return is continued and effective representation.

Sir, I would also like to thank my wife, Lisa, and my three sons. I extend my gratitude to my entire extended family for its encouragement and support during the highly competitive elections.

Mr Speaker, I wish to mention from the outset that my debate will be a mixture of what I call a general debate and comments on the President’s Speech at the Official Opening of the First Session of the Eleventh National Assembly. I want to start from what I want to call lack of clarity on policy pronouncements made so far by these people’s Government.

Mr Speaker, I have observed with sadness, and I believe many others have, too, that there is a growing trend of this Government making policy pronouncements that, for lack of a better term, are vague, without minding that they are throwing the nation into total confusion. I make reference to the most recent pronouncement that the people who are arrested by Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) over crimes that are poaching-related should all be freed because animals cannot be more important than human beings. Yes, it sounds very good to any ear but, truly, this policy pronouncement lacks clarity and has consequently begun to bring confusion in the nation. We have all been hearing that, apparently, for whatever reasons, in the town where my President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, comes from, Mpika, poachers have teamed up, taken it upon themselves to beat up and, if they have their way, kill ZAWA officers …

Interruptions

Mr Taima: … on account of the President’s pronouncement that lacks clarity.

Hon. MMD Members: Shame!

Mr Taima: Mr Speaker, does this policy pronouncement mean that poachers should now swing into action and slaughter all animals with impunity? Is that what it means? Does it mean that whoever is caught killing animals or is in illegal possession of animals by ZAWA officers should just be reprimanded and told to reduce on the number of animals they kill without being taken to court? What does it really mean? Many other questions can be asked, but the point is that there is a lack of clarity in policy pronouncements. For as long as it is appeasing to the ear of an average Zambian, they will make that pronouncement without caring about the consequences.

Mr Speaker, another example of the President’s vague pronouncements is where he says:

“I will not be worthy to be President of this country if any pregnant woman dies due to a maternity problem” or “… if any child dies from measles”.

These are very good and exciting statements because, to the people of Solwezi East Constituency, it means that many rural health centres will be built. These will be added to the existing ones. It also means that many health workers will be employed and deployed to ensure adequate staff for better and quality health care delivery. More drugs will be bought and every health centre will have a maternity wing and adequate equipment for maternity health care. Surely, this pronouncement, good as it may sound, has no specific time limit for us to know the date from which our President will cease to be worthy of his office if any woman dies …

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Taima: … or if a child died of measles. Maybe, that can help us to know when we can begin to bring dead bodies of women who die in labour or the bodies of children who die of measles so that we can prove that people are still dying despite the pronouncements. We need specific pronouncements. Public policy must be clear.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Taima: Sir, there is a need for clarity. There are no specific programmes mentioned that point to how we shall reach perfection in the health delivery system so that the President does not become unworthy of being called President.

Lieutenant-General Shikapwasha: Hear, hear!

Mr Taima: For example, we expect pronouncements such as “We shall ensure that, in our first term of office, we shall have fifteen to twenty health centres in each constituency.” If I were to be gracious, I would say not in the first ninety days, or in the first five years. This is when we will know and begin to hold you accountable against that policy pronouncement. You cannot just stand up and say, “ I will cease to be worthy” and leave it there.

Laughter

Mr Taima: Mr Speaker, therefore, there is a lack of clarity on issues that are important to our nation. I can be a little lenient on His Excellency, the President, because he can be brief in his policy pronouncements which, in most cases, are well-meaning and actually for the good of all of us. However, those people on your right have an obligation to begin to come back to either the House or to the people of Zambia, through the House, and give more details on the policy pronouncements made by His Excellency, the President. We have hon. Ministers responsible for the areas in which policies are pronounced. They should not sit back there and continue celebrating like we heard someone say it yesterday. They should begin to explain these issues because we need to know. Many have already said that it is not time for “Don’t kubeba”. They need to tell us how they are governing. Governance is not a secret. We need to know.

Laughter

Mr Taima: Mr Speaker, just in case some hon. Members on your right think that I am being unnecessarily malicious in my debate, I am actually sharing these concerns with His Excellency, the President. An hon. Member referred to page 17 of the President’s Speech earlier, and said that it was not good enough to simply make mere pronouncements in general terms, be they economic or otherwise. Therefore, the Government needs to make pronouncements that will translate into programmes that can be implemented and seen.

Sir, the President actually made reference to the recent classification of Zambia as a middle-income nation and said it was meaningless as long as it did not impact on poverty reduction. Therefore, it will be meaningless to say, “I will be worthless to be President if women will die in labour or if children will die of measles.” If you do not translate that into action or things that we can see, it will be meaningless. The President also shares with me this concern that, when we make pronouncements, we must go further and show how we intend to do that for the betterment of the people of Zambia. That is what I am saying.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Taima: Mr Speaker, mention has already been made on the abolition of the position of the Secretary to the Treasury. Just to get back to it briefly, it is, again, done in a typical “Don’t kubeba” style. This Government made a pronouncement that turned out to be unclear when it mentioned how unnecessary and extravagant the Office of the Secretary to the Treasury was and that it had been abolished as a result. Upon realising the importance of this office, how it was established by law and the consequences that would arise in the whole governance system if it was abolished so that there was no controlling officer in the whole Government system because permanent secretaries (PSs) are supposed to be appointed by this office and it is the only authorized. Let me have some water. Sorry, my diabetes is already.

Laughter

Mr Taima drank some water.

Interruptions

Mr Taima: Mr Speaker, the Government realised the consequences of abolishing this position and, therefore, reversed the decision quietly. It is not very bad to realise your mistakes and make amends. It is actually an attribute of good leadership. If the condition of such a mistake was public and, for that matter, an issue of so much importance and interest to the nation, surely, even if the most popular terminology at the moment is “Don’t kubeba”, the people of Zambia, the actual owners of that Government, deserve to know whether the position of Secretary to the Treasury still exists or has been abolished. If it does still exist, who is the Secretary to the Treasury? We need to know who the person in charge of Government expenditure is today.

Interruptions

Mr Taima: You cannot quietly say that the Permanent Secretary who ordinarily is on a par with his or her colleagues in other ministries is the Secretary to the Treasury and you do not even go further to swear him or her in.

We do not want this “Don’t kubeba” type of governance. Now that you are in power, you have to tell us everything you do. 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Taima: Mr Speaker, these are only a few examples among the many pronouncements that have been made without clarity. Our nation has been left hanging in balance resulting in its making assumptions on what means what. I can further give an example of the notion of running a Government by the Ten Commandments. We do not know who will give us a little more detail on how this will be done.

Laughter

Mr Taima:  Zambians were subjected to short-lived excitement when we thought we would have two Vice-Presidents because we had a Deputy Vice-President. In the name of winning popularity, it was even defended that truly there would be a Deputy Vice-President. We thought he would share the Front Bench as Deputy Leader of Government Business in the House. However, we are seeing my brother sitting behind the Vice-President.

Laughter

Mr Taima: We do not know what this means. There are many other pronouncements that are not clear to the nation.

Mr Speaker, in the interest of time, I just want to very briefly comment on the other issues raised in the speech. On the CDF, when it is promised that an audit will be undertaken, it is considerate to have specific dates. When auditing, one has to be sure of the period he or she is auditing. In this case, as the House may be aware, we have constituencies that have received more money than others. What are we auditing, specifically? This means that, in some cases, we will be auditing previous financial years while in others we will be auditing the current financial year.
 
I do not know whether Hon. Given Lubinda is combining two financial years in his audit. It is important to be clear on cut-off dates in line with the directive that merely makes reference to the last financial year. This is what it says.

Mr Lubinda interjected.

Mr Taima: Hon. Lubinda can come and audit my constituency. 

Of course the most popular pronouncement under the CDF is that it should be increased to K5 billion.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Taima: I agree with everyone. A very quick and simple analysis of how the MMD performed on CDF is that we found it at K40 million …

Hon. Opposition Member: K30 million.

Mr Taima: We actually found it at K30million. I have just been corrected. However, we left it at K720million, which is more than eighteen times if you multiply. From the current K720million to K5billion, you only need to multiply by seven.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Taima: We have left them a very simple exercise.

Mr Speaker, I thought that I should belabour my concern over the non-clarity of policies by this Government and, as a result, I can see that it has robbed me of my time to comment on other things. However, very quickly, I want to say that it is very pleasing to see the President acknowledging in very clear terms that the PF victory, to a large extent, is owed to the young generation of Zambia. This, obviously, is a clear indication of how the youth of Zambia have realised and want to come on board and play a role in the governance of their nation, be it through the ballot, as the case was this time.

Hon. Opposition Members:  Hear, hear!

Mr Taima: It is further demonstrated by the growing numbers of youthful representation in this House. Some people even commented, the other day, that we even have children in the House. My apologies. I think they were referring to my young friends from Eastern Province. I retract this, Sir. It is hard to underscore the fact that we have quite a number of youths in the House this time around, which is a clear sign of the interest that is growing among the young people of Zambia to participate in elections.

Alas, I bemoan that the pay back …

Mr Speaker: Order!

Business was suspended from 1615 hours until 1630 hours. {mospagebreak}
 
[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

ANNOUNCEMENT BY MR SPEAKER

ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM

Mr Speaker: Hon. Members, I wish to inform the House that we will now suspend the proceedings of the House for fifteen minutes to enable all Members of Parliament learn how to use the electronic voting system in the House.

Business was suspended from 1630 hours to 1645 hours.

Mr Taima: Mr Speaker, I was just about to drive home a point that the payback by the PF Government to the youth of Zambia falls short of the young people’s expectations. The young people of Zambia deserve a stand-alone ministry for their numerous problems outlined in the President’s Speech to be better attended to. Further, this ministry must be headed by a young person because we have so many young people in this House with adequate capacity to handle a ministry.

Mr Speaker, as I conclude, I would like to say, like many that have spoken before me, that Solwezi East, being a rural constituency, like all rural constituencies, has many challenges. Therefore, it has high expectations from the Government. I will belabour these in other debates to follow, suffice it to say that our roads, especially the much-talked-about Solwezi-Kikushu Road, which the very well-meaning MMD Government left at the tarring stage, also need attention. We hope that the PF Government will pick it up from there and complete that project.

Many other sectors like health, education, water and sanitation, agriculture, police pots, rural electrification need serious attention and we expect serious investment flows to also come to our constituency. These are important to mention but I will debate them in detail later.

The last, but not least, is that the people of Solwezi East Constituency are also expecting that in keeping with the policy pronouncement by the PF Government that for effective administration in certain areas that are too big to administer they have created a tenth province. We are expecting in due course to have district called Mushindamo in Solwezi because this area is very fast growing. We have quite a lot of basic infrastructure being taken there and the only four Lamba Chiefs in the whole province are actually concentrating in this area in terms of their allocation so we expect that this very good people’s Government will also award us Mushindamo District.

Mr Speaker, I want to end here. I thank you.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Chingimbu (Kabompo East): Mr Speaker, I thank you for allowing me to deliver my Maiden Speech.

First and foremost, I wish to congratulate everyone in this House for winning the 20th September Tripartite Election. More importantly, I wish to congratulate the President, you, Sir, the Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chairperson of the Committees of the Whole House on your election to those distinguished portfolios. It is my prayer that your collective wisdom will accord us on an impartial experience in the proceedings of this august House.

Mr Speaker and hon. Members of the House, allow me to use this platform to sincerely and genuinely thank the people of Kabompo East Constituency for depositing their trust in me in giving me this rare opportunity to serve them as their Member of Parliament for the next five years. I shall forever remain indebted to them for this.

Mr Speaker, I should hasten to mention that the election was not an easy one as competition, especially for me, was very high. On the MMD ticket, I had to fight a Goliath to be adopted. The people, however, did not accept to be intimidated. They spoke loudly and I was able to emerge victorious.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Chingimbu: I wish to appreciate the efforts of my predecessor, Hon. Mukuma, whose works I hope to build on and whose shoulders I stand on in Parliamentary duties.

Mr Speaker, the elections are over and the people of Zambia have pronounced their emphatic verdict.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Chingimbu: It is now time for all of us who have been elected to fold our sleeves and get down to the task of moving our country forward, regardless of our political affiliation, in the knowledge that Zambia comes first. 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Chingimbu: May I, at this point in time, urge my brothers and sisters on your right that the “Don’t Kubeba” formula is over.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Chingimbu: The people of Zambia are waiting to see how and when the PF Government is going to put more money in their pockets within ninety days.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Chingimbu: Only the truth will set you free.

Mr Speaker, speaking is one thing, implementation another. However, we shall not perform to the people’s expectations if we do not support the PF to deliver. That I know. In the same vein, we are here to provide checks and balances on what the Ruling Party puts on the table for our ultimate consideration as representatives of the people, whose interest and welfare is our primary obligation to promote and protect.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear! Quality!

Mr Chingimbu: Sir, as an hon. Member of Parliament for Kabompo East, I come from a province that, all of us are aware, is the emerging second Copperbelt. This poses its own challenges in terms of infrastructure development to support and sustain the industrial growth whose potential is enormous. I am therefore, ready to co-operate with the Government of the day, to facilitate the much-needed development for the benefit of the local people.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Chingimbu: Mr Speaker, Kabompo East Constituency has seen its fair share of infrastructure development. It is my humble request that the new Government will continue and even increase developmental projects in my constituency. In this regard, I have in mind the completion of the tarring of the M8 Road, which is Mtanda-Chavuma, and connection of the remaining district to the National Electricity Grid. My constituency is a beneficiary of these two major capital projects and our desire is to see them completed within the specified period of time, to be more realistic, if not within ninety days.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Chingimbu: Sir, Kabompo East Constituency is largely a farming community with a large number of viable but vulnerable small-scale farmers. These farmers will require support from the Government to increase productivity and graduate from poverty. In the same vein, our small-scale farmers will require support in the livestock sub-sector. This is with regard to disease control and livestock production and management. Currently, there is a ban on the free movement of livestock due to the heavy disease burden. This has impacted negatively on the farmers as they are not able to move their animals to good markets where they can fetch a fair price. We also want to see increased activity in the area of fisheries development as well as irrigation initiatives to take advantage of the abundant water resource.

Mr Speaker, Kabompo District in general is known for the productivity of world class organic honey. This is one area where jobs can be created and people’s incomes enhanced.

As I speak now, the honey factory in Kabompo District is almost closed with just skeleton staff. Our desire is to see increased funding to the honey sub-sector and encourage exports like it was happening in the past before funds dwindled. My constituency is also rich in timber including the famous Mukwa. For this reason, my humble appeal to the PF Government is to empower the youths with machinery to enable them make use of the skills that they already have in carpentry, especially in this time of industrialisation.

Mr Speaker, there is also a need to exploit the tourism potential of the Kabompo River, which, as you may know, is believed to be the deepest river in Africa and only second to the Amazon in the whole world. I hope the PF Government will champion this as they have promised to be a listening government.

Mr Speaker, I am in agreement with the introduction of the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs. My hope is that this ministry will do a lot more to educate our royal highnesses in basic issues of governance, democracy and human and constitutional rights to prevent them being partisan when it comes to campaigns and elections.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Chingimbu: I am also in agreement with what the President mentioned about poor enrolment in schools. The President did not specify, but with my wisdom, I know that this problem largely affects the rural communities. My earnest appeal to the listening Government is that, please, consider re-introduction of production units so as to strengthen school feeding programmes in order to improve school enrolment especially in the rural areas. For more information, I refer you to www.wfp school feeding programme.

Sir, enrolment is indeed poor in rural areas due to the following reasons according to the World Health Organisation (WHO): poverty and the impact of HIV/AIDS, which the President never mentioned in his speech. We cannot pretend that we are not affected if not infected.

Mr Speaker, I am also in agreement with the President’s desire to improve the quality of life for the majority of our people and, therefore, wish, among other things in my constituency, to achieve with the help of the PF Government the following:

(i) construction of two boarding high schools in Kashinakaji and Manyinga;

(ii) improving the feeder roads and very importantly the Ndunga, Chongo, Chitebe and Lumwe roads;

(iii) upgrading of community schools;

(iv) construction of four bridges, namely, Katende, Ndunga, Dyambombola and Safwaya;

(v) sinking of more boreholes to increase community access to clean drinking water;

(vi) establishment and construction of more agricultural satellite depots and storage sheds;

(vii)  construction of a police post in Manyinga;

(viii) above all, CDF should be increased to K5 billion;

(ix) Construction of modern houses for our three chiefs in the district to avoid Kuomboka when Manyinga river floods; and

(x) build a bituminous road to link Kabompo and Mwinilunga. The President did not specify which type of roads in his speech.

Mr Speaker, at the provincial level, just like other hon. Members of Parliament from North-Western Province have emphasised in their speeches, it is our collective desire that:

(a) oil reserves in the region are tapped forthwith in order to provide jobs for many of our people mired in abject poverty;

(b) a university is opened in the province within the next five years to provide quality education not just for the sake of increasing universities in the country to appease people, but we are talking about quality education;

(c) Kabompo district, because of its central location, among other considerations, be crowned the provincial headquarters of the province; and

(d) after all has been said and done, we expect the province to receive an equal share in national opportunities such as appointments. We are left out as people of North-Western Province in appointments and resource-allocation.

Mr Speaker, at the national level, the PF campaigned on the platform of giving the nation a predicable tax regime, more so taxes relating to the mining sector. Its main aim was the introduction of the windfall tax. however, it is an act of betrayal to the people of Zambia to note that the President’s Speech conspicuously omits mention of the windfall tax, yet the people and the mining industry need to know the Government’s position on this matter now.

Hon. MMD Member: Hear, hear!

Mr Chingimbu: Mr Speaker, peace and unity is a national need. The Barotseland Agreement of 1964 is one serious matter that the President deliberately or otherwise decided to gloss over in his address to this House. We demand a categorical and crystal clear stand on this potentially peace-threatening issue. Our country expects from this Government an initiative that will rest this matter conclusively.

In this respect the “Dont kubeba” approach will not be helpful. Therefore, as a measure of integrity, I request the PF Government to own up and walk their talk. As I conclude, I wish to state that I look forward to a useful and happy working relationship with all my fellow Parliamentarians as we push the nation’s development agenda forward. To the electorate in my constituency, I wish to pledge to continue to be their faithful servant and messenger.

I thank you, Sir.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Pande (Kasempa): Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for according me this opportunity to deliver my Maiden Speech and later say something on the speech delivered to the House by His Excellency, the President, Mr Michael Sata.

Sir, I congratulate His Excellency, the President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, on becoming Zambia’s Fifth Republican President. This is no accident but the will of God and, as always, it is for a good purpose. I would also like to congratulate the Patriotic Front on forming the Government. I wish to also congratulate you, Mr Speaker, on your election and that of your Deputy and the Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House. Lastly, I wish to congratulate all hon. Members who made it to the House, particularly those who were in the last Parliament, on bouncing back. I can see we have more on this side of the House than on the other side.

For those coming to the House for the first time, I would like to tell them that it is not easy to come back. For me, the last elections were the third in which the people of Kasempa entrusted me with the responsibility of representing them in the House. I first came in through a by election. Therefore, I feel indebted to them for the trust that they have continued to place in me. They have overwhelmingly spoken again and mandated me to be their representative, God willing, for the next five years. To the wonderful people of Kasempa, as always, I will not let you down. I will contribute effectively and faithfully to represent your interests regardless of your political affiliation. Kasempa is, geographically, the biggest constituency in Zambia with twenty two wards that, by the way, all belong to the MMD. In size, Kasempa is 21,000 square kilometres and is bigger than Swaziland and only smaller than Malawi by about 2,000 square kilometres. Kasempa can be said to be the gateway to North-Western Province, particularly from Lusaka via Mumbwa.

Mr Speaker, since becoming an hon. Member of Parliament and through the MMD Government, Kasempa has been one of the fastest growing rural districts in North-Western Province, if not in Zambia. There are, however, a number of challenges faced in the constituency-cum-district, among which are the road infrastructure and housing. The MMD Government had a well planned programme to deal with these challenges and I have no doubt that the PF Government will continue or will rise to the occasion to execute these projects  that were on the MMD programme, for example, the construction of a police camp and a district hospital, next year.

Mr Speaker, I will be failing in my duty if I do not thank the people of Kasempa for speaking so loudly that Kabinga Pande should continue to be their hon. Member of Parliament, although I know that this is the wish of God. They definitely made a good decision based on my past performance.

I would also like to thank my four opponents for the peaceful manner in which we conducted our campaigns. We demonstrated maturity in democracy. Lastly but not the least, my gratitude goes to my wife and the entire family for the unfailing support that they have given me since I started my political career, but particularly during the last elections.

Let me now make comments on the President’s address to the House. This is a fantastic speech that gives a lot of hope to the people of Zambia. It has covered most of the issues that meet the aspirations of the people, and especially, that it falls in line with the MMD Government’s Sixth National Development Plan. However, the speech has been denied the chance scoring an A+. I do not blame the President for this, but hold my colleagues there responsible for it. I do not know if they should be forgiven for that since they are still excited by being in Government since some cannot still believe it.

Laughter

Mr Pande: Mr Speaker, they allowed the President to bring in the speech one of the PF slogans thus denying it the status that it deserves. The slogan is “Don’t Kubeba”. I am sure the President will hold you responsible for this. I will demonstrate what I am saying as my speech progresses.

Mr Speaker, the President made one important omission: the issue of foreign policy. The nation, through this House, needed to know the direction of our foreign policy. For the MMD Government the major thrust was economic diplomacy that resulted in the massive foreign direct investment that we are witnessing today. It is good that the President acknowledged and saluted the people of Zambia over the peaceful elections, which demonstrated the maturity of our democracy, although I feel strongly that he should have thanked the MMD, particularly President Rupiah Bwezani Banda, for the gracious manner in which he handed over power.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Pande: Mr Speaker, let me point out that this mature trend of our democracy risks being rolled backwards by the PF through the violence that took place immediately after their victory. A number of MMD members and perceived sympathisers were terribly harassed and some had their property destroyed.

Mr Speaker, a few examples are the MMD North-Western Province chairperson who had his shop destroyed and lost substantial amounts of money. As if this was not enough, his mother’s shop was also destroyed. Additionally there was an aspiring councillor in Kitwe whose house was destroyed. This should not have been allowed to happen. We should not brush aside this element of violence in the country. There are strifes in Africa started in the same way it was happening here. We have had situations in which losing leaders wanted to hold on to power for fear of retribution. This should not come to Zambia at all and you should pay attention to it.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Pande: Mr Speaker, I would not be surprised if we heard that some people fled the country for fear of retribution. Please, we should help President Michael Chilufya Sata not to be the first President to create a Zambian political refugee. Zambia’s record of not having a political refugee must be maintained. I do hope and pray that all those whose property was destroyed will quickly be compensated by the caring PF Government and the perpetrators of these acts brought to book. We are waiting for this to happen.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Pande: Mr Speaker, the President, in his speech, referred to the fulfilment of the PF manifesto on job-creation and more money in people’s pockets. He goes further to state that the PF Government owes the youths jobs. Here I expect the President to give us the exact number or the estimated number of the youths to be employed in ninety days. However, because of “Don’t Kubeba”, there are no figures.

Mr Speaker, I give kudos to the President on the pledge to establish universities in every province. This is great because it was the MMD’s Governments programme as well.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Pande: The MMD Government had programmed to start the construction of universities in, at least, four provinces in 2012. One of the beneficiaries was to be North-Western Province. Therefore, the people of the province expect the PF Government to give them a university next year. At least they are not saying that it should be done in ninety days.

Mr Speaker, as regards agriculture, the President promised to review the delivery system of the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP). My advice to the PF is that it should maintain the programmes of the MMD that have proved successful by eliminating hunger in our country. The Ruling Party can, of course, improve on the number of bags under the FISP, which is in line with what it promised the Zambian people. Again, because of the “Don’t Kubeba” slogan, the figure of the proposed increase was not mentioned. I believe that the FISP can be reviewed before the next farming season since it is not possible to do so this year due to the lack of time. This is now cultivating and planting time for farmers. Therefore, the PF Government should quickly pay the farmers what is owed them as the MMD Government would have done.

Hon. Government Members: Aah!

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Pande: Mr Speaker, like the previous speakers have said on the CDF, the President promised to do what is already in place, which is to retire and audit the previous allocations before the next ones are disbursed. What we expected the President to do was to bring in new ideas such as increasing the CDF to K5 billion per constituency as well as an additional K1 billion for all rural constituencies. My big brother, ABC (hon. Minister of Finance and National Planning), please implement these new ideas.

Mr Speaker, President Michael Chilufya Sata must be commended for stating that priority will be given to the completion of the on-going projects involving roads, bridges, schools and others. This is how it should be. I also salute him for including the Kasempa-Mumbwa, Kalulushi-Kasempa and Kasempa-Kaoma roads in the programme of raising selected roads to bitumen standard. Although, the President merely said that the roads would be worked on, since they are already all-weather gravel roads, the only sensible conclusion I could draw from his speech is that these roads will be tarred.

Mr Speaker, I hope the Government will not delay in completing the road projects that the MMD commenced. I have heard the issue of reviewing the contracts. This should not be given as an excuse for the failure to complete the projects on schedule. The PF Government should remember that the previous Government has already spent money on some of these projects.

Mr Speaker, the President also referred to the delays experienced by retirees in receiving their terminal benefits in his speech and promised that the PF Government will move quickly to comprehensively address this issue. This is excellent. However, when the PF Government took office, one of the first things that was done was to make jobless hundreds, if not thousands, of Government and parastatal workers. One sad thing about this is the manner in which the dismissals were done. Employees were dismissed with immediate effect and told to hand over Government houses and vehicles. I do not think all of them deserved that kind of treatment. Actually, some of those dismissed are experts the Government should have held on to. In view of the President’s concern regarding the delays in paying retirees their terminal benefits, I hope they have all been paid by now.

Interruptions

Mr Pande: Mr Speaker, my colleagues on your right forgot to remind His Excellency that he shares the blame with us for the Government’s failure to effectively integrate youths in national development. On page 33 of the speech, he says:

“In the last twenty years, the previous Government failed to effectively integrate the youth …”

We are all aware that President Michael Chilufya Sata served in the first ten years of the previous Government. So we share the blame 50-50.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Pande: Mr Speaker, for me to better understand the President’s remarks on the Constitution, I need help. The President said that the Constitution will be delivered in ninety days. I need help to understand clearly what the President meant regarding the Constitution because of the existence of the “Don’t Kubeba” slogan. I do not know the date from which the counting of the ninety days will start. Is it the day he was sworn in or the date he addressed this House?

Hon. Government Members: We will tell you.

Mr Pande: Please pay attention to what I am saying. Additionally, he states that the Constitution will be subjected to a referendum. How possible is this in ninety days? Twalalolela mukwai.

Mr Speaker, I totally support the President regarding his pronouncements on the fight against corruption. I welcome his zero-tolerance to corruption. I have always stated on the Floor of this House that the fight against corruption is not for the President alone. It is for every citizen. The benefits of fighting corruption are for all citizens, not the President alone.

Mr Speaker, lastly, I would like to assure the PF Government of our full support to all good policies and bills in the interest of mother Zambia. The PF is actually in a better position because it has an Opposition in the MMD that is enlightened and experienced in running the Government successfully. We will give our colleagues on your right all the support that they need to fulfill their campaign promises of lower taxes, more money in people’s pockets and more jobs for Zambians, particularly the youths, within ninety days.

Interruptions

Mr Pande: Mr Speaker, I hope my brothers and sisters, the hon. Members across, know what the youths around the country are saying in places such like Cairo Road, City Market, Chifubu, Mansa, Kasama, Kitwe, Livingstone and many parts of Zambia. If they do not know, the story is that this Christmas will be the best ever for the Zambian youths because, according to their calculations, the ninety days ends on 23rd December, 2011. Thus, they expect more money in their pockets by this day and 24th December, 2011, to be shopping day for them.

Laughter

Mr Pande: I wish the PF all the best in fulfilling these campaign promises as we are all expectant of having more money in our pockets by that date.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Pande: Mr Speaker, the PF hon. Ministers should help the President to work hard and reverse the worrying downward trend in the tenure of office of our Presidents as mentioned earlier in the House. For those who have forgotten what was said earlier in the House, it is that the first President, Dr Kaunda, served twenty-seven years, the second President, late Dr Chiluba, served ten years, the third President, the late Dr Levy Mwanawasa, SC., served seven years and the fourth President, Mr Rupiah Bwezani Banda served three years. The PF, therefore, has the task of changing this trend by working extra hard and fulfilling all of its campaign promises. Time for victory celebrations is gone. The hon. Members on the right should get down to work.

Sir, the MMD left the country better than it found it. We expect the PF Government to do better than us, not take us backwards. That is if it is to serve even one five-year term.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Ng’onga (Kaputa): Mr Speaker, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to present my Maiden Speech to this House. Allow me to congratulate His Excellency, the President of our beloved country, Zambia, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, on his victory in the elections. I wish him God’s blessings as he steers this country to prosperity.

Sir, I would like to also congratulate you on your election to the important office of Speaker. I wish to also congratulate the hon. Deputy Speaker and Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House on their election to their respective offices. Further, I sincerely thank my wife, Martha and my children Max, Natasha and Daniel for their support and resolve to stand by my side during the campaign period and thereafter.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Ng’onga: Mr Speaker, allow me to extend my gratitude to the people of Kaputa Constituency and the three chiefs that we have in the area, namely, Chieftainess Kaputa, Chief Mukupa Katandula and Chief Mataka as well as their sub-chiefs and village headmen.

Mr Speaker, I will remain indebted to the people of Kaputa Constituency for according me this honour and privilege to represent them in this House on issues of national importance. Allow me to recognise my predecessors that have served Kaputa Constituency and have contributed in one way or another to bringing Kaputa where it is today.

Mr Speaker, I would be failing in my duty if I did not recognise and thank our victorious party, the PF, for endorsing my candidature and backing me to stand and represent the people of Kaputa as hon. Member of Parliament.

Mr D. Mwila: Hear, hear!

Mr Ng’onga: Mr Speaker, allow me to inform some hon. Members in this House where Kaputa is. The district is in Northern Province of Zambia, not in Luapula, although, administratively, we have some departments that report to Luapula Province. The district is to the north-west of Kasama, which is about 400 km away. It is a border district between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On the western side, there is Chienge District; on the Southern side, Mporokoso; on the south-west, Nchelenge; and on the eastern side, Mpulungu. This is a good description for people that do not know where Kaputa is.

Sir, Kaputa District has two constituencies, namely, Kaputa and Chimbamilonga constituencies. Chimbamilonga is represented by Hon. Chansa.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Ng’onga: Mr Speaker, Kaputa Constituency, like any other rural constituency, is faced with numerous challenges. Most of these have been inherited from the past governments, including the immediate past one.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Ng’onga: Mr Speaker, the main road from Kasama to Kaputa has been in a deplorable state for many years. This road, if tarred, would link Kaputa to Kasama and easily open up trade to the rest of Zambia. Another road that links Kaputa is the Nchelenge-Munanga-Kaputa, which is also in a very deplorable state. The other road is the Kaputa-Chienge in Luapula Province. The state of this road is also so bad that, with the onset of the rains, Kaputa sometimes becomes inaccessible. It is a nightmare even for the businessmen and women of this country to get in and out of Kaputa. We recognise that there is already a commitment from our serious PF Government with the pronouncements that have been made by our President. We look forward to Kaputa enjoying the benefits from the pronouncements that have, so far, been made.

Mr Speaker, as I stand in this House, Kaputa Constituency has had no secondary school to talk about since Independence, except for what we can call a basic school with no laboratories, computers and with very little housing for the teachers. Our children in Kaputa have not been exposed to computers, so, you can imagine how far behind we are as the world progresses. We have a number of primary and middle basic schools in the district. However, we have very few teachers to man them. In some schools, one teacher mans all the grades from 1 to 7. We also still continue to see community schools with no teachers. The only community schools that have teachers are those that use their food as payment to teachers. However, these schools have no teaching materials, such as chalk and books. In this age, this is a frightening situation.

Mr Speaker, Kaputa does not have a hospital. Again, what we have is a clinic with not single doctor. We do not even know what the services offered by a doctor are. The people of Kaputa call male nurses doctors because those are the ones that they are privileged to have. People continue to die in large numbers even from diseases like malaria, yet there are so many preventive and curative remedies available. One very sad situation in our area is that pregnant women with even simple complications have to be referred to Mporokoso Hospital, which is about 200km from Kaputa, on the bad road I have mentioned. It is a nightmare. When lives are served, it is by God’s grace.

I, again, thank the people of Kaputa for seeing that the MMD Government had failed them so miserably that they just decided to support total change by voting for the PF, this in the view that this party will deliver the health services they need so much.

Mr Speaker, Kaputa is endowed with many natural resources and is surrounded by three large water bodies. On the other side of Luapula, there is Lake Mweru, to the north-east, Lake Tanganyika and, within Kaputa, Lake Mweru Wantipa. The people of Kaputa have been fishermen for many years and fish has provided for their livelihood and income. However, this is no longer the case because most of the fish stocks have depleted. Kaputa continues to feel the full impact of global warming or climate change, which has resulted in the Lake Mweru Wantipa drying slowly, but surely. The people of Kaputa, therefore, requested me to ably represent them by bringing to the attention of the PF Government, through you, Mr Speaker, the need to find resources to deepen the source of one of the swamps that provides the water that feeds into Lake Mweru Wantipa during the rainy season. It is not the first time that this project will be undertaken. In the 1930’s, many studies were done. At that time, there were many locusts that were breeding in the area. In an attempt to stop that, the colonial masters opened up the Mofwe Swamps and water flooded the area. As a result, we were left with the lake within the district. If the project of deepening the source of a swamp is implemented, it will bring relief to the people of Kaputa because water will be brought back into the lake.

Mr Speaker, Kaputa Constituency is a border town and opening it up would open up trade between the DRC and Zambia. Kaputa would export to the DRC most of the agricultural commodities that it produces such as rice, cassava, maize, groundnuts and palm oil. 
 
Sir, the people of Kaputa Constituency would like the PF Government to set up small value-addition industries to process agricultural commodities into finished products. This is because the distances that I have talked about to get to these industries pose a big challenge. It just makes sense that we move finished products out of Kaputa to the markets.

Mr Speaker, as a representative of the people of Kaputa, I have hope and trust in our PF Government that it will make Kaputa, for once, benefit from the national cake of the Republic of Zambia. I believe that the people of Kaputa will give our President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, a chance to turn things around.

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

Mr Ng’onga: We look forward to a future in which Kaputa will have skills and farmer’s training centres that we do not have at the moment and, hopefully, an agricultural research centre that will serve not only the district, but also the surrounding areas.

Mr Speaker, as I represent the people of Kaputa, in the short-term, I will encourage them to embrace and accept agriculture as a sustainable alternative to fishing.

As an agronomist, I will ensure that modern and improved methods of agriculture are passed on to our farmers and that new and improved varieties of seed materials and pest and disease control methods are also taught to our farmers. I, certainly, look forward to a time when Kaputa will be transformed into an agricultural production hub so that it can contribute to the national economy and also to sustaining the livelihood of our people.

Mr Speaker, allow me to now comment on some pertinent issues that arose from the speech on the Official Opening of the First Session of the Eleventh National Assembly by His Excellency, the President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata on 14th October, 2011.

Mr Speaker, I put Zambia first in everything as it is the bigger picture. I totally agree with the President that both the campaign and election times are to be put behind us. We must move forward and focus on developing our country, Zambia. The people of Kaputa will support His Excellency, the President, in ensuring that the bigger picture about Zambia is realised. It does not matter where you live, we are all entitled to better lives.

Mr Speaker, allow me to comment on one of the issues that the President mentioned in his speech on the elections, the electoral conduct and malpractices.

The people of Kaputa, like all other Zambians, have the right to vote for the candidate of their choice and according to the promises and development agenda presented to them by their party. The integrity of the people should be respected at all times by the participating parties. However, what we saw in the previous Government, during elections, is a sad story. The people of Kaputa and, probably, in many other rural places were reduced to beggars so that they could be paid by a given political party to vote for the people of its choice. This payment came in forms of chitenges, labeled sweets, soap, sugar and, in some places, small amounts of money such as  K2,000, K3,000 and K5,000. This is tantamount to cheating. I am sure that the PF Government will address this behaviour of tulyemo or pay us before you receive the vote. This came about because of the non-performance of previous hon. Members of Parliament. Therefore, people thought that they should take advantage of the campaign period to demand all sorts of gifts before they elect people to Parliament. This practice, which was at the core of the campaign programme of the past Government, must stop. Hon. Members should be discouraged from using large sums of money in their campaigns as this is tantamount to corruption, cheating and reducing people to beggars. The people’s judgement has sometimes been compromised in some places because those they may otherwise have voted for did not have the resources to match those that were provided by the people in power then.

Mr Speaker, the drive spearheaded by our President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, on fighting corruption and its offshoots should be supported by all patriotic Zambians, including those who may have been questioned in the past. This is an issue that all of us, as hon. Members of the House, must support to the fullest. The resources that are entrusted in our care should be utilised diligently so that development can be seen and touched by our people, who are our electorates. Corruption does not pay, but destroys and erodes our integrity. None of us would like to be appearing in courts for corrupt practices long after we leave Parliament. The PF Government will not have sacrificial lambs as we have heard from the pronouncements by our President.

Mr Speaker, creating sustainable, good quality jobs and employment opportunities for our young people, whether they come from formal or informal educational backgrounds, is one of the greatest challenges we face today as a people. The PF Government has indicated its commitment to tackling this issue by using all available means, including skills training, self-employment opportunities, opening up facilities and facilitating the mining industries, value addition in processing of small agricultural industries or even medium agricultural industries and many more.

Mr Speaker, it is our challenge, as hon. Members of the House, to take an active part in discussing and finding solutions to these employment problems. If we can put to use the energies that are available now among the youth population in this country, Zambia will be a better country in years to come.

In conclusion, I would like to add my voice to the many that have fully supported the speech by His Excellency, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, and label it as concise.

Once again, we are able to clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel and the future of mother Zambia well-spelt out.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Ng’onga: Long live His Excellency. Show the young ones how resources should be managed for the prosperity of mother Zambia.

I thank you, Sir.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Katambo (Masaiti): Mr Speaker, I stand here humbly, but with the strength and grace that God gave me after the just-ended elections.

Hon. Government Members: Petition!

Mr Katambo: Even if the petition comes, I will win a hundred times over.

MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Katambo: Mr Speaker, I would like to congratulate His Excellency, the President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, on his victory in the just-ended tripartite elections. Now that the people of Zambia have spoken by overwhelmingly voting to give the PF the mandate to govern this great nation, using the Ten Commandments, there are rules that must apply. The golden rule in farming, since I am a prominent farmer in my constituency, is “sowing and reaping” or “action and reaction” as described in Newton’s Law of Motion. In the Bible, the Lord describes it as the Golden Rule: “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” His Excellency, the President, says on page 3 of his Speech to this honourable House that:

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

I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to head this honourable House. Please, treat us equally. My congratulations also go to the hon. Deputy Speaker, the Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House and all hon. Members of Parliament. I would like to thank God, the Almighty, my wife, Grace, my family, my party, the MMD, for the endorsement of my candidature, and the beloved electorate in my constituency, Masaiti, for the massive votes they cast for me to emerge winner, beating four other contestants who stood against me.

Mr Mwaliteta: Only? Some of us had eleven.

Mr Katambo: Even if I had stood against ten contestants, I would have emerged winner.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Katambo: I know it is a privilege that I should not take for granted. I will speak for the people of Masaiti and represent them effectively without fear. I really thank them whole-heartedly. I would also like to thank Mr Rupia Bwezani Banda for a smooth handover of power.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Katambo: Mr Speaker, I have combined my Maiden Speech with the contribution to the President’s Speech for the official opening of the First Session of the Eleventh National Assembly.

Mr Speaker, there are many challenges the people of Masaiti Constituency face and they are expectant on a number of issues, especially, the deliverance of programmes by the PF Government within ninety days.

The creation of the new Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs is also excellent for us in rural constituencies. I thank the President because our chiefs will be part of the local governance system. This will really promote decentralisation and active involvement of the traditional leaders in the governance of the country as a whole. Like His Excellency, the President, outlined in his official speech, below the district council level are wards, village councils, district chief councils and provincial chief councils.

Mr Speaker, the PF Government should care for all the 13 million Zambians. There are major projects in Zambia such as the construction of schools, hospitals and clinics, Masaiti High School and a district hospital which is going to be the first ever. Tourism is also performing well with  new lodges and hotels being constructed. Speed humps need to be erected at Masangano, Mishikishi and Nyenyezi markets. Many lives have been lost due to the over-speeding of motor vehicles, as these areas are on the Ndola-Kapiri Mposhi Highway. I urge this Government to deal with this issue as quickly as possible though these areas are in Chibombo and Chisamba constituencies. Death is not good. Safety is not a game of chance. Therefore, the lives of our people should be preserved.

Mr Speaker, the agricultural sector is a major income earner. I beg the PF Government, under the firm leadership of His Excellency, the President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, to continue with the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) by increasing the pack to sixteen, not fifteen, bags as promised in their campaigns. The President, in his Speech on the Official Opening of the First Session of the Eleventh National Assembly, said that farmers will be given eight basal and eight top-dressing bags of fertiliser as well as seed. Once this is done, it will create opportunities for increased production and income-generation for our people, thereby putting more money in their pockets. The construction of satellite depots and crop purchasing should be done earlier as promised in the President’s Speech that the Government would also build more modern storage facilities.

Mr Speaker, on rural water supply and sanitation and the sinking of more boreholes, His Excellency, the President wants rural areas to have some source of regular income in that it will put emphasis on undertaking infrastructure development using labour-intensive techniques, thereby guaranteeing employment opportunities translating into more money in the pockets of our beloved 13 million Zambians.

Mr Speaker, the CDF should be increased to K5 billion ...

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Katambo: ... and be disbursed timely and equally. This will help us implement development projects in our various constituencies. It will also empower the people in the constituencies as it has a big impact on development.

There is also a need to construct a bank and a filling station in my constituency. I also urge the PF Government to urgently construct bridges in Katuba Ward in the Saka area and in Chilulu and Miputu wards across the Kafubu River because the areas are cut off during the rain season and this becomes a problem for school-going children. There is also a need for the construction of teachers’ house and health staff houses. 

Mr Speaker, our feeder roads have not been attended to for some years. However, I am happy to note that His Excellency, the President has directed the Engineering Department of the Zambia Army to deal with the issue of feeder roads. This is a welcome move. The Mansangano-Mokola Road, as the hon. Member for Luanshya Central mentioned earlier, also needs to be redone as it is the main road that connects the eastern side of the constituency to the Boma through Luanshya.

Mr Speaker, the Zambia National Service, which will be turned into the Zambia National Youth Training Service, will really help our youths learn more skills.

Mr Speaker, on girl-child education, traditional leaders should be sensitised on its importance. They should report all cases of abused children to the Victim Support Unit.

Mr Speaker, may the Good Lord bless us all.

Thank you, Sir.

Mr Chabala (Kankoyo): Mr Speaker, first of all, I want to start by thanking you for giving me this opportunity to deliver my Maiden Speech in this House.

Sir, I want to congratulate you, the Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chairperson of the Committees of the Whole House on your deserved election to your respective offices. I also salute and thank the people of Kankoyo. It is my honour and privilege to represent and serve them as their hon. Member of Parliament.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Chabala: Mr Speaker, I also thank the Republican President, His Excellency, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata; my campaign managers, Mr William Nyirenda and Jackson Kalowa, and the entire leadership of the PF for their confidence in my candidature and for directing an issue-based campaign. Allow me to thank my wife, Bupe, and children, Chungu, Malumba and Ndanji, my family and my close friends, whose love and support I have depended on. My victory was by God’s love and enabling grace. I am grateful to the Almighty for the privilege to serve his people in this way.

Mr Speaker, deciding to enter politics did not come naturally to me. Some of my family members and close friends argued against it, but my decision ultimately came down to believing that I can make a real and positive difference. This is something that has motivated me and something I have done elsewhere.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Chabala: Mr Speaker, I agree with President Sata’s economic and development vision, which he outlined in this august House. It is my hope that the PF Government will rebuild this country because of its action-oriented policies that will help improve people’s lives. The people of Kankoyo Constituency have greatly honoured me by electing me as their representative. My time here will be dedicated to representing their interests.

Let me now highlight the four main challenges of Kankoyo Constituency. The first is the poor water and sanitation system. The existing toilets and water reticulation infrastructure in Kankoyo Constituency is undesirable. The second challenge is education. The constituency has schools, but lacks proper infrastructure. Therefore, I implore my working Government to undertake proper renovations so that pupils learn in a conducive environment. The third issue is poor road infrastructure, but I believe that roads should pay for their maintenance given the mining activities in Kankoyo Constituency. I know this working Government will do something to address the poor road network. The fourth issue is the environmental pollution from the mines. This has affected all forms of life, including the lifespan of buildings. Due to this pollution, the people of Kankoyo and surrounding areas cannot grow crops, hence the need to do something to enhance people’s livelihoods.

Mr Speaker, one of the major employers in my area is the Mopani Copper Mines Plc which is responsible for hundreds of jobs. However, the interaction between the mines and the community is a sad one and I have no choice but to blame the previous Government, which gave more power to investors.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Chabala: What we are seeing, this time, is that jobs and other benefits are not being shared equally. It is my sincere belief that the PF Government will look seriously into the matter to create a win-win situation between the people of Zambia and the foreign companies that are exploiting our mineral wealth.

Mr Speaker, together with my colleagues in the PF, it is my intention to make a difference by starting with decent, informed and ethical politics that will improve the lives of many Zambians.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: Ebaume, aba!

Mr Chabala: God bless the Republic of Zambia.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Mr Mucheleka (Lubansenshi): Mr Speaker, as I deliver my Maiden Speech and contribute to debate on the Motion on the Floor, allow me to congratulate His Excellency, the President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, on his election as the fifth President of the Republic of Zambia.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mucheleka: His ascendancy to the highest office in the land is a sign of the tenacity of a great man who believes in the power of the people.

 Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mucheleka: His election was a clear demonstration that, indeed, ultimate power to elect leaders lies with the people.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mucheleka: Sir, I also wish to congratulate you on your well deserved election to the position of Speaker. We, the hon. Members of Parliament, made the right choice over your election.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mucheleka: I am personally proud of you and confident that, indeed, you will provide the required leadership to this august House. In the same vein, I congratulate the Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chairperson of the Committees of the Whole House on their election to their respective positions.

I also congratulate all the elected and nominated hon. Members of Parliament. We all deserve and are honoured to be part of this august House, not withstanding our political affiliation.  The electorate has bestowed on us their confidence and trust as its duty bearers. We, therefore, need to be patriotic Zambians who are ready to serve mother Zambia through our positive, constructive and progressive contributions to this august House.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mucheleka: This challenge is even more critical for those of us in the Opposition, particularly, for me as an Independent Member of Parliament. I, therefore, wish to submit that, as the Opposition, we should offer constructive checks and balances to the Executive ...

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mucheleka: … to enable it formulate laws and implement policies and programmes that best meet the aspirations of Zambians.

To my fellow Zambians, I commend you on the peaceful conduct before, during and after the elections.

To the former President, Mr Rupiah Bwezani Banda and the MMD, your mark of respect for accepting the verdict of Zambians and handing over power to the PF administration is applauded.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mucheleka: My deep gratitude goes to my wife, Juliet Chisembe Kawesha Mucheleka, who understood how demanding the task was and encouraged me to remain optimistic and focused on achieving whatever I set my mind to. My dear Chisembe has really been a true partner at every step of the way. I also thank our children, Mwaba, Muma, Katabwa and Malama, for taking a lively interest in my career that kept me away from home for long periods. Their interest nurtured my career. However, my being away from home was not particularly new to them as they came into my life when I had already started my career of connecting and working with the people at the grassroots, including the marginalised, women, small-holder farmers and the youth in our society.

To my parents, my late father, Mr Alexander Muma Mucheleka and my mother, Mrs Dorothy Mwaba Mucheleka, I stand here as a grateful son. I honour you for having sown the seed of service and providing selfless leadership in me. The Gospel of St Luke in the Bible at Chapter 8 verse 8 reads:

 “And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold.”

My late father taught me how to work with and respect people from all walks of life. Growing up, I observed my father’s work ethics, particularly when he served as District Governor for Luwingu in the UNIP era. Through my mother, I have come to connect with the wider extended family that has cultivated in me the value of relationships.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mucheleka: To the people of Lubansenshi Constituency, I am humbled by your vote that has enabled me to stand in this Chamber as an Independent hon. Member of Parliament. Your vote, in the whole of Northern Province, was, indeed, unique as I am unique with my own unique attributes. You, the people of Lubansenshi Constituency, clearly demonstrated that power truly rests in the people and that I was your choice of voice for the development that will take our constituency to greater heights.

I send a special ‘thank you’ to my colleagues in the civil society, both locally and abroad, for their support and friendship that took different forms. I also thank my relatives and friends, too numerous to mention by name, for the encouragement and trust in me that I can score my goals.

Mr Speaker, I acknowledge various efforts by my predecessors and, in particular, my immediate past predecessor, Mr Lazarus Chota. I intend to continue to serve the people of Lubansenshi from where he left.

Hon. UPND Member: You did him “don’t kubeba”.

Mr Mucheleka: Mr Speaker, Luwingu District, under which my constituency falls, was established in 1906 by the Colonial Administration. The district is, therefore, one of the oldest in Zambia. Sadly, it is classified as one of the poorest in Northern Province. Despite this classification, the Central Statistical Office, in its 2010 Preliminary Report, has revealed that only Luwingu and Nakonde districts had the highest population growth of 5.2 per cent per annum between 2000 and 2010. This demographic trend by far surpasses the national average growth of 2.8 percent. This is a cause for concern and the Government is called upon to pay attention to this phenomenon. More settlers have found a haven of peace in Lubansenshi Constituency. The plausible explanation to the dramatic increase in the population size could be that Lubansenshi has provided sanctuary for people from various parts of the country.

Mr Speaker, Lubansenshi, like many other rural constituencies, has not been spared the pangs of poverty. Poor service delivery by both the Central Government and local authorities under the MMD Government resulted in very high poverty levels. With specific reference to Lubansenshi Constituency, the high poverty levels are partly due to challenges such as:

(i) poor and inadequate health facilities in the whole constituency;

(ii) lack of agriculture storage facilities;

(iii) lack of access to sources of energy;

(iv) poor and inadequate feeder roads and bridges;

(v) insufficient educational facilities;

(vi) inadequate financial services; and

(vii) low capacity by service providers, to mention but a few.

Mr Speaker, to resolve the above challenges, there is a need to pay attention to the 2012 District Investment Plan, which has prioritised some sectors and projects that need to be funded in order to enhance service delivery and improve the livelihoods of the people in the reral areas of Lubansenshi Constituency.

Mr Speaker, as regards feeder roads and agriculture, the Chepeshi-Munongowa Road is the most important feeder road in the constituency. This road needs to be prioritised and worked on to provide a lifeline for the majority of farmers, traders and other service providers and travellers. The road has often appeared in Government Yellow Books over the years, yet no work has ever been done on it.

By the same token, it took the MMD Government over ten years, from 2000 to 2011, to construct the Kasama-Luwingu Road. I fail to understand how a contractor can be allowed to remain on site for ten years to construct a road that is only 150 km long.

Hon. Government Members: Shame!

Mr Mucheleka: In addition, the Mumana-Lupando-Chasesha Road which connects Luwingu, Kasama and Chilubi districts requires urgent attention. Like many other rural and farming constituencies, the major economic activity for the majority of the people is agriculture and its related activities. The people are, however, deprived of sufficient access to farming inputs and storage facilities. The situation is further compounded by poor feeder roads and the absence of bridges.

Mr Speaker, the constituency is already on the verge of having its maize crop going to waste due to a lack of storage facilities. In the case of Isangano and Lwata wards, the crop may go to waste not only because of a lack of storage facilities, but also that the areas are inaccessible due to the absence of bridges. This situation calls for an emergency response from the Government, hopefully, through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) under the Vice-President’s Office.

Sir, the District Investment Plan recommends the construction of a new district hospital. We hope this can be given serious attention. However, under the current structure, we require X-ray equipment. The hospital has operated for some time without X-ray equipment.

Mr Speaker, there is also a need for the Government and our partners to consider funding the District Investment Plan, especially under Lubansenshi. This should be done to help improve the livelihood of the people and reduce poverty in Lubansenshi.

Sir, allow me now to make reference to the President’s Speech. The President touched on a number of important issues on how the PF Government intends to govern and provide stewardship to the country. The speech was certainly inspiring in many areas. I was, particularly, impressed with page 3, Paragraph 3, which reads:

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

Mr Speaker, in order for the Government to improve the livelihoods of the people of Zambia, the President on Page 11, Paragraph 3, listed the core programmes. These include:

“Education development, health services, agriculture development, local government and housing.”

Sir, the President further stated that the four core programmes will be supported by equally important pillars of development. These are: infrastructure development; social protection; youth empowerment; commerce, trade and industry; the manufacturing sector; energy development; tourism; and, most importantly, governance and administration of the State.

Sir, the focus of the President’s Speech was, indeed, pro-poor. If this is implemented with political will, it will be reverse the negative trends that we experienced under the MMD Government.

Mr Speaker, may I make specific comments and suggestions in some sectors addressed in the President’s Speech.

Sir, I wish to concur with the President’s statement on page 7 that:

“The classification of Zambia as a middle-income country for the country’s economic performance is meaningless if it has only a limited impact on poverty reduction amongst our people.”

Mr Speaker, I acknowledge the favourable economic aggregates scored by the previous administration such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of over 6 per cent per annum, and a single digit inflation of 7.9 per cent, as at December, 2010. This growth was mainly driven by the agricultural, transport, communication, construction and mining sectors. However, while the MMD Government boasted about the economic growth aggregate indicators, poverty and inequality continued to be pervasive. According to the statistics of 2008 by the Central Statistical Office (CSO), the overall poverty percentage stood at over 64 per cent of the total population in Zambia. Rural poverty was at 77 per cent, worse than that of the urban areas.

Sir, at the same time, the 2010 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Report indicated that Zambia was number 150 out of 169 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI), in terms of inequality. Using the Gini-Coefficient, Zambia’s inequality stood at 0.270.

Mr Speaker, in the Low Human Development Category, Zambia stood at number twenty-three out of forty-two countries. This is very sad, indeed, and shows that there was no positive correlation between economic growth and poverty reduction. This was as a result of poor redistribution policies by the MMD Government. We hope that this will be reversed by the PF Government.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mucheleka: Mr Speaker, I also wish to commend the President’s focus on ensuring that attention is paid to the agricultural sector. However, under this sector, attention by the MMD Government was paid to a single crop, maize.

Sir, I wish to submit that there are other important programmes in the agricultural sector that require attention. There is a need to pay attention to programmes such as irrigation infrastructure development, construction and improvement of storage facilities, market access, livestock and fisheries development, research and extension services, strengthening the capacity of small-holder farmers through agricultural co-operatives and other farmer organisations. This also includes the increased production of the small-holder.

Mr Speaker, to be able to fund these ambitious programmes, there is a need for it to achieve its goals as contained in the President’s Speech. However, this will require sufficient resource mobilisation. Mining still remains the key sector that has to be targeted in terms of resource mobilisation. In the case where we require external mobilisation, we should only borrow for the right reasons. In line with the 2005 Paris Declaration, we should ensure that external aid leads to effective development.

Sir, there is also a need to pay serious attention to one of the issues that the President mentioned, the energy sector. This will help us create rural growth centres or clusters of growth that will be connected to the National Grid. Once that is done, we may see growth emerging in the rural areas. Most importantly, in the agricultural sector and other equally important programmes, there is a need to promote the agro-value of chains. This is to enable the transfer of terms of trade from the urban to the rural economy. This will also ensure that small-holder farmers get a fair deal for their produce. Most importantly, I wish to state that there is a need for the PF Government to create a good working relationship with civil society organisations (CSOs). The CSOs were unpopular to the MMD, and were treated as enemies.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mucheleka: I wish to advise that, now, we have …

Interruptions

Mr Mucheleka: Mr Speaker, for example, the Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR), Transparency International Zambia (TIZ), Caritas Zambia, and Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR), Non-Governmental Organisations Co-ordinating Committee (NGOCC) and many other progressive CSOs have demonstrated capacity over the years, to contribute to national development. That has to be acknowledged. I hope the PF Government can create a good working relationship with the CSOs.

Mr Speaker, in conclusion, I wish to dispel the notion that was given on the Floor by one of the hon. Members of Parliament that the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP) is an MMD document. That is not an MMD document, but a document for all Zambians.

Hon. MMD Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mucheleka: I hope that the PF Government will look at the SNDP, harmonise it with other international conventions and the policy statement by the President, and use it as an instrument to bring about sustainable development.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Mr M. Mumba (Mambilima): Sir, allow me to congratulate you on your deserved election as Speaker of this august House. I also extend my congratulations to the Deputy Speaker, the Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House, and new and old hon. Members of Parliament on their election to this House. I also congratulate His Excellency, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, on being elected the fifth President of the Republic of Zambia.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr M. Mumba: Sir, I stand here as the people’s representative for Mambilima Constituency in Mwense District of Luapula Province. I would be failing in my duties if I did not extend my profound gratitude to individuals and organisations that unflinchingly supported me during the entire election process that led to my victory.

These are Tamara Munthali Mumba, my ever supportive wife, all my children for enduring the absence of one of their parents during the campaign period, all PF party members at ward, constituency, district, provincial and national levels for settling on me the only candidate capable of defeating Mr John Chinyanta of the MMD.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr M. Mumba: Sir, this constituency was under the grip of the MMD for twenty years. Therefore, I think I did a good job.

Sir, I thank the former and current top management teams at Indeni Petroleum Refinery in Ndola, where I served at management level for twenty years, for extensively exposing me at both local and international levels, thereby, opening my eyes to other opportunities in which I can serve humanity. I also thank all the electorates in Mambilima Constituency for entrusting me with their only source of power, the vote they gave me.

Mr Speaker, allow me to dwell on some of the pertinent issues affecting the people of Mambilima as contained in the Maiden Speech by His Excellency, the President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, to the First Session of the Eleventh National Assembly.

Mr Speaker, Mwense District is served by Mambilima Mission Hospital, which caters for three constituencies, namely, Chipili, Mwense and Mambilima. Immediately the MMD Government took over the running of this hospital, some time back, conditions started to deteriorate. The hospital lacks essential drugs, medical equipment, linen, and is understaffed and highly congested. In this regard, I urge the people’s Government, the PF, to quickly complete the construction of Mwense District Hospital, which is in Phase 1 of the construction stage. This will help decongest the only hospital in this district. I also appeal to this caring Government to provide the hospital with life-saving drugs in a systematic way, send more trained medical staff as the current workforce is overstretched, and improve accommodation for members of staff.

Mr Speaker, the three rural health centres in my constituency, namely, Kashiba, Chibombo and Katuta, face similar challenges as those highlighted above. At Katuta Rural Health Centre, our mothers and sisters are made to share one room with male patients when in labour. This is, indeed, a very sad situation after forty-seven years of Independence. There is, therefore, an urgent need to expand this health centre so that our mothers and sisters can have some privacy when they are in labour. There is also an urgent need for an ambulance to be provided to this centre for ferrying emergency cases to either Mambilima Mission or Mansa General hospitals.

Mr Speaker, the Katuta Kampemba Chiefdom is some 25 km away from the main road and the nearest police post is some 60 km away in Mwense. There is, therefore, a need for the establishment of a police post. In its absence the people are compelled to take the law into their own hands. For my colleagues who do not know Mambilima Constituency very well, it starts from Musonda Falls up to Mwense and it also shares the same border with Chipili Constituency where Hon. Davis Mwila is.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr M. Mumba: Mr Speaker, many accidents have occurred on the Mansa-Kashikishi Road. This road requires urgent resurfacing in order to serve lives as it is full of potholes. The main side road, which is Mwenda-Kashiba, is in a deplorable state and needs urgent attention. Similarly, feeder roads need to be worked on for easy transportation of goods and services within the constituency as earlier mentioned by other hon. Members of Parliament.

Mr Speaker, there are many small-scale farmers who are into maize and cassava production, but storage shades are non-existent. There is a need, therefore, for the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to establish satellite depots in the area. I am also proposing a feasibility study on the use of water from the canal in Mambilima, which was dug some time back by the UNIP Government, for the purposes of possible commercial irrigation of rice pads or sugar plantations in the vast plains along Luapula River. This will consequently create employment for the many unemployed youths.

Mr Speaker, Mambilima Constituency has no secondary school. The nearest is in Mwense Constituency and is highly congested, forcing most pupils to rent thatched houses in nearby villages, thereby making education a nightmare. A secondary boarding school should, therefore, be considered be constructed in Chief Mulundu’s area by the Ministry of Education, Science and Vocational Training. Staffing levels, teaching aids and accommodation for members of staff at all primary schools leave much to be desired. This should be addressed in order to have motivated members of staff.

Mr Speaker, complaints regarding this sector have been there a long time. For Luapula, there will not be any meaningful development as long as there is inadequate power supply. No meaningful development can take place in any area without adequate provision of electricity. The Ministry of Lands, Energy and Water Development should, therefore, look at the fastest way to provide enough energy in the form of electricity to the people of Luapula. Once this is done, it will bring about creation of various industries in the area and, hence, the much-needed employment for our youths.

Sir, the supply of piped treated water in Mambilima Constituency is another challenge. There is an urgent need to evaluate the existing infrastructure in Chief Mulundu’s and Chief Kashiba’s areas. The UNIP Government left piped water in these two areas. However, this is non-existent in Chief Kashiba’s area and the supply in Chief Mulundu’s area has been erratic for about twenty years. This is forcing people to draw untreated water directly from the Luapula River for domestic use, putting themselves at risk of contracting water borne-diseases such as cholera and dysentery. There is also a need to improve the sanitation by constructing decent pit latrines such as the ones provided by WaterAid.

Mr Speaker, my final appeal goes to the Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication. There is a pontoon that was taken from Chembe to Kashiba Border Post. Rehabilitation works on it have been on-going for some time. I, therefore, appeal to the hon. Minister to look into this issue so that these works are concluded in good time. There are many trucks that come from Tanzania. Therefore, there will be a lot of revenue collected by Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) once this pontoon is operational. There will also be some job creation.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr M. Mumba: Sir, I urge the hon. Minister to ensure that something is done so that the pontoon is worked on as soon as possible. I will remain the people of Mambilima’s voice in the House.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Mwali (Chifunabuli): Mr Speaker, I am pleased to be given this opportunity to deliver my Maiden Speech. This is a very rare and much-sought out opportunity. It is, therefore, with a great sense of pride that I join my fellow hon. Members of Parliament in congratulating His Excellency, the President, on a deserved victory. I also, congratulate you, Sir, on your election as Speaker. I, equally, congratulate the Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House. Sir, there are many opportunities…

Mr Speaker: Order!

Business was suspended from 1815 hours until 1830 hours.

[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

Dr Mwali: Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Mr Speaker, there are many challenges facing Zambia to whose resolution this House is expected to contribute. The burden of this responsibility will rest on your shoulders and stop there. I have not doubt that you will leave a mark on the history of this House. The best we can do is to assure you that we will always be there to fully support you.

Mr Speaker, I extend my congratulations to all Members of this Eleventh National Assembly. It feels great to be part of this Assembly, which radiates excellence and warmth. No wonder hon. Members keep wanting to come back term after term.

Laughter

Dr Mwali: I am very grateful to His Excellency, President Michael Chilufya Sata, the Secretary-General of the Party, Mr Wynter Kabimba and the entire Central Committee for adopting me to contest the Chifunabuli Constituency.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Mwali: I also thank Hon. Sakeni, the Minister of Home Affairs, for not applying to stand in Chifunabuli.

Laughter

Dr Mwali: Had he done otherwise, maybe, I would not have had the opportunity to be here.

Laughter

Dr Mwali: I also thank my colleagues who were not adopted for accepting the party’s choice and for their support during the campaign.

Mr Speaker, without the resolve of the electorate to elect me, victory would have been an elusive mirage. I, therefore, wholeheartedly thank them for electing me.

Mr Speaker, there are many unsung heroes and heroines who made the campaign the success it was. I am grateful to the PF party officials in the constituency for their commitment to, and faith in, the PF.

Mr Speaker, I would be failing in my duties if I did not show appreciation to a special group of individuals close to my heart namely: Musenge, Dr. Mbwili-Muleya, Chomba, Bwalya, Lee, Katwamba, Kalaba, Mongo, Chiinga, Kunda, my daughters, Mwewa and Maureen, who generously supported me both financially and materially during the campaign. I salute them all for their faith in me and the PF. I also thank my friends in St. Vincent De Paul Lay Organisation of Lubwe and Kasaba parishes and the Lusaka Arch Diocesan Council for Catholic Men for their spiritual support. 

Mr Speaker, allow me to commend those who served Chifunabuli Constituency and Zambia diligently before me. Special mention goes to the late Anthony Ndalama for introducing me to politics.

Mr Speaker, I now turn to the substantive part of my speech. To this effect, I have borrowed the words used by that great United States of America statesman Harry S. Truman, who, upon his election, was realistic enough to say and I quote:

“I do not feel elated at the victory; I feel overwhelmed with responsibility.”

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

Dr Mwali: Mr Speaker, I am sure that this theme resonates well with all hon. Members in this House. My constituency was aptly described to me within the grounds of Parliament by two senior Members of the former administration who visited the area immediately before and during the campaign.

Mr Speaker, the former Vice-President was struck by what he referred to as high levels of poverty in Chifunabuli. He was touched by the prevalence of grass-thatched homesteads. The former Minister of Finance and National planning, being the economist and farmer that he is, saw the potential the area has and described it as beautiful. The observation by the MP for Muchinga describes the situation as it is and that of the MP for Liuwa points at the situation that should ideally obtain there. 
 
Mr Speaker, Chifunabuli consists of a main land and two islands. It is predominantly served by lakes Chifunabuli and Bangweulu and several small water bodies, streams and dambos. The main land has two settlement types, one along the lake shore, the other in the hinterland, not served by any of the major water bodies.

Sir, I have drawn lessons from my professional work, in Western, Southern and Central provinces. I do this for two reasons: firstly, to facilitate a better understanding of the constituency and, secondly, to demonstrate that the situation obtaining in my constituency is not at all peculiar. In 2007, we undertook a market survey under the auspices of the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) in the Mitete area of Lukulu West. We used a questionnaire used on similar assignments in several countries, including East Africa, and found that the household categories in the questionnaire, using type of roofing, whether the house has iron, asbestos or grass roofing, walls and floor, whether concreted or not, was not applicable in Mitete. We were informed that nearly all households in the area fell in the last category. The appropriate criteria that we were advised to use was household food security: those households that are food-secure throughout the year; households that had food security for half of the year; and year-round food-insecure households. The survey revealed that most of the population fell under the two last categories.

Mr Speaker, the above results show the severity of poverty in Mitete and similar rural areas in Zambia compared to other countries where the survey had been undertaken. The results apply to my constituency where fish catches and production of cassava, the traditional economic mainstays and staple foods of the population, have declined to alarming levels.

Sir, the decline in the economic fortunes of the area has adversely affected the population’s ability to pay and access the necessities of life.

In the area of education, there is chronic high school drop-out rates at grades seven and nine as some parents have no money to meet education user fees. There is also low enrolment and attendance at lower grades. This is so because parents are forced to take their children along to fishing camps away from their homes in search of areas with better fish catches.

Mr Speaker, the same depressing picture applies to health services where, due to lack of drugs in public health institutions, some people cannot afford to procure prescribed drugs on the open market.  It is possible that some people die from easily curable diseases. Worse still, some people are so poor that they cannot afford to buy simple exercise books in which prescriptions are written and, therefore, shun health institutions and die in their homes.

Sir, let me now come to lessons drawn from my area of expertise as a transport economist and planner, in particular, road-based transport. This is an area where as a country we continue to take one step forward and regress two steps.

Allow me to highlight this issue based on the work we have been doing in Southern Province for the Road Development Agency (RDA) from 2004 to date.

Itezhi-tezhi, Mr Speaker, as the area hon. Member of Parliament informed this House, is an area with abundant resources but with serious access problems.

Despite the existing and huge economic potential in the area, the MMD Administration left the infrastructure in Itezhi-tezhi in dire straits. The Namwala-Itezhi-tezhi Road, which used to be passable for most parts of the year, is no longer passable during the rain season because the embankment has been washed away. At the same time, the bitumen on the Itezhi-tezhi-Mongu-Lusaka Road is completely gone and the road is back to its previous state of gravel, thus attracting potholes during the rain season.

Mr Speaker, this is not peculiar to Itezhi-tezhi, but common in my constituency and many others as well. This is a major source of concern as it permeates most of our infrastructure. It is this lack of maintenance culture that the road sector reforms, started in the late 1990’s, were supposed to address. However, more than thirteen years later, we are still struggling with the same problem. This lack of maintenance is not confined to roads only, but also to other infrastructure, including water transport. As will be confirmed by the hon. Member for Luapula, canals and water channels cleared by the Colonial Government in the Bangweulu Swamps and plied by larger vessels are now almost blocked and can only allow smaller boats.

Mr Speaker, coming to my constituency, if we took out the infrastructure and other related developments put up by the Catholic Church in the pre-Independence days, like the two hospitals at Kasaba and Lubwe and the numerous educational facilities, there would be little to talk about. However, even this infrastructure has seen better days. This is just part of the heavy responsibility that, you will agree with me, is a mountain to climb and, hence, my theme. It is against this background that we need to appraise the President’s Speech. The question of whether the speech was a glass half-full or half empty should not at all depend on where one is coming from.

Mr Speaker, it is common knowledge that, in public affairs, whatever one says or does, and no matter how good it is, there is a tendency for people to punch holes. However, as a country, we have been grappling with development for forty-seven years now. We know where we have succeeded and where we have failed as well as the reasons for the outcomes. I, therefore, find it unhelpful for hon. Members of this august House to mystify matters of national development. Based on my experience in this matter, as a development consultant, I am inclined to take an optimistic view of the intentions contained of the President as outlined in his speech.

Mr Speaker, I applaud the intentions of the President, especially, the improvement of the quality of life for the majority of Zambians. One very important pronouncement in the speech, which has been welcomed by my constituents, is the proposed construction of the Samfya-Luwingu Road. This will greatly improve the efficiency in moving goods and people in and out of the constituency. It will also reduce the cost of doing business and greatly facilitate the mining activities that have sprung up in the area.

Mr Speaker, the people of this area have pledged to forever vote for the PF if this road is given bitumen surface. This is a project for which the people of Chifunabuli are not prepared to wait. By voting for the PF, they were saying that they wanted action then, not the following day. Therefore, there has to be a place for this road in the 2012 Budget.

Mr Speaker, the President’s Speech has addressed most of the key areas in education. I equally find it pleasing that the he sees it fit to improve the health care delivery systems by, among other things, collaborating with other stakeholders.

Mr Speaker, priority should also be given to activities centred on full utilisation of the abundant water resources in this country. There is an urgent need for fish restocking of our water bodies, if possible, within ninety days.

Laughter

Dr Mwali: There is also a need for crop-diversification and extension of the livestock restocking in my constituency. We, therefore, welcome the Government’s intentions on fisheries. My only prayer is that these actions should include a review of the fish ban and its effectiveness. If it is found ineffective in its current form, it should be modified or possibly totally scraped, especially if the costs of administering it outweigh the benefits. The joint management of fisheries should be preceded by fish restocking and involvement of local people in the management of hatcheries. To this effect, fishermen have already formed associations.

Sir, it is logical that livestock restocking and establishing of breeding centres should be extended to Luapula Province. There is a long tradition of cattle rearing in my constituency and it is in recognition of this that the Government constructed an ox-training centre in the area in the early 1970s. The area supplies beef to Samfya and Mansa while some traders come from as far as the DRC. Due to the competitive prices offered by traders from the DRC, the area witnessed unprecedented exports of live animals to that country in 2010. In the utilisation of the abundant water resources, especially the dambos, Chifunabuli has a lot to learn from small-scale farmers elsewhere in Zambia such as those in some parts of Mkushi. I have picked on Mkushi because I had an opportunity to work in that area in 2008. There is an area there endowed with streams and dambos where mostly tomatoes are grown by ordinary Swaka villagers all year round. They produce sufficient quantities of the crop at competitive prices to attract traders from as far as the Copperbelt. What is impressive about these small-scale farmers is the manner in which they have learnt, adopted and adapted tomato farming and management practices from their neighbouring commercial farmers in the Mkushi Farming Block using simple irrigation systems based on shallow wells close to the tomato beds and transporting water in cheap buckets. This is an example of cheap, simple and readily available technology.

Mr Nkombo: Can you support your hon. Member. He is talking sense (pointing at hon. Government Members).

Interruptions

Laughter

Dr Mwali: Facilities exist in my constituency where skills training can be done. There is a need to assist the ox-training and community-run skills training centres to resume, increase and upgrade their courses so as to be responsive to the challenges of creating self-employment opportunities for the youths.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear! Hammer, Doc.!

Dr Mwali: Mr Speaker, in conclusion, it is pertinent to realise that, although we represent areas from different districts and provinces, the underlying problems our people face are similar. Therefore, it is imperative that we work as a united force, in a bipartisan fashion, to deliver on to the heavy responsibility placed on us to take development to the people who need it very much.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Mwali: I further urge my hon. Colleagues on your left to support the progressive reforms that the PF Government will bring to this House.

I thank you very much, Mr Speaker. May God richly bless you and all the hon. Members.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kapyongo (Shiwang’andu): Mr Speaker, first and foremost, I would like to join the previous speakers in this House by congratulating you, the Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chairperson of Committees of the Whole House. I must salute you for bravely accepting to step down from the Bench of the other arm of Government, where your services were still much-needed. You did this knowing very well that we would subject you to a competitive election in this House. You are a brave man.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: I must concur with my colleague, the hon. Member for Mwansabombwe, who said that the Chair left by one gallant son of this nation, Hon. Amusa Mwanamwamba, who was honoured on 24th October, 2011, befits you very well. I have no doubt in my mind that the voting pattern will not derail you from performing your duties impartiality.

Mr Speaker, I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, who has shown us, his followers and the nation at large, that with patience, resilience and perseverance, you can conquer all the obstacles in the journey to success.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: We, young leaders, should learn a lot from that example. I should also thank him most sincerely for his well-articulated and well-delivered speech to this House. Before I thank all hon. Members of the House, Mr Speaker, I would like to start with my fellow Members on this side, …

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear! Ulimwaume, iwe!

Mr Kampyongo: … your right. These gallant sons and daughters of the nation had a tough task. Our commander sent us into the field and the only ammunition we had were the people behind us.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: There were no Father Christmas handouts.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear! And “Don’t kubeba”.

Mr Kampyongo: These gallant sons and daughters of the nation had to find their own resources to defeat the mighty.

Interruptions

Mr Kampyongo: Therefore, to you, gallant men and women, I say congratulations.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, I would like to also congratulate the hon. Members on your left, those who were genuinely elected, …

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear! UPND!

Mr Kampyongo: … especially our former pact partners.

UPND Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, I further want to thank my wife who, despite being a professional and non-partisan civil servant, had a way of helping me, …

Hon. Government Members: Don’t kubeba, mudala.

Mr Kampyongo: … my widowed mother, back in Shiwang’andu Constituency, and also the structures of this great party, PF, for allowing some of us, young men, …

Interruptions

Mr Kampyongo: … who did not want to have an easy ride. This is because it was common knowledge that the best way to come to your right was to join the now-defunct MMD party, but my colleagues and I knew that we could still get to this side of the House on the ticket of the PF …

Hon. Government Member: Ema MP, aya.

Mr Kampyongo: … under the guidance of the mighty commander, His Excellency, the President.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, I represent Shiwang’andu, a rural constituency that lags behind in terms of development. I must pay tribute to Hon. Mulenga, the Member of Parliament for Chinsali, who was, apparently, representing two constituencies alone. We do not know where the …

Hon. Opposition Members: Ah! Where was the rebel?

Laughter

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, as I speak to you, we still have schools and teachers’ houses that are grass-thatched. We also still do not have clinics.

Hon. Government Members: Mobile hospitals.

Mr Kampyongo: The only clinics in the constituency are owned by the Catholics. Without them, I do not know how our people would have been surviving.

Hon. Government Members: Kapembwa Simbao, for twenty years.

Mr Kampyongo: We still do not have a high school in my constituency. As regards roads, it is something that we cannot talk about. We have a road that goes through my constituency that was designed and constructed by UNIP and used to be called the Hell Run, but, when they worked on it, it changed to Great North Road. As I speak to you, this road is a death trap. I can see Hon. Mutati is in this House.

Hon. Government Members: He recently escaped death on the same road.

Mr Kampyongo: This road contributes significantly to the bread  basket of this nation, yet it has been neglected. Lives and people’s property have been lost in great numbers. It is unfortunate that the hon. Member for Mafinga Constituency is not in the House. I do not know how they used to survive going back to their constituencies.

Hon. Government Members: Tabaleya ko!

Mr Kampyongo: That road is in a terrible state. The only development we saw was a little patching of potholes here and there, but the billboard that was there was even more expensive than the shoddy works.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: I wonder how many billboards we could have had of Dr. Kaunda in this nation.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, when we point out these things, it is not out of malice, we do not want our Executive to fall in the same trap.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: That is why we are pointing these issues out now.

Mr Speaker, I wish to know the way forward on the mobile hospitals from the former hon. Minister of Health because His Honour, the Vice-President, had a very good proposal for those hospitals. He proposed that we knock off the tires, build slabs for them so that they can be permanent structures and, through you, Shiwan’gandu should be on top of that list.

Mr Speaker, I do not want to waste too much time because those things are just the same in other rural constituencies.

Sir, let me quickly touch on a few pronouncements the President made in this House. I will start with the hot issue of the Constitution. It is very interesting to hear hon. Members from the other side of the House talking so passionately about it.

Hon. Government Members: As if they care!

Mr Kampyongo: They had an opportunity and, today, we could, probably, have been talking about the Constitution that they would have left, but it is not there. I now understand why they doubt the President when he says that we should be able to deal with this matter in ninety days. The President clearly says that a committee that is going to look at the previous recommendations will be appointed. We can give that committee ninety days. The MMD members are doubtful because they know the route they took. We had the biggest talk-show in this country, not very far from here, …

Hon. Government Members: Mulungushi!

Mr Kampyongo: by the name of National Constitutional Conference (NCC), where so much money was gobbled as supplementary expenditure.

Hon. Government Members: Shame!

Mr Kampyongo: We had many experts coming and masquerading as constitutional experts in that House while collecting large sums of money in allowances.

Hon. Government Members: Mwakakwa!

Mr Kampyongo: When it mattered most, in this House, …

Interruptions

Mr Kampyongo: … of course, our colleagues did not want to be part of what they had started. I do not know whether it was a breakdown of some deal.

Laughter

Mr Kampyongo: Today, we still do not have a constitution.

Hon. Members, you have got time to redeem yourselves in the eyes of the people of Zambia. When this issue comes back to this House, we want to see you because people are still waiting.

Mr Speaker, from that issue, I will go to corruption.

Mr Mutati left the Assembly Chamber.

Hon. Government Members: Uleya kwisa Felix? Ikala! You are a leader of the Opposition. Fyamwikata.

Mr Kampyongo: It is interesting because corruption is a very infamous fight. When we say that corruption is synonymous with the MMD, they think that we are just being malicious. We say so because everything that we have heard about corruption starts and ends with the MMD. It is this party that grabbed its own Former President for the first time in the history of Zambia ...

Hon. PF Members: ... and brought him here and stripped him of his immunity so that he could face corruption charges.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Hon. PF Member: Tell them. Nabalaba.

Interruptions

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, the only unfortunate part is the inconsistency with the way they fought that fight. The way they kept changing goal posts as it suited them for political expediency is really shameful. When it comes to the fight against corruption, we know what our President can do. I like what one of the hon. Members said the other day. We do not need to leave our President alone in the fight against corruption because this fight is dangerous and very infamous. It is only in this country where we have seen a government paying money stolen by individual civil servants back to the donors. They even justified it. We would like to request our colleagues not to complain when we continue from where they left that fight. They just need to support us. Those who are innocent do not need to worry about our fight against corruption.

Hon. PF Members: Her, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: The courts of law are there to exonerate anyone who has not done anything wrong.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, I have been disappointed by some of the debates that I have listened to in this House regarding the Constitution. There are some hon. Members of this House who I envy so much from the other side because of how articulate they are. They talk so convincingly that they can easily mislead you.

Laughter

Mr Kampyongo: I wish the hon. Members for Kalomo Central and Mazabuka Central were in the House. They have accused our Government of having stolen some Members from the other side of the House. I am sure that we all know that we only have one Constitution in this country. The President has various provisions in the Constitution that he uses to do his job. He rightly used some of those provisions to appoint some of our colleagues from the other side of the House as hon. Deputy Ministers.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: Our colleagues from the left accepted their constitutional appointments because they want to serve the people of Zambia. We, hon. Members who occupy the Back Bench, are very comfortable with them because they have progressive minds.

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: I would like to appeal to the senior hon. Members of this House not to continue misleading the nation because we now know what they want to say even before they say it.

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, before I conclude, I would like to talk about the issue of infrastructure development. I know that we need this to be accelerated. However, before we can embark on that, I concur with the sentiments expressed by Hon. Mooya that we need to re-look at the portfolio functions of some of our ministries and departments. All these ministries, such as the Ministries of Health and Education, Science and Vocational Training, that have taken on responsibilities that are supposed to be discharged by the Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication, must be looked at. This ministry is known to be the only one that is the custodian of all Government infrastructure. Therefore, it is the one that is supposed to handle all issues of infrastructure development. We want the Ministry of Education, Science and Vocational Training to concentrate on issues of education and the Ministry of Health to continue with issues of health.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kampyongo: Let all those people who have been attached to those ministries …

Mr Ntundu: What are you saying?

Mr Kampyongo: Wait a minute, hon. Member.

Hon. Government Member: Go ahead!

Mr Kampyongo: What I am saying is simply that all those technical people who have been attached to these ministries should be taken back to the Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication so that it becomes the only ministry to deal with infrastructure development.

Mr Ntundu: Hear, hear!

Mr Hamududu: The CDF also!

Mr Kampyongo: Well the CDF is …

Mr Speaker: Address the Chair, please.

Mr Kampyongo: I thank you, Mr Speaker.

In conclusion, when the Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication is given all these duties, the issue of the CDF will be a thing of the past as it will just be complementary. This is because we will have ministries that will be discharging particular functions. The Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication will look after schools while the Ministry of Health will look after the hospitals. The issue of the CDF will just be for mitigation purposes.

Hon. Opposition Members: Aah!

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, with these few remarks, I thank you.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

ADJOURNMENT

The Minister of Home Affairs and Acting Leader of Government Business in the House (Mr Sakeni): Mr Speaker, I beg to move that the House do now adjourn.

Question put and agreed to.

________

The house adjourned at 1907 hours until 1430 hours on Thursday, 27th October, 2011.