DAILY PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES FOR THE THIRD SESSION OF THE ELEVENTH ASSEMBLY

Wednesday 4th December, 2013

The House met at 1430 hours

[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

NATIONAL ANTHEM

PRAYER
________ 

    QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER

    FARMERS’ TRAINING CENTRE IN NAKONDE DISTRICT
    
207. Mr Sichula (Nakonde) asked the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock when the Government would construct a farmer’s training centre in Nakonde District.

The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock (Mr Monde): Mr Speaker, in the Mid-term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), and specifically the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP), the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock has planned to construct three farmers’ training centres in 2015. One of these centres will be constructed in Nakonde District.
I thank you, Sir.

Mr Muntanga (Kalomo Central): Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister has mentioned that his ministry will construct three farmers’ training centres. However, he has only mentioned where one will be constructed, and that is in Nakonde. Therefore, where will the other two be constructed?

The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock (Mr Kazabu): Mr Speaker, the other two are yet to be allocated. We have, so far, allocated one to Nakonde because that is where there was the most pressing need.

I thank you, Sir.    

Mr Mbewe (Chadiza): Mr Speaker, the building of farmers’ training centres is a very good move, but is the ministry also considering building farmers’ institutes?

Mr Kazabu: Mr Speaker, yes the ministry is considering building farmers’ institutes. In fact, let me explain the difference between a farmers’ training centre and a farmers’ training institute, for those who may not know. A farmers’ training centre is for purposes of training our farmers whereas farmers’ training institute is designed to train extension officers. 

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Chipungu (Rufunsa): Mr Speaker, in case the hon. Member does not have anywhere to build the two farmers’ training centres, he should, please, bring one to Rufunsa.

Mr Speaker, I would like to find out from the hon. Minister whether there are any plans to construct these centres in other districts, especially the newly-created ones?

Mr Kazabu: Mr Speaker, there are plans to construct centres in other districts. In fact, I have a detailed summary here, but I cannot go into the details because I would consume most of the time that is available. Therefore, the short answer is yes, Sir, we are taking on board every district in our country.

I thank you, Sir. 
    
NKEYAMA DISTRICT CONNECTION TO THE NATIONAL ELECTRICITY GRID

208. Mr Antonio (Kaoma Central) asked the Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development when the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) would connect Nkeyama District to the national electricity grid.

The Deputy Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development (Mr Musukwa): Mr Speaker, Nkeyama District will be connected to the national electricity grid by the first quarter of 2014. 

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Antonio: Mr Speaker, is the hon. Minister aware that the distance between Kaoma, where electricity is being tapped, to Nkeyema is only 68 km and that it has taken over three years to complete this project?

Mr Musukwa: Mr Speaker, we are aware that the distance is 68 km. However, it has taken this long due to the magnitude of the work that is being undertaken. You will be interested to note that the Government has actually fast-tracked this project to ensure that this area is electrified, especially after being declared a district. The other reason is the progress in the works going on at the Tobacco Board of Zambia in that region.

I thank you, Sir.

________

MOTION

DEATH OF DR PATRICK MWEWA ANTHONY CHIKUSU, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR KATUBA CONSTITUENCY AND DEPUTY MINISTER OF HEALTH

The Vice-President (Dr Scott): Mr Speaker, I beg to move that the House do place on record its deepest regret at the sudden death of Hon. Dr Patrick Mwewa Anthony Chikusu, Member of Parliament for Katuba Parliamentary Constituency and Deputy Minister of Health, together with its appreciation of his distinguished and patriotic service to his country and the people of Zambia and that the deepest sympathies and condolences of the National Assembly of Zambia be conveyed to his family.

Mr Speaker, in moving this Motion, I wish to put on record our regrets and anguish over the sudden death of Hon. Dr Patrick Chikusu, Member of Parliament for Katuba Parliamentary Constituency as well as Deputy Minister of Health who passed away at Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa on Monday, 2nd December, 2013, following a short illness.

Sir, allow me to use this very sad moment to say a few words about our late beloved colleague whose demise is a terrible loss not only to the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD), but also to the Government and the people of Zambia. The late Hon. Dr Chikusu was born on 12th January, 195, in Chibombo District, Central Province. He studied at the University of Ife in Nigeria from 1971 to 1974 where he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy. Thereafter, the late Hon. Dr Chikusu, MP, proceeded to Leeds University in the United Kingdom where he obtained a Master of Science Degree in Pharmacy. He was there from 1978 to 1979. 

The late hon. Member believed in furthering his education and between 1979 and 1983, he embarked on a Doctor of Philosophy (PHD) Programme at the Strathclyde University, Glasgow, United Kingdom, and in 1983, he was conferred with a PHD in medicine.

Mr Speaker, in terms of employment history, the late Hon. Dr Patrick Mwewa Anthony Chikusu first rendered his services to the Republic of Zambia as a Pharmacist in Charge at the Ministry of Health from 1974 to 1975. Between 1975 and 1978, he worked as General Manager at General Pharmaceuticals Limited before he was appointed Managing Director for Medical Stores Limited from 1983 to 1993. From 1993 to 1997, the late Hon. Dr Chikusu, MP, worked as the Director of Pharmaceutical Services at the Ministry of Health Headquarters. In addition, he worked as a lecturer in human biology at the University of Zambia (UNZA).

Mr Speaker, as regards his political and Parliamentary career, the late hon. Member joined politics as a member of the MMD in 2001 and, in the same year, was elected hon. Member of Parliament for Katuba Parliamentary Constituency on the MMD ticket and, thereafter, appointed hon. Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Health, a portfolio he held until his death. During his brief, but distinguished political career, Hon. Dr Chikusu, MP, contributed to the development of Parliamentary democracy in contributions during debates in the House and also as a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in the UK. He was also a member of other associations in the medical fraternity such as the Pharmaceutical Society of Zambia, the Medical Council of Zambia, the Association for Research in Science and Medicine and the Endocrine Society of the UK. 

Mr Speaker, the late Hon. Dr Chikusu, MP, was evacuated from the Coptic Hospital in Lusaka to Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Monday, the 2nd of December, 2013, and he died at 2200 hours on the same day. His death is a loss not only to his family, relatives and friends, but also the entire nation.

Mr Speaker, arrangements to bring home the body of the late hon. Member of Parliament for Katuba are underway and the House will be apprised accordingly, in due course. The House will be represented, at his burial, by ten hon. Members of Parliament and two members of staff. The late Hon. Dr. Chikusu, MP, is survived by a wife and three children. 

Mr Speaker, I have a note from one of my colleagues pointing out that the 2001, in this speech is a misprint, and it should be 2011. 

Mr Speaker, with that correction, may I say, may his soul rest in peace.

I beg to move.

Prof. Lungwangwa (Nalikwanda): Mr Speaker, it is with extreme grief that we are, this afternoon, remembering our colleague, Hon. Dr Patrick Mwewa Chikusu.

Mr Speaker, moments like this are extremely heartbreaking and there are very few words to express our grief. Hon. Dr Chikusu was known to me, personally, as a colleague. We worked together at UNZA for many years in different capacities as Heads of Departments, researchers, and members of the senate and we served on various committees of the university. When his passing on came to my attention, I was extremely devastated because it was unexpected.

Mr Speaker, knowing the late colleague as I do, I would like to mention a few of his accomplishments in line with what His Honour the Vice-President has summarised. Hon. Dr Chikusu was an accomplished academic of international repute and his contribution in the field of research, in particular, in his area of specialisation, namely pharmacy, is internationally recognised. 

Mr Speaker, sometime around 2004 and 2005, the nation was confronted with a debate on traditional herbal medicine and its contribution to the human immuno-deficiency virus/acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) problem that we were experiencing as a nation. As we all know, many claims were being made that particular herbal remedies could provide a cure for HIV. At the time, I think that there were three well-known traditional herbal cure remedies that were being pronounced. We had the Sondashi Formulation, the Mailacin Formulation and the Mayeyanin Formulation. At the time that the nation was confronted with those claims, and as we all know, when challenges like those affect the nation, the nation has to turn to those with intellectual, technological and scientific authority to provide guidance as to whether such claims could be scientifically tested. Of course, Hon. Dr Chikusu was appointed by the Government to be the principal investigator in those three traditional herbal remedy claims and he did his best, together with his colleagues. Using the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, he made his conclusions which are internationally recognised.

Mr Chairperson, allow me to read the statement made by him on the clinical trials of traditional herbal remedies, namely the Sondashi, Mailacin and Mayeyanin. Hon. Dr Chikusu had this to say after the clinical trials:

“Each of the formulations is safe to use. Each has shown evidence of reducing HIV viral loads, increasing the number of cluster of differentiation (CD)4 count plus thymus (T) Cells.” 

Those were his words following the clinical trials, and this is on record. One can find it on the website.

Mr Speaker, that, of course, indicates the type of scholar, researcher, academician and scientist that the nation has lost. I think, in the area of pharmacy, Hon. Dr Chikusu stood out as a leading example of an accomplished professional in his field of specialisation. He made his own stamp of contribution in different areas in his field of specialisation.

Sir, his work in the area of traditional herbal medicine could, in my view, have earned him a professoriate because he stood out as a specialist in that area.

Mr Speaker, this House ought to be a melting pot of the nation’s talents, professional community and all experiences. Indeed, we are a melting pot. We come from different spheres of life, with regards to our backgrounds, and offer ourselves to serve our country. 

Hon. Dr Chikusu joined the field of politics to render a service to the people of Zambia, and the people of Katuba Constituency in particular. For a man of that distinguished professional career, experience and international standing to offer himself to serve the people, politically speaking, is the highest level of humility a person can demonstrate. Hon. Dr Chikusu demonstrated the highest levels of humility. He was extremely approachable, very understanding, friendly and, above all, as those of us who worked closely with him will attest, a deep thinker. Given an issue, he would go to great lengths to try to provide the ripeness of judgment on it. Indeed, that is the type of person that the nation has lost.

Mr Speaker, on our side here, Hon. Dr Chikusu, having been a member of our party, we feel we have lost a colleague and somebody who stood ready to serve his constituency and the party. Grieved as we are, the life that our colleague led should be an example to all of us. We should look at his life and see the best in it so that, as we strive to raise the quality of life of our nation and taking it to higher levels, clearly, the example of Hon. Dr Chikusu should be one which we can all emulate. It is not easy being in the laboratory for hours applying your intellectual ability to find a solution to a problem. That requires tireless effort, expenditure of energy and, above all, self-sacrifice and self-denial in the service of mankind and there are very few people who are able to do that.

Mr Speaker, this is an example worth emulating and we hope that we shall all look at his life of sacrifice and selfless service to fellow human beings as something worth following.

Sir, as I pointed out in the beginning, these are, indeed, moments of grief and we are heartbroken. We can only wish our departed colleague peaceful rest and may his soul rest in eternal peace.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Nkombo (Mazabuka Central): Mr Speaker, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Motion on the Floor of the House. At this solemn moment, I rise to contribute to this very sad Motion, indeed, that has been brought to the House by His Honour the Vice-President that we record our deepest condolences to the family of Hon. Dr Patrick Chikusu, Member of Parliament for Katuba Constituency in Chibombo.

Sir, I want to begin by owning up that in a moment such as this one, it is extremely difficult to find the right words to render to the family that is bereaved. As such, I will be extremely brief.

Mr Speaker, I want to tender my sincere condolences to the wife, children, nuclear and extended family of the late Hon. Dr Chikusu and the MMD Party, which he was affiliated to and on whose ticket he came to this melting pot, the National Assembly of Zambia. 

Sir, allow me to also pass my sincere condolences for the gap that he has left inside the PF Government in which he served in the capacity of hon. Deputy Minister of Health. A lot has been said by His Honor the Vice-President and also his friend, Hon. Prof. Lungwangwa, a fellow academician whom he worked with at UNZA. It is important for me to give my reflections of Hon. Dr Patrick Anthony Chikusu, as I knew him.

Mr Speaker, Hon. Dr Chikusu was a very warm and sober human being. He was intelligent, wise and calm. Even under pressure, he remained collected. It is true that the gentleman that we mourn here today should be remembered for the attributes that I have just outlined for he, indeed, served the country in very distinguished positions and executed his duties diligently. He served as the Head of Department at UNZA Pharmacy Department, the Chairperson of the National Aids Council and the National Aids Council Technical Group working on traditional and alternative remedies. The details have been given to the House and the nation by the previous speakers, His Honour the Vice-President and the hon. Member of Parliament for Nalikwanda. I can only adopt those accolades to the distinguished human being as my own. 

Sir, taking a cue from what Hon. Prof. Lungwangwa has said about the character of the human being who we are going to mourn and put to rest, the inevitable, which is the process of replacing him, is going to have to happen. I would like all of us to engage into deep introspection and reflection about the character of the human being who we are discussing posthumously. As we go into the process of replacing him, let us do it with dignity and honour to his name. Let the loss of Hon. Dr Chikusu be a reflecting point in the manner that we have been conducting our politics.

Mr Speaker, I am saying this with the full realisation that Katuba Constituency is, probably, a walking distance from here. On behalf of my party and the MMD, I would like to make a commitment, and I am sure that all of us here will make similar commitments, that the manner in which we are going to honour Hon. Dr Chikusu must be that which is filled with dignity. I will use the example of the Mansa By-Election, which we had a few weeks ago. I believe it was the beginning of a good example of how colleagues with different political persuasions can function together without having to shed blood. Further, it was an example of how colleagues with different political persuasions can convince people on what they can do, and in the case of the PF, what it is doing, without having to slander one another to humiliating levels.

Sir, I would like to reflect upon one good attribute which Hon. Dr Chikusu possessed. We all know that his conscience convinced him to serve in the PF Government and I think that his persona demonstrated that you can agree to differ without slandering the people who sponsored you to the House. He was one such example because there was not a single time that I heard him disparage the MMD, inside or outside Parliament. This is as it ought to be. The way he has been eulogised by the Whip is a confirmation that decency is a virtue. The manner in which he interfaced with his own party, even if he was serving a different interest, was dignified to a point where it is only true that the chief mourner, today, is the MMD because it is the one which has lost. The country has lost collectively, but he was a baby of the MMD and, as such, I want us, as hon. Members, to remember Hon. Dr Chikusu and his values.

Mr Speaker, in Tonga we say, “Nkohila kakutuba, ankoya kakutuba,” which means that what goes around comes around. Therefore, leave a good name where you hail from for, overnight, you may just want to interact with the people who you have parted company with. My party and I salute Hon. Dr Chikusu posthumously for that.

Sir, as I terminate my discourse, I would like to say that heart attacks or debilitating strokes are silent killers. They are the perfect example of what one means when they say that tomorrow never comes. You can look physically fit today, but not see the light of the next day. For now, I would like to say that we should use the knowledge that we have about our body conditions to circumvent some of these untimely deaths. At sixty-two, Hon. Dr Chikusu could have still had a chance to contribute to his motherland. I implore hon. Members to understand their bodies as it is important to do so because the symptomatic revelations of debilitating strokes or heart failure can be deceiving. They can come in the form of what seems to be a muscle cramp in the shoulder. It is important that cardiologists are visited to check on our well-being.

Sir, I wish the hon. Minister of Health was here. I would like to put a note that it is extremely surprising that the hon. Deputy Minister of Health had to go to Coptic Hospital, in Luangwa, Township instead of our referral hospital, the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), which is the highest institution of medical studies in Zambia. Two days ago, I was extremely impressed when I saw Dr Kasonka and his team coming out of an operating theatre after having done the first brain surgery. That was encouraging for me, but my encouragement was eclipsed the same day because I received the information of the loss of a colleague who was evacuated from Coptic Hospital. I think there is a need for us to start putting confidence back in our institutions. It is required of that health institution to give confidence to Zambians. We have always told people that the UTH is where to go when faced with a crisis. One wonders what caused our dear colleague to go to Coptic Hospital. You can only leave it to imagination. My imagination tells me that, probably, because of the nurses who were on strike, the family thought that it was best to take him to an alternative hospital. That is what comes to my mind …

Interruptions

Hon. Nkombo: … and, please, allow my imagination to wander because it is mine. I can only imagine the reason he did not go to our own institution. 

Sir, going forward, I would like the Government to place some more confidence in our public health institution so that all of us, when we do feel unwell, can go there with full confidence that we shall come back healed and treated. 

Sir, as I terminate my discourse, I, once again, want to pass my deepest condolences to all of us here, and the family of Hon. Dr Chikusu and only wish that his soul rests in eternal peace.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Simbao (Senga Hill): Mr Speaker, I rise to support the Motion on the Floor. I want to send my condolences to the family of the late, Hon. Dr Patrick Mwewa Anthony Chikusu. Their grief, at the moment, is shared by everyone. There is nothing wrong that Hon. Dr Chikusu did to deserve death. It is just unfortunate that, at this particular time, he is the one who the cold hand of death has plucked from here. For that reason, I want to remind everyone that none of us will leave this world alive. So, when one of us dies, this must serve as a reminder to all of us that we are equally on our way. 

Mr Speaker, if my recollection is correct, we have had a number of hon. Members of Parliament who have passed away. Whenever I go to the library and pass by the section where records of our departed members are kept, it really saddens me and I realise that death is actually a reality. I used to see Hon. Dr Chikusu in his seat all the time, but now I realise that I will never see him again because it is not that he has lost his seat and will still be able to contribute in other areas of this country. It is a total loss to the nation and this really saddens me. I hope all of us can feel the heaviness of this situation.

Mr Speaker, I happened to know Hon. Dr Chikusu quite well. In 2005, we travelled together to Zimbabwe. He was my support when I went to attend the seminar on traditional medicines. It was then that I realised that he was a very humorous person, humble and knowledgeable. We really had a very good time together. He really made me laugh. I met Hon. Dr Chikusu, again, when I was the hon. Minister of Health. Then, he was the sole supporter of the Sondashi Formula. Since there were a lot of issues concerning the Sondashi Formula, I decided to invite him to the ministry to make a presentation. He came very well prepared. He had even brought along samples of capsules for us to see that the Sondashi Formula had actually advanced. I really feel bad that he will not see his work on this particular formula come to fruition since it is still in its trial stage. He was so committed to research and I do not want talk about what Hon. Prof. Lungwangwa has already spoken about.

Sir, I also want say that he was a very committed member of the MMD. Although he did not win when he contested for the position of Chairperson of Health, he really tried to sell himself and continued to be a very strong member of the MMD, which earned him the nomination in 2011. As everyone saw, he won the seat irrespective of the wind that was blowing then, especially here in Lusaka. We know that because of his strength, the MMD is still very strong in Katuba Constituency. We, as a party, are very sad that we have lost a very committed member of the party. Even though he chose to serve under the PF Government, he did not lose touch with his party. He was still always talking to us and finding out how he could still strengthen the constituency. 

It is for these reasons, Sir, that, as a party, we feel very sad that we shall be going for another by-election to replace such a formidable member of the party. As the hon. Deputy Minister of Health, certainly, he was given the right job. This is because having been in contact with him when I was a Minister myself, he was always at hand to discuss issues that he thought were necessary, especially pertaining to pharmacy, on how we could, maybe, improve the medications or medicines that were available at the time.

Therefore, Mr Speaker, as a party and a person who knew him so well, I would like to say that it is sad and it is a pity that death has, once again, come to this House.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Bwalya (Lupososhi): Mr Speaker, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Motion on the Floor.

Mr Speaker, it is sad that we have lost a gallant man by the name of Hon. Dr Patrick Chikusu, may his soul rest in peace. I came to know Hon. Dr Chikusu right here at Parliament. Little did I know that he would only be with us for the shortest possible time. Sitting right behind him, I shared a lot of things with him. I shared developmental, medical and personal issues with him, but today he is no more.

Mr Speaker, Hon. Dr Chikusu showed this country that it is possible for us to co-exist despite belonging to different political groupings. He showed that it is possible to serve in the sitting Government, even if you belong to an opposition political party. Further, he showed us that you can live to the theory of collective responsibility and maintain the tenets of secrecy in the Government without having to compromise your seat or situation in that particular political party.

Mr Speaker, he had a distinguished career. He rendered his service to the Zambian people and we have heard the many qualifications that he acquired while alive. This, again, shows that amongst the politicians, we have professionals who are able to act professionally even when they are politicians. He showed us that there is a reservoir of knowledge within the political arena and that he could contribute very effectively to the well-being of the Zambian people.

Mr Speaker, Hon. Dr Chikusu knew how to lobby for various things. I usually use the Great North Road as I travel to Lupososhi Constituency and each time I reach Katuba, I look on the right hand side and see the massive cooking oil plant investment that has been put up by the Mount Meru, the. He worked very hard to ensure that the people of Katuba had a plant. I am pretty sure that a number of people in Katuba Constituency have been employed at that particular plant. That was the kind of man Hon. Dr Chikusu was. He was able to work with every person regardless of his/her religious affiliation. He attended world class universities and hence, he was able to articulate himself and contribute to the development of the medical field in this country.

Mr Speaker, every death is new and you can never get used to it. Therefore, it brings with it different challenges. Different questions are asked regardless of who has passed on, young or old and this is the situation we find ourselves in today. We are asking questions such why he was flown to South Africa, whether he could have been saved had the distance between wherever he was and the UTH been shorter and whether our medical facilities are not up to standard. These are the things that we need to think about as we look at ways to develop. We need to look at our health institutions and ask ourselves if we are able to contain certain diseases even when they come as an emergency.

Mr Speaker, there are a lot of things we can say about Hon. Dr Chikusu. Usually, you never realise what you have on the plate until at such a time when you lose it. We must learn from this death. In certain countries, when an hon. Member of Parliament dies, even during the time when Parliament is on recess, it is summoned to sit. The body of that particular hon. Member lies in State at Parliament Buildings and the following day, it is taken to the Chamber and a Motion, like this one, is moved. These are some of the soft issues that, perhaps, we need to look at as part and parcel of the welfare of hon. Members of Parliament and, indeed, those who are serving in the Executive. It happens in the Judiciary and we can do it here. 

Mr Speaker, I also knew Hon. Dr Chikusu as a very romantic man.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Laughter

Mr Bwalya: Mr Speaker, he would sit here and answer questions in a low voice and very nicely. I would hear some hon. Members of Parliament complain that he spoke as if he was in a bedroom. I would tell them that Hon. Dr Chikusu was soft spoken, but firm. He knew what he was doing. Each time I listened to him, I would acknowledge the fact that he was a man who had acquired his education and knew that he could interface and be able to deliver even in a low voice. That was Hon. Dr Chikusu and that is what I meant when I said that he was a romantic man.

Mr Speaker, the Government, indeed, will have challenges because of the gap that Hon. Dr Chikusu has left will have to be filled. We can only pray that God Almighty gives His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr Micheal Chilufya Sata, the strength and wisdom to ensure that he fills that position so that we can serve the Zambian people.

Mr Speaker, I can only wish Hon. Dr Chikusu a very peaceful rest. I pray that his family will soldier on and move on from where he left. His death is a lesson because the question we need to ask ourselves is: Why is it that Hon. Dr Chikusu is the one who has died and not anyone of us? At this moment, destiny has spoken.

Mr Speaker, there is a purpose why God has spared our lives and instead asked Hon. Dr Chikusu to join him. The onus, therefore, remains on us to soldier on and carry on from where Hon. Dr Chikusu has left off. We have a duty to ensure that we serve the Zambian people effectively and make sure that we show the bereaved family that they also have an obligation to look after that which Hon. Dr Chikusu has left behind. 

Mr Speaker, I thank you. 

The Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport (Mr Mulenga): Mr Speaker, I want to thank you most sincerely for allowing me to contribute to the debate on the sad Motion moved by His Honour the Vice-President following the demise of one of our colleagues, Hon. Dr Patrick Mwewa Anthony Chikusu. 

Sir, death is the most tragic occasion for every human being on earth. Such occasions can be worsened if a loved one has died unexpectedly the way Hon. Dr Chikusu has. As I stand here, like many other colleagues in and outside the House, my heart is heavy at the loss of our beloved. He is one person I closely worked with, having been given an opportunity to serve in the Ministry of Health as one of the hon. Deputy Ministers. 

Mr Speaker, Hon. Dr Chikusu and I saw each other nearly everyday and related well. He was one person who always came to my office to seek my opinion when he noticed something was wrong. We twinned like brothers. Indeed, death is a mystery and only God can interpret it. On Friday, last week, we were together in the foyer chatting and teasing each other as I was telling him that I had left him to go to the Ministry of Youth and Sport. He blessed and wished me well in my continued service to the nation as we had done together. 

Sir, once again, death has robbed us of a very diligent, humble and committed patriot, who devoted himself to the meaningful development of this country. Hon. Dr Chikusu, in his humility, always wanted to see a reformed health sector that he thought could render service to the people in the most efficient manner with less costs. He was a very hardworking person and he would always say to me, “Ba Mulenga, these positions under which we are serving were ordained by God,” and I believed him. 

Mr Speaker, at one time when he came to my constituency, before my appointment as hon. Deputy Minister, he taught me one thing which I only mentioned to him after I had been appointed as hon. Deputy Minister as well. Hon. Dr Chikusu came to my constituency and refused to address the staff at Chinsali Hospital. He insisted that he would only address them after seeing the area hon. Member of Parliament because as far as he was concerned, only the area hon. Member of Parliament would tell him the truth about the status of the hospital. 

Sir, he taught me this lesson and when I joined him, I followed his steps even though I did not tell him. I am sure that my colleagues will attest to the fact that each time I travelled on duty to their constituencies, I would interact with them. I think that most of them here can bear testimony to this fact. I actually learnt this from Hon. Dr Chikusu when he visited my constituency. 

Mr Speaker, there is nothing that has been more difficult and painful for me, the bereaved family, colleagues in this House and the nation at large than losing a companion in this fashion. His death was just too sudden for me and everyone else. Hon. Dr Chikusu’s passing has taught us that we are all, but just in transit. At one point or another, all of us here will be no more. 

Sir, I will surely miss Hon. Dr Chikusu and I pray that the almighty God will give strength to the family members, indeed, His Excellency the President, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, the Minister of Health, Hon. Dr Joseph Kasonde, the nation at large. May his soul rest in peace. 

I thank you, Sir. 

Mr Speaker: The final eulogy will come from the hon. Member for Monze Central. 

Mr Mwiimbu (Monze Central): Mr Speaker, I thank you for according me this opportunity to place on record my deepest regret at the sudden death of Hon. Dr Patrick Mwewa Anthony Chikusu, Member of Parliament for Katuba Parliamentary Constituency and Deputy Minister of Health as well as the appreciation, on my part, for his distinguished and patriotic service to this country and the people of Zambia. I wish to express my deepest sympathies to the family, nation and to the National Assembly of Zambia. 

Mr Speaker, I would like to adopt the eulogies that have been made by my colleagues pertaining to the gentleman and hon. Member of Parliament who has passed on. As we mourn our dear departed brother, I would like us, as a House, to reflect on a number of issues that affect hon. Members of Parliament, generally, and their families. 

Mr Speaker, I heard His Honour the Vice-President mention that this House has appointed a delegation to represent you at the burial of our dear departed brother. I would like all of us to reflect and note that there are three arms of the Government in this country, namely the Executive, Judiciary and the Legislature. When a member of the Judiciary passes on, the head of the Judiciary is accorded the opportunity to pay his or her last respects at the graveyard and, maybe, lay a wreath. In the same vein, when a member of the Executive or an ordinary person, who belongs to the political party that is in power dies, the President of the Republic of Zambia, who is the head of the Executive, attends the funeral. Unfortunately, with us, we have a very archaic and primitive tradition where we bar the head of this institution to pay respect to his or her beloved hon. Member of this House.

Mr Speaker, it is high time this House reformed itself and …

Mr Livune: That is right!

Mr Mwiimbu: … abandoned this obnoxious tradition.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: I am aware that in various jurisdictions, the Hon. Mr Speaker of the House is accorded the opportunity to pay last respects. Imagine I was your right hand man in this jurisdiction and I passed on, but you were not accorded the opportunity to pay your last respects, how would you feel? I tend to think that you would feel injured ...

Mr Livune: That is right.

Mr Mwiimbu: … and that your rights are being violated by this institution.

Mr Speaker, it is high time we abandoned this tradition. It is not serving us in any way.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: It is neither in the interest of the institution nor the one who heads it.

Mr Speaker, I also want to adopt the words of one of our colleagues who has indicated that, in certain jurisdictions, they have a tradition where the body of the departed colleague is brought to the House and respects are paid. It is high time we adopted those traditions. It is in our interest and that of the families of the departed. It shows dignity and respect.

Mr Speaker, I also want to bring to your attention what has been obtaining whenever an hon. Member of the House or immediate member of the family passes on. We have noted, with sadness, that whenever there is such a sad occurrence, we see pieces of paper circulating soliciting for financial support to the families of the departed. We have noticed that there is no inherent provision that supports the funerals of those who have departed.

Mr Mutelo: Yes.

Mr Mwiimbu: We need to do something about this. There is no need for us to continue lamenting. We need to reform and ensure that those who have departed are given a dignified funeral.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, I also note that, and I have mentioned this on several fora, this country did a disservice to itself during the reign of our colleagues, the MMD. An amendment to the Insurance Act in this country was brought to this House and, through it, we deny ourselves and the citizens the right to contribute to insurance companies outside the country that are able to finance the cost of medical schemes. As a result of that draconian law which we still have, a number of our people cannot afford health facilities that are not available in this country, but can be sought outside the country. Why should we continue being cruel to ourselves and our people?

Mr Mwanza: Hanjiika.

Mr Mwiimbu: Why should we do that? We all know that our health facilities are not adequate, and yet we are denying ourselves access to facilities outside the country. It is high time, through the hon. Minister of Finance, that, if possible, in the next session was an amendment, brought to this House.

Mr Livune: Hear, hear!

Mr Mwiimbu: Sir, in that way, we can make a provision where people who have the resources can contribute to schemes like BUPA Health Plans. We know that medical facilities are not cheap, and yet we do not want to do good things for ourselves and our people. It is high time we did that.

Mr Speaker, I also wish, once again, to bring out an issue which I have always talked about pertaining to the insurance of hon. Members here. We have noted, with concern, that the insurance schemes that are obtaining in this country do not work when medical attention is sought from outside the country. What happens is that one has to spend their money when they seek medical attention outside the country and get a refund when they return. It is high time we made amendments to our laws.

Mr Speaker, finally, I wish to seek God’s guidance for ourselves and those who are in Katuba Constituency during this period of immeasurable loss. I noted that Hon. Dr Chikusu always complained to me and colleagues pertaining to the displacement of the people of Katuba. The people of Katuba have been denied the right to live in decent places because of land being given away to those who are claiming to be investors in that particular constituency. He was very particular about this. Therefore, the people of Katuba will definitely miss him.

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

Motion carried nemine contradicente.

______________

BILLS

SECOND READING

THE COMPETITION AND CONSUMER PROTECTION (Amendment) BILL, 2013

The Minister of Finance (Mr Chikwanda): Mr Speaker, I beg to move that the Bill be now read a second time.

Sir, the Bill before this House is seeking to provide for fees payable to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to form part of the general revenues of the Republic so that these funds can be accounted for through the Treasury.

Currently, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission retains all the funds it collects as fees for the various services it offers. In this regard, the Treasury does not have full oversight of the collection, as required under the Public Finance Act.

Mr Speaker, the proposed Bill is, therefore, intended to enhance accountability in the management of public funds. 

Sir, the Bill is straightforward and I recommend it to the House.

Mr Speaker, I beg to move.

Mr Mwiimbu (Monze Central): Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Floor. From the outset, let me state that your Committee undertook its work in line with its mandate, as laid down in the Standing Orders.

In considering the Bill, your Committee noted that the object of the Bill is to amend the Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 so as to ensure greater transparency and equity in the use of public resources by requiring fees collected by the commission to be accounted for through the consolidated fund and to form part of the general revenues of the Republic. In particular, the salient provisions of the Competition and Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill, No. 15 are to amend Paragraph 10 of the First Schedule to the Act in order to require that fees collected by the commission form part of the general revenues of the Republic.

Sir, stakeholders generally supported this Bill, but called upon the Government to ensure that funding to the commission would not only be timely, but also commensurate with the commission’s budgetary requirements. It was not expected that the amendments, once enacted, would have a major negative impact on the commission’s operation arrangements.

Your Committee was assured that adequate arrangements had been put in place to ensure that funding to the commission was not negatively affected by the changes sought to be made by these amendments. It was also explained that the funds collected by the commission would be deposited in a dedicated account at the Bank of Zambia (BOZ) for accounting purposes and releases to the commission would be made directly from this account without having to channel the funds through the general pool. In other words, these funds would be ring-fenced for the use of the commission and would be made available as and when the need arose. This mechanism was designed to ensure that the channeling of these revenues through the Treasury did not, in any way, disrupt the operations of the commission.

Your Committee is concerned that the commission may face operational problems in terms of cash flows in situations where the Government suffers budgetary constraints and is not able to provide funding to it in a timely manner. However, your Committee appreciates that the measure will not only enhance transparency in the utilisation of public resources in line with the provisions of the Public Finance Act, but will also go a long way in helping the Government to reduce the cost of borrowing as it will engage in less borrowing from the commercial banks in view of the foregoing. Your Committee recommends that the House do pass the Competition and Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill, No. 15 of 2013.

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I would like to thank you.

Mr Chikwanda: Mr Speaker, I wish to thank the Committee on Legal Affairs, Governance, Human Rights, Gender Matters and Child Affairs and the hon. Members for supporting the Bill. 

Sir, I have taken note of the observations made by the Committee as well as issues raised by hon. Members of Parliament.

In the light of this, I wish to take this opportunity to allay the fears and assure this House that adequate funding arrangements have been put in place to ensure that operations of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission are not disrupted in any way and at any time.

I thank you, Sir.{mospagebreak}

Question put and agreed to and the Bill read a second time.

Committed to a committee of the Whole House.

Committee on Thursday, 5th December, 2013.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (Amendment) BILL, 2013

Mr Chikwanda: Mr Speaker, I beg to move that the Bill be now read a second time.

Sir, the Bill before this House is seeking to provide for fees payable to the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) to form part of the general revenues of the Republic so that these funds can be accounted for through the Treasury. 

Currently, ZEMA retains all the funds it collects as fees for the various services it offers. As such, the Treasury has no appropriate record of such collections despite the collections being public funds, contrary to the provisions of the Public Finance Act. 

Sir, this Bill is straightforward and I recommend it to the House.

Mr Speaker, I beg to move.

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, in presenting the findings of your Committee …

Mr Muntanga: On a point of order, Sir.

Mr Speaker: A point of order is raised.

Mr Muntanga: Mr Speaker, is the Patriotic Front (PF) Member of Parliament for Mongu Central, Hon. Mubukwanu, in order to come here without a tie when he is wearing a shirt and a jacket, which is not a Safari Suit, is he in order? 

Mr Speaker: I am quite at a distance.

Laughter

Mr Mubukwanu rose.

Laughter

Mr Speaker: He is now visible and I am sure the hon. Member of Parliament for Kalomo Central can see from there that he is wearing a scarf inside. It is a short-sleeved Safari Suit. He is in order.

Laughter

Mr Speaker: May the hon. Member of Parliament for Monze Central continue, please.

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, I note that he was the best man for the old gentleman who got married in Mongu.

Laughter

Mr Mwiimbu: Sir, in presenting the findings of your Committee on the Environmental Management (Amendment) Bill, National Assembly Bill No. 16 of 2013, allow me to thank all my colleagues on your Committee for their hard work and dedication to duty.

Sir, the object of the Bill is to amend the Environmental Management Act of 2011 so as to ensure greater transparency and equity in the use of public resources by requiring fees collected by the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) to be accounted for through the consolidated fund and to form part of the general revenues of the Republic. Specifically, Clause II of the Bill seeks to amend paragraph seven of the first schedule to the Environmental Management Act of 2011 in order to require fees collected by the agency to form part of the general revenues of the Republic.

Sir, there were some concerns raised by stakeholders, in particular ZEMA, as regards the proposals in the Bill. Concerns were that the proposed amendment may negatively impact on the agency’s operation since the provisions made in the Budget may be inadequate, as was the case in the 2014 National Budget. Further, based on past experience, it was noted that the Government grants to the institution had not been paid as regularly as they should be. As a result, the agency had been operating using the revenue raised from the fees and fines collected. Additionally, delays caused by possible inefficiencies in the mechanism for release of funds could result in the failure of the agency to operate effectively.

Mr Speaker, in this regard, it was proposed that ZEMA needed to have access to funds, at all times, to cover for emergencies and processing of the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), on which decisions were required by law to be rendered within sixty-five days. Hitherto, the fees had been cushioning the grants. In the same vein, it was submitted to your Committee that, depending on how the funds would be disbursed, and if they would be adequate to meet the agency’s budget, the agency may experience challenges in retaining some of its qualified personnel as certain incentives were necessary in order to retain experts.

Sir, your Committee was, however, assured that adequate arrangements had been put in place to ensure that funding to the agency was not negatively affected by the changes so to be made by these amendments. It was explained that the funds collected by the agency would be deposited in a dedicated account at the Bank of Zambia for accounting purposes and releases to the agency would be made directly from this account without having to channel the funds through the general revenue pool. In other words, these funds will be ring-fenced for the use of the agency as and when the need arises. This mechanism was designed to ensure that the channeling of these revenues, through the Treasury, did not, in any way, disrupt the operations of the agency. This mechanism had, so far, been successfully employed in relation to the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) and the Zambia Information Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) during the current financial year and the two institutions had not experienced any cash flow problems. It was further emphasised that these exceptions could be made administratively for certain institutions, such as ZEMA, to retain part of the revenues collected under the appropriation in either arrangement for use on emergencies and other statutory obligations which are time-bound to avert any possible delays.

Mr Speaker, your Committee is concerned that operational problems may arise at ZEMA in a situation where the Government is not able to release funding to the agency in a timely manner. This can compromise the agency’s capacity to perform its legal mandate in terms of the EIAs within the timeframe provided by law. Failure by the agency may frustrate many would-be investors and this would be detrimental to Zambia’s nascent economy. In a similar vein, your Committee is also concerned that the agency may experience an exodus of qualified personnel unless appropriate measures are taken to ensure that these experts, who are critical to the performance of the agency’s mandate, are appropriately remunerated. The above notwithstanding, your Committee notes and appreciates the fact that this amendment will ensure transparency in the management of public funds and the Government will, henceforth, not borrow its own funds deposited in various banks by its own parastatal agencies at high cost. This is laudable and must be supported.

Sir, considering the concerns above, your Committee is of the strong view that the Bill be recast by providing a legal framework to ensure that ZEMA is allowed to retain part of its revenue to carter for emergencies and other statutory obligations that are time-bound. Your Committee is of the view that mere administrative measures are inadequate, in this case, which should be treated as an exception to the general rule. Subject to the above, your Committee recommends that the Environmental Management (Amendment) Bill No. 16 of 2013 be supported by the House.

With these few words, I thank you.

Mr Chikwanda: Mr Speaker, again, I wish to express my very profound gratitude to the Committee on Legal Affairs, Governance, Human Rights, Gender Matters and Child Affairs, and also to thank the hon. Members for the support. Let me just emphasise the observation by the Committee that adequate arrangements have been put in place to ensure that funding is ring-fenced for the institution and, therefore, ZEMA will not be affected nor its capacity to perform its legal mandate in terms of the EIAs compromised.

Sir, a healthy environment is a legacy from us to posterity. We cannot compromise the work of ZEMA. The funds collected will be deposited in a dedicated account at the Bank of Zambia for accounting purposes and released to ZEMA directly from the dedicated account without having to channel the funds through the general revenue pool. As such, the operations of ZEMA will not be disrupted in any way. We are, therefore, saying that before any money is put into Control 99, all the resources required by the agency will be availed.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Question put and agreed to and the Bill read a second time.

Committed to a Committee of the Whole House.

Committee on Thursday, 5th December, 2013.

THE FINES AND FEES (Amendment) BILL, 2013

Mr Chikwanda: Mr Speaker, I beg to move that the Bill be now read a second time. 

Sir, the amounts charged, as fees, for services provided by the Government and fines imposed for offences committed are expressed in terms of the fee unit and penalty unit, respectively. These are provided in the Fees and Fines Act Cap. 45 of the Laws of Zambia. The fee and fine units were last revised in 1996 to K180 from K100. In current rebased terms, the fee and penalty unit is 18 Ngwee.

Mr Speaker, in my 2013 Budget Address, I informed the House that some of the fees paid for services rendered by the Government departments were not cost reflective and had not been revisited for a long time. To this effect, changes, by statutory order, were made to selected pieces of legislation that fell under the various Government services in order to bring such fees to cost reflective levels.

Mr Speaker, the Bill before this House is seeking to empower the hon. Minister responsible for finance to revise the fee and penalty unit, by statutory instrument, in order to provide a mechanism of ensuring the fee units are responsive to economic dynamics and modern business practices by introducing flexibility in the revision of the fee and penalty units. The Bill is straight forward and I recommend it to the House.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, the object of the Bill is to amend the Fees and Fines Act, Cap. 45 of the Laws of Zambia so as to empower the hon. Minister to prescribe the value of a fee and penalty unit, by statutory instrument. In addition, the Bill will allow the hon. Minister to prescribe the criteria for conversion of fees and penalty units. This is in order to enable periodic review of the value of a fee or penalty unit, taking into account inflation, and streamline the administration of fees and fines.

Mr Speaker, specifically, Clause 2 of the Bill seeks to introduce a new section, Section 9, in the Act. The proposed Section 9 seeks to empower the hon. Minister to make regulations to provide for the value of a fee or penalty unit and the methods and formulae for the conversion of fees and penalty units.

Sir, your Committee notes that there were no major concerns raised with regard to the proposals in the Bill. It is noted that the enactment of the proposed amendment would empower the hon. Minister to change the value and mode of converting fee or penalty units, facilitating the flexibility in the revision of fee and penalty units whenever necessary. This flexibility would enable the Government to revise the fees and fines by various Government departments and agencies upwards so as to bring into effect the Government’s aspiration, as announced by the hon. Minister in the Budget Speech, to enhance domestic revenues.

Mr Speaker: Order!

Business was suspended from 1615 hours until 1630 hours.

[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, at the time business was suspended, I was about to pronounce the fate of this particular Bill. I will now proceed to make our recommendations.

Mr Speaker, your Committee is of the view that the revision of the value of the fees and penalty units, whenever necessary, has been left at the absolute discretion of the hon. Minister of Finance, as it empowers him to do so without seeking Parliamentary approval.

Mr Speaker, in view of the foregoing, your Committee is not in support of the Fees and Fines (Amendment) Bill No. 17 of 2013, as it could be subject to abuse.

With these few words, Mr Speaker, I would like to thank you.

The Minister of Youth and Sport (Mr Kambwili): Mr Speaker, thank you very much for allowing me to contribute to the debate on the Bill on the Floor. I have scrutinised the recommendations of your Committee and I feel that its members missed a point. They are saying that they are rejecting this amendment on the basis that there is no Parliamentary approval of statutory instruments. I think that is not right. All statutory instruments are approved by Parliament through the Committee on Delegated Legislation, which has the power to send back a statutory instrument and ask the ministry to withdraw it if it would infringe on the rights of our citizens. 

Therefore, I feel that the hon. Members of this Committee must consult the Clerk of the National Assembly’s Office or, indeed, the Committee on Delegated Legislation, who will tell them that this oversight does exist. I am appealing to the Committee …

Mr Mwiimbu: On a point of order, Sir.

Mr Speaker: A point of order is raised.

Mr Mwiimbu: Mr Speaker, is the hon. Member in order to mislead this House and the nation that this House approves statutory instruments when, in fact, they are not and take effect once they are passed by the hon. Minister? The Committee on Delegated Legislation merely ensures that the statutory instrument complies with the laws in the Constitution of Zambia. 

Mr Speaker: Hon. Minister of Youth and Sport, please, bear that in mind as you continue with your debate. For avoidance of doubt, it should be noted that statutory instruments fall within the realm of delegated legislation.

Mr Kambwili: I thank you, Mr Speaker. I was saying that the Committee on Delegated Legislation has the power to send back SIs. What we need to do is make sure that the SIs are tabled before the Committee on Delegated Legislation before they take effect. 

Mr Speaker, I was a member of the Committee on Delegated Legislation and we sent back a number of SIs advising the ministries to withdraw them and they were withdrawn. So, I do not see any reason we should ask the Executive to not effect certain fees just for the purpose of Parliamentary oversight when the Committee’s report is also sent to the House for debate and the House has the power to either pass or reject the Committee’s recommendation. 

Mr Speaker, we debate the Committees’ reports. Once we do not agree with them, we do not pass them. That is oversight on the part of Parliament. I can only appeal to my colleagues on the other side to rethink their decision and allow this Bill to go through. After all, we are all here for one purpose, which is to serve the people of Zambia. Surely, nobody would want to bring fees and fines that would be ultra vires the Constitution of Zambia.

Hon. Government Member: Hear, hear!

Mr Chikwanda: I, therefore, appeal to my colleagues on the other side to support this Bill as it is well-intended …

Mr Livune: Question!

Mr Kambwili: … because it is easier to bring an SI than it is to bring an amendment to a Bill. I, therefore, appeal, once more, to my colleagues on the other side to support this Bill and let us not just argue for the sake of wanting to reject things. I appeal to the Committee to rethink its decision and allow this Bill to pass. 

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Muntanga (Kalomo Central): Mr Speaker, first of all, your Committee is composed of hon. Members from both the Ruling Party and the Opposition. Therefore, the decision of your Committee is not arrived at by hon. Members on the left. When your Committee, which is composed of hon. Members from both the Ruling Party and the Opposition, makes a decision, it should not be construed as an agenda of the Opposition just because the Chairperson of the Committee is from the Opposition. I think we should not have that type of mentality. 

Mr Chairperson, the issue at hand, which I have heard from the Chairperson, and which is right, is that delegated legislation takes effect after any one hon. Minister pronounces the SI. The sad issue is that most SIs are not announced. They are just issued and only afterwards do you get to hear that there was an SI. Therefore, you cannot suggest that SIs should go to the Committee on Delegated Legislation because it is not the procedure. That is why it is delegated legislation. Hon. Ministers are empowered.

Mr Speaker, we are talking about charging the Zambian people fees and fines. There have been Bills that have been passed and this is not the first one. There is, for instance, the Tobacco Levy Law which should also come to the House because some of those things in it are outdated. What would happen is that the hon. Minister of Finance would decide fees without consulting. What happens at that time? This is the only reason there are these considerations and I think that the basis of our decision has nothing to do with either being on the left or the right, but on what your report has done.  Your report encompasses members from both the Ruling Party and the Opposition.

Mr Livune: That is right.

Mr Muntanga: That is the way we decide. It is not about going against anything. The other Bills have been passed smoothly. We listened to the Committee’s reports and there were no arguments. If there was a problem, perhaps, before the report was brought to the House, it should have been debated there and not throw it here and argue on the basis of numbers with a view that whether they refuse or not we are many. Sometimes, we should not do things like that with regard to the making of laws.

Mr Speaker, I stand believing in your Committee’s report.    

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Chikwanda: Mr Speaker, I want to insist that the anxieties expressed by your Committee are bona fide. It is the duty of Parliament to guard against possible abuses. I want to say that the intention of this Bill is to maintain the quality of services that are rendered and ensure efficient service delivery. As I stated in my earlier remarks, reduced to the current adjusted or re-denominated kwacha, the fee, which was K180, is now only K0.18. Therefore, there is a compelling need to adjust the fees. Of course, the Government will be mindful of the need not to raise the fees and fines outrageously. We are also subject to public opinion and interest. Your duty is to monitor the Government’s action and, to that effect, the Committee led by the distinguished patriot, Hon. Mwiimbu, has expressed concerns which are genuine and will be fully taken into account. 
    
Mr Speaker, the proposed amendments to the Bill do not, in any way, suggest that this will leave fees and fines to the absolute discretion of the Minister of Finance. The House will have a say on this matter through the Committee on Delegated Legislation. It is a legal requirement that whenever an SI is issued, the issuing office has to provide an explanatory memorandum to the Committee on Delegated Legislation. This Committee presents the reports to the House on all SIs and other subsidiary legislation that are introduced during a particular year. The House has the power to adopt or reject the reports of this Committee.

Mr Kambwili: Yes!

Mr Chikwanda: I wish to assure this august House that we will abide by the legal requirements and shall always bear in mind the very legitimate concerns expressed by the representatives of the people, the hon. Members of Parliament.

This Bill needs to be supported within the well-meaning reservations and I recommend it to the House. 

Mr Speaker, I beg to move.

Mr Livune: Question!

Mr Mwila: Iwe, chi Livune!

Question put and agreed to and the Bill read a second time.

Committed to a committee of the Whole House.

Committee on Thursday, 5th December, 2013.

THE PATENTS AND COMPANIES REGISTRATION AGENCY (Amendment) BILL

Mr Chikwanda: Mr Speaker, the Bill before this House is seeking to provide for fees payable to the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) to form part of the general revenues of the Republic so that these funds can be accounted for through the Treasury. This Bill is straightforward and I recommend it to the House.

Mr Speaker, I beg to move.

Ms Lubezhi (Namwala): Mr Speaker, first and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to the Chikusu family. The late Hon. Dr Chikusu, the man I looked up to as my brother, would always greet me with a smiling face, saying, “|Mulibuyani mukwabo?”, meaning: how are you my sister?

Mr Speaker, when presenting the Report on Delegated Legislation, I would like to also thank the Committee members for their dedication to duty during our sittings. 

Mr Speaker, the object of the Bill is to amend the Patents and Companies Registration Agency Act of 2010 so as to ensure greater transparency and equity in the use of public resources by requiring fees collected by the agency to be accounted for through a consolidated fund. In particular, the Bill at Clause 2 seeks to amend Section 16 of the Patents and Companies Registration Agency Act of 2010 in order to require fees collected by the agency to form part of the general revenues of the Republic. Arising out of its interactions with stakeholders, your Committee noted that there was concern that the proposed amendment might result in delayed funding thereby negatively affecting the operations of the affected institution. It was argued that for an institution like PACRA, the public expectations of efficient service delivery were very high. For example, a certificate of incorporation of a company was required to be issued within two days of registration. As such, all necessary logistics and requisites should be readily available in order for the agency to avoid unnecessary delays. It was feared that the availability of such logistical requirements might be compromised with the proposed amendment as it may impinge on the availability of the requisite resources. It was also noted that PACRA was currently undertaking various projects meant to modernise its operations and reduce the cost of doing business in Zambia. In this regard, the agency has embarked on the computerisation process to allow for, among other things, online business and company name check and registration. Since these projects required adequate and timely resources, there was a concern that the proposed amendment might ultimately lead to inadequate release of resources, as was the case with other public institutions that depended solely on Government funding. Such a situation would delay the implementation process of these projects. 

Mr Speaker, another concern was that by its very nature, PACRA needed to be versatile and adapt to changes in the business environment which was relatively dynamic. It was, therefore, feared that the proposed amendment might lead to the agency losing its flexibility in adapting to new circumstances as it may not be able to quickly adopt novel strategies in its operations. Further, there was a concern that the Government appeared to be reneging on its stated policy of allowing institutions such as PACRA to operate as commercial entities. It was also noted that if these concerns were not appropriately addressed, the country risked losing its favourable World Bank ranking as regards the ease of doing business.

Mr Speaker, your Committee appreciates the intention by the Government to enhance transparency and accountability in public resource management through the proposed amendment of Section 16 of the Patents and Companies Registration Agency of 2010. Your Committee observed that the changes proposed in this amendment, if not properly managed, may have a negative impact on the efficient operations of PACRA. Your Committee also observed that it is critical that PACRA retains operational efficiency in order to maintain Zambia’s attractiveness as an investment destination.  

Mr Speaker, in light of this, your Committee recommends that strong measures should be put in place to ensure timely and adequate release of resources to PACRA so that the agency continues to be efficient, flexible and dynamic in providing services to the general public and improve the ease of doing business.

Mr Speaker, the above notwithstanding, your Committee observed that the move by the Government to enhance transparency and equity in the use of public resources is commendable. Therefore, your Committee recommends that the House do pass the Patents and Companies Registration (Amendment) Bill NAB No. 18. of 2013.

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

Mr Chikwanda: Mr Speaker, I want to thank the Committee on Delegated Legislation for its eternal wisdom and for thoroughly going into the issues and admonishing the Government not to do anything that would impair the efficiency and effectiveness of this institution. This is one of the role model institutions in our country. It is the Government that provided funding to PACRA and we are very proud of the achievements of PACRA. The PACRA is now developed to a stage where people can even register companies online. We do not want to roll back that progress. 

Mr Speaker, the Government will ensure that every considerable measure is taken to ensure that PACRA maintains its very exceptionally high standards of performance. In this situation, imagine that the Government or the Ministry of Finance is like a dairy farmer. He wants the milk from his animal and it would be rash for him to do things which  would have the effect of killing the cow because, then, he will not get the milk. His rational reaction is to make sure that the cow functions in a very acceptable environment in which the high nutrition needs of the cow are attended to so that he can get increased milk yields, preferably over an extended  lactation period. Therefore, it is not in the interest of the Government to do anything that will tone down the effectiveness and superb performance of PACRA. The Government will be committed to ensuring that the organisation’s effectiveness is not willingly or inadvertently eroded.

PACRA will have all its funding requirements satisfied. That is why the money from PACRA, like from others, will be put in a dedicated account. We will ensure that before it is filtered in the Control 99 and becomes part of the general revenues of the Republic, it will be hived off to ensure that the organisation is adequately provided for.

Mr Speaker, I wish to thank the Committee, again, its versatile members and the House for giving support to this proposed amendment.

I thank you, Sir.

Question put and agreed to and the Bill read a second time.

Committed to the committee of the whole House.

Committee on Thursday, 5th December, 2013.

THE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES (Amendment) BILL, 2013

Mr Chikwanda: Mr Speaker, I beg to move that the Bill be now read a second time.

Sir, the Bill before the House is seeking to provide for fees payable to the Zambia Weights and Measures Agency to form part of the general revenue of the Republic so that these funds can be accounted for through the Treasury.

Mr Speaker, the Bill is uncontroversial and I recommend it to this House.

Mr Speaker, I beg to move.

Ms Lubezhi: Mr Speaker, I thank you, once again, for this opportunity to present the Report of the Committee on Delegated Legislation for the Third Session of the Eleventh National Assembly on the Weights and Measures (Amendment) Bill, NAB No. 19 of 2013. Once again, I would like to thank your Committee members for their undivided attention and concerted efforts.

Sir, this Bill seeks to ensure greater transparency and equity in the use of public resources by requiring fees collected by the agency to be accounted for through the consolidated fund. Specifically, Clause 2 of the Bill seeks to amend paragraph 9 of the Thirteenth Schedule to the Weights and Measures Act, Cap. 403 of the Laws of Zambia in order to require fees collected by the agency to form part of the general revenue of the Republic.

Mr Speaker, during its meeting with the stakeholders, your Committee noted that there was some concern that the proposed amendment might result in delayed funding and thereby negatively affect the operations of the agency. In turn, this would negatively impact on the agency’s capacity to deliver services at a time when public expectations to efficiency service delivery are very high. It was further submitted that there was a need for these concerns to be fully addressed in order to ensure that the agency could continue to provide an efficient service to the public. 

Sir, your Committee observed that the move by the Government to enhance transparency and equity in the use of public resources is commendable. However, your Committee …

Interruptions

Mr Speaker: Order, on the right!

Ms Lubezhi: They are always like that.

Laughter

Ms Lubezhi: … wishes to remind the Government to ensure that funding to the agency is timely and adequate in order to ensure that the agency continues to provide an efficient service to the public. 

Mr Speaker, in light of this, your Committee recommends that the House do pass the Weights and Measures (Amendment) Bill, NAB No. 19 of 2013.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Chikwanda: Mr Chairperson, it all remains for me to thank the Committee for its work and thank the House for the unanimous support over this Bill.

I thank you, Sir.

Question put and agreed to and the Bill read a second time.

Committed to the committee of the whole House.

Committee on Thursday, 5th December, 2013.

__________

COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY

[THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES in the 
Chair]

VOTE 44 – (Ministry of Labour and Social Security – K42,550,877).

(Consideration resumed)

Interruptions

The Deputy Chairperson: Order!

It is an unbecoming conduct.

The Minister of Labour and Social Security (Mr Shamenda): Mr Chairperson, unfortunately, Hon. Mwiimbu is not in the House. However, be that as it may, I just want to assure him that since the change of Government, we have been engaging quietly with all the investors, local or otherwise. We have had serious meetings with investors and their Directors of Human Resources to the extent that directives were given that non-Zambians should not participate in being in charge of human resource in any of the companies. 

Further, it was directed that all those who are practising human resources matters should be members of the Zambia Institute of Human Resource, as was indicated by Hon. Mwanza. 

Mr Chairperson, this is to ensure that only professionals handle issues of human resource. There may be small pockets here and there, but I would like to confirm to this august House that the situation has improved tremendously. We have had discussions with investors who are in the contracting or mining sector, the Chinese. Wherever there are problems, hon. Members, as I had indicated sometime back, the best labour inspectors that we have are the hon. Members of Parliament who have investors operating in their constituencies. If there are areas where we feel that our people are being exploited, we are more than willing to be approached. 

Mr Chairperson, in this vein, we have written to the Clerk of the National Assembly expressing our desire to arrange for a tour and a small presentation at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, for the first time, for all those hon. Members who belong to the Committee on Labor to come to our offices. We are equally inviting the Public Service Management Division to make a presentation to them so that they understand how the negotiations within the Government are conducted and what led to some of the distortions which the Government is trying to clear.

Finally, Sir, I would like to appeal to the House to stop politicking as far as issues of industrial relations are concerned, particularly, when we are looking at workers who are in essential services. I am making a passionate appeal for us to avoid politicising the issues of industrial relations in essential service institutions.

Mr Chairperson, as far as the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) arrangement and other hospitals are concerned, I would like to, once again, make an earnest appeal that there was some serious misunderstanding and some of it was deliberate. When we talked about the promises that the Government as regards the improvement of the working conditions of the health workers, it was made very clear, in the statement which was made by the hon. Minister of Health, immediately after the change of Government, that there were serious adjustments upwards for the members of staff in the Ministry of Health. Arising from that, and looking at the other conditions prevailing in the Civil Service, it was suggested that we improve the working conditions for the general workers in the Public Service, hence the issue of increasing the salaries for the lowest paid by 200 per cent. 

Sir, when the 200 per cent increment was announced, it was graduated. At the topmost, it came to 0 per cent increment. You cannot increase the salary of a Permanent Sectary by 200 per cent and then increase, by 200 per cent, the salary for the cleaner. It goes without saying that it has to be graduated. So, the 200 per cent was awarded to the lowest paid civil servants and this is what, to some extent, was misunderstood by other people. Therefore, the lowest paid in the Civil Service was awarded a salary increment of 200 per cent. As we were going up, as I said earlier, it came to 0 per cent and, for the nurses, in some cases, it came to 4 per cent.

Mr Chairperson, I would also like to appeal to the hon. Members of the House for us to be factual. Let us avoid misleading the public out there. It was said, on the Floor of this House, …

Mr Nkombo: On a point of order, Sir.

The Deputy Chairperson: A point of order is raised.

Mr Nkombo: Mr Chairperson, thank you for awarding me this point of order on the hon. Minister, who up to a certain juncture, was doing very well. 

Sir, the hon. Minister has belaboured to explain to this House that the awarding of salaries in percentage terms was graduated. Just two weeks ago, his counterpart, the hon. Minister of Health, indicated, in no uncertain terms, that the there were errors in the computation of the calculation of the salary increments to the health workers to which he recorded regret. Is he in order to continue giving us his statement that is contradictory to his own colleague’s statement in the PF Cabinet?

The Deputy Chairperson: The serious ruling is that since he has not finished making a submission on the question of salaries, he is in order. Maybe, he will be coming to that.

The hon. Minister may continue.

Mr Shamenda: Mr Chairperson, even in the graduated arrangement, as the awarding comes to 50 per cent, there could be some mistakes in certain categories …

Laughter 

Mr Shamenda: … and this is what happened with the nurses. With the nurses, it was not only the award of the salaries as wages, per se, there were new allowances which were introduced. In introducing those new allowances, there were some calculations which were not done properly and it is from here that problems arose. Between September and last month, all those anomalies have been corrected. You can check the pay slips of the nurses. I have copies of some of those pay slips which show that those anomalies have been corrected. 

Mr Chairperson, before the point of order was raised, I had just started talking about being factual. When we say the strike was illegal, if you look at Cap. 268, Section 107, it is a very serious offence for a person, who is an essential service provider, to go on strike. We are law-makers and I do not expect us, as law-makers, to encourage other citizens to break the laws which we make.

Hon Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Shamenda: Sir, let us let other people encourage citizens, but not us. If we encourage lawyers to break the law, then, who will be the custodian of the law? If the lawyers go on an illegal strike and we are the first ones to say that they should not be punished for breaking the law, then, we are going to have a serious problem.

Sir, finally, still on being factual, it is malicious for anybody to implicate His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, and say that he was the hon. Minister of Health when the doctors where dismissed. Mr Michael Sata was nowhere near the corridors of the Ministry of Health.

Hon. Opposition Members: Question!

Mr Shamenda: The Minister of Health at that particular time, may his soul rest in peace, was Mr David Mpamba. The Deputy Minister of Health was Dr Katele Kalumba, who is still alive and can be consulted. 

Mr Chairperson, I would like to thank the hon. Members for all their comments. We take their criticism as part of what is going to build us and we take it in good faith.

I thank you, Sir. 

VOTE 44/01 – (Ministry of Labor and Social Security – Headquarters – K13,910,075).    

Mr Mbulakulima (Chembe): Mr Chairperson, I seek clarification on Programme 5000, Activity 002 – Salaries Division II – K2,722,738. Why has it increased from K1,382,260, in 2013, to K2,722,738, in 2014, which is actually 100 per cent increment, taking into account that there will be a wage freeze next year? Can I know what this increment is all about? If it is a movement of staff, where are they …

The Deputy Chairperson: The question has been made.

Mr Mbulakulima: … coming from?

The Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Security (Mr Mbulu): Mr Chairperson, this is the amount that is needed to pay salaries for employees in Division II in the Human Resource and Administration departments. The variance is due to the salary increment that was awarded to civil servants.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Livune (Katomobola): Mr Chairperson, I seek clarification on Programme 5002, Activity 007 – Labour Day Celebration – K56,000. In 2013, there was a huge figure that was provided but, in 2014, there is a serious reduction. Why do we have this serious reduction seeing as this ministry is the mother of these activities?

Mr Mbulu: Mr Chairperson, this is the money needed for ministerial Labour Day preparations and hosting. The variance is due to the need to free up some resources to other prioritised areas and developmental programmes.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Miyanda (Mapatizya): Mr Chairperson, I seek clarification on Programme 5002, Activity 010 – Exhibition at Zambia International Trade Fair and Agriculture and Commercial Show – K68,000. In 2013, there was an allocation of K163,000. Why do we have this reduction?

Mr Mbulu: Mr Chairperson, this money is needed to participate in the Agriculture and Commercial Show and Trade Fair. The variance is due to the need to free up some resources to other prioritised developmental core programmes.

I thank you, Chairperson. 

Mr Sing’ombe (Dundumwezi): Mr Chairperson, I seek clarification on Programme 5001, Activity 040 – K250, 000. May I know why there has been a reduction in the allocation.

Mr Mbulu: Mr Chairperson, may he repeat his question. I did not get him clearly.

The Deputy Chairperson: The hon. Member may repeat his question.

Mr Sing’ombe: Mr Chairperson, I seek clarification on Programme 5001, Activity 040 – K250,000. This year, there is a provision of K425,000 and next year, there is a provision of K250,000. Why do we have this reduction?

Mr Mbulu: Mr Chairperson, this money is needed to pay for water and electricity services. The variance is due to the introduction of prepaid utility facilities.

I thank you, Mr Chairperson.

Mr Antonio (Kaoma Central): Mr Chairperson, I seek clarification on Programme 5125, Activity 701 – Staff Tours − Nil. Next year, there is no funding. Does it mean that there will be no more tours for the staff?

Mr Mbulu: Mr Chairperson, this money is intended to undertake registration and inventory of all ministerial office equipment and provide technical advice. The non-budgeting for this activity is because the budget line will be executed under Programme 5026, Human Resource Management, Activity 002 – Public Service Tours on page 577 of the Yellow Book.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Mufalali (Senanga): Mr Chairperson, I seek clarification on Programme 5001, Activity 003 – Office Administration – K125,000 and Programme 5075, Activity 001 − Services to Ministers and Permanent Secretary – K1,410,000. Why do we have this discrepancy of allocating too much money to this activity compared to the general distribution of the office administration?

Mr Mbulu: Mr Chairperson, starting from the last question that the hon. Member asked, last year, we had approved K1.4 billion, before rebasing. We have just increased it by K15,000, which is basically K15 million. The variance, logically, is that we expect some increases in our provision of goods and services. For the general administration of the office, this amount is needed to cover administrative costs to ensure the smooth operation of the department. The variance is due to budgetary constraints although certain expenses will be undertaken under General Human Resource Management within headquarters.

I thank you, Sir. 

Mr Lufuma (Kabompo West): Mr Chairperson, I seek clarification on Programme 5034, Activity 009 – Registry Operations − Nil. In 2013, K93,685 was allocated. Next year, this on-going routine activity is not allocated any funds. Could I know why this is so.

Mr Mbulu: Mr Chairperson, this activity has been moved to Human Resource Management, Headquarters.

I thank you, Sir. 

Vote 44/01 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

VOTE 44/02 – (Ministry of Labour and Social Security – Labour Department – K5,657.227).

Mr Mbulakulima: Mr Chairperson, I seek clarification on Programme 1368, Activity 001 – Industrial Relations Management – K150,000. This year, there was an allocation of K400,000 and next year, there is an allocation of K150,000. This is a very critical component in our industrial relations. Therefore, what is the reason for this reduction?

Mr Mbulu: Mr Chairperson, the ministry has streamlined these operations. We have looked at the number of officers who were undertaking this activity and we are trying to reduce it. At the same time, we are also incorporating this activity in the major Headquarters budget.

I thank you, Sir. 

Mr Sing’ombe: Mr Chairperson, I seek clarification on Programme 5002, Activity 038 – ILO Conference/Governing Body Meetings – K160,000. In 2013, K1,319,2000 was allocated. Therefore, why has this amount reduced to that level?

Mr Mbulu: This money is needed to attend the ILO Governing Body meetings that are held in March, June and November in Geneva. The variance is due to the fact that Zambia will cease to be a titular member of the International Labour Organisation Governing Body in 2014. As a result of this, the frequency and the size of the delegation which will be travelling and attending the conference will be drastically reduced.

I thank you, Sir.{mospagebreak}

Mr Lufuma: Mr Chairperson, may I have clarification on Programme 5002, Activity 047 – ILO Annual Conference – K40,000. I assume that the annual conference will remain the same in terms of budgetary allocations. However, in this year’s Budget, we have K319,200, which is a substantial amount, but next year it has been drastically reduced to K40,000 only. Could I know the rationale behind this.

Mr Mbulu: Mr Chairperson, his money is needed to attend the annual ILO Conference. The variance is due to the reduced number of the people that will be delegates to the conference from now going forward.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Antonio: Mr Chairperson, may I have clarification on Programme 5003, Activity 008 – Long Term Training – K181,517 and Activity 023 – Training – K49,000. The Budget for 2014 has drastically reduced. Does it mean that the people who are supposed to be trained, both on long and short-term basis, have reached the sky?

Mr Mbulu: Mr Chairperson, under Programme 5003 Activity 008 – Long Term Training – K181,517 and Activity 023 – Training – K49,000, this money will be needed to pay for tuition, travel and subsistence fees for officers undertaking long-term training. The variance is meant for officers now undertaking the long-term training locally due to budgetary constraints. 

I thank you, Sir.

Vote 44/02 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 44/03 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 44/04 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 44/05 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

VOTE 44/06 – (Ministry of Labour and Social Security – Social Security Department – K3,662,198).

Ms Lubezhi (Namwala): Mr Chairperson …

Mr Mufalali: On a point of order, Sir.

The Deputy Chairperson: A point of order is raised. Do not raise a point of order before she has said anything.

Mr Mufalali: I thank you for your guidance, Mr Chairperson.

Mr Chairperson, is the hon. Deputy Minister in order to mislead me and the House when answering my question on the allocation to management under the headquarters. He said it will be under the Human Resource Department. We are coming the end, but there is no Human Resource Department in his ministry. Is he in order to mislead me?

The Deputy Chairperson: I will make no ruling because you have raised the point belatedly. You should have been alert. 

Continue, Hon. Lubezhi.

Ms Lubezhi: Mr Chairperson, may I have clarification on Programme 5005, Activity 239 – Social Pension Design Unit − Nil. I would like to find out why this unit has not been funded.

Mr Mbulu: Mr Chairperson, may the hon. Member repeat her question.

The Deputy Chairperson: May you repeat the question for the benefit of the hon. Minister.

Ms Lubezhi: Mr Chairperson, may I have clarification on Programme 5005, Activity 239 – Social Pension Design Unit − Nil. I would like to find out why this unit is not funded.

Mr Shamenda: There will be no more grants that will be provided to this institution because it has ceased to exist.

I thank you, Sir.

Mr Sing’ombe: Mr Chairperson, may I have clarification on Programme 5073 …

The Deputy Chairperson: We have gone past page 588. We are dealing with items on page 589, Head 44/06.

Mr Lufuma: Mr Chairperson, may I have clarification on Programme 5069, Activity 024 – Pre and Post Retirement Management − Nil. This, I assume, is an on-going Activity, and I, therefore, expected that there would be an allocation next year. However, there is no allocation this year while, last year, there was an allocation of K100,000. Could I know the reason this is so.

Mr Mbulu: Mr Chairperson, this money is needed to manage the transition of public and private sector workers into retirement. This Activity will be undertaken under the same Programme, but under Activity 007 – Social Security Reforms – K1,424,335. This Activity is on page 589 of the Yellow Book.

I thank you, Mr Chairperson.

Vote 44/06 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

VOTE 76 – (Ministry of Youth and Sport – K76,873,220).

The Minister of Youth and Sport (Mr Kambwili): Mr Chairperson, Zambia has beaten Somalia by four goals to zero. 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kambwili: Mr Chairperson, it is my honour and privilege to present to this august House the policy statement for the Ministry of Youth and Sport in support of the 2014 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure.

Interruptions

The Deputy Chairperson: Order!

Mr Kambwili: Mr Chairperson, firstly, allow me to highlight the mandate for the ministry. The ministry draws its mandate from the portfolio functions, as outlined in Gazette Notice No. 183 of 2012 and as reinforced by Gazette Notice No. 561 of 2012. Specifically, the portfolio functions and subjects are as follows:

(a)    youth policy;

(b)    sports policy;

(c)    sports development;

(d)    youth development;

(e)    co-ordination of youth organisations; and 

(f)    co-ordination of sports organisations.

Mr Speaker, to give direction to the development process and service delivery, the ministry is guided by mission, goal and value statements. The mission statement for the Ministry of Youth and Sport is:

“To effectively promote and manage the development and implementation of youth empowerment and sport programmes in order to create economic opportunities and attain excellence in sport.”

Sir, through this mission statement, the ministry will provide leadership through policy and regulatory frameworks. 

Mr Speaker, …

The Deputy Chairperson: Mr Chairperson. 

Mr Kambwili: Mr Chairperson, the value statement of the ministry in the period 2013-2016 is as follows:

“The Ministry of Youth and Sport will serve its clients while upholding the following core values and virtues: Accountability; transparency; hard work; goal-orientation; fair play; client focus; unity of purpose; and team work.”

Mr Chairperson, through this value statement, the ministry staff will endeavour to exhibit and conduct themselves in a manner that is beyond reproach at all times, especially when dealing with potential and existing clients. 

Mr Chairperson, the goal statement of the ministry shall be as follows:

“To achieve an increased number of modern sports infrastructure and equipment at national, provincial and district levels for enhanced sports development and to achieve increased access to quality youth programmes at provincial and district levels in order to reduce vulnerability and poverty among the youth.” 

Through this goal statement, the ministry is committed to ensuring that there is a reduction in destitution among youth through the acquisition of skills and easy access to sports infrastructure by all sports persons. 

Mr Chairperson, the objectives of the ministry are as follows:

(a)    to develop, implement and support youth empowerment initiatives for active youth participation and sustainable national development;

(b)    to provide and maintain adequate modern sports infrastructure at school, district, provincial and national levels in order to increase citizens’ participation;

(c)    to effectively co-ordinate and manage the implementation of sports development programmes in order to enhance excellence and professionalism in sport;

(d)    to co-ordinate the formulation and review of policies and legislation in order to provide a framework for effective implementation of sports and youth programmes;

(e)    to effectively and efficiently plan, monitor and evaluate the implementation of youth and sports programmes in order to enhance realisation of set goals and targets; and

(f)    to effectively and efficiently manage and develop human resources in order to enhance individual and organisational performance; and

(g)    provide financial administrative and logistical support services in order to enhance the operation and implementation of the ministry’s programmes.  

Mr Chairperson, in the 2014/2016 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period, the ministry will be guided by the following reviewed policies: 

(a)    Youth Policy;

(b)    National Action Plan for the Youth;

(c)    Strategic Plan;

(d)    National Youth Council Act;

(e)    National Sports Council Act; and

(f)    Sports Policy

Mr Chairperson, in 2013, my ministry was allocated a total of K76.7 million. In 2014, a total of K76.9 has been allocated, representing a marginal increase of 0.3 per cent. In the 2014 Budget, the ministry will prioritise the implementation of the following programmes and activities:

(a)    transition from skills development to industry market;

(b)    construction of Mwange Youth Resource Centre;

(c)    construction of Chinsali Sports Complex;

(d)    talent identification in sport;

(e)    strengthening of National Youth Council;

(f)    strengthening of the national sports council of Zambia (NSCZ);

(g)    disbursement of grants to youth resources centres, institutions; and 

(h)    disbursement of grants to sports institutions and associations.

Mr Chairperson, allow me to highlight the major achievements during 2013. A total of K76.7 million was approved and allocated to the ministry and by 31st August, 2013, K35.1 million had been released and disbursed. Implementation of programmes and activities for 2013 is still on-going and some of the achievements made as at 31st August, 2013, include the following:

    Policy and Planning

Sir, under policy and planning, the ministry successfully reviewed the Youth Policy, National Action Plan for the Youth and National Youth Council Act. 

Youth Infrastructure Development 

The ministry commenced the construction of youth resource centres in the following areas:

(a)    Chiyota in Kafue, in Lusaka Province;

(b)    Kwilimuna in Mpongwe;

(c)    Chililabombwe and Luanshya on the Copperbelt;

(d)    Chama in Muchinga Province;

(e)    Kalabo in Western Province.

    Regional and Continental Games 

Sir, the ministry successfully hosted the 2013 Confederation of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Senior Challenge Cup. 

    
Sports Infrastructure Development 

Sir, the ministry has continued with the construction of the National Heroes Stadium, which is almost complete, and land clearing for the construction of Mongu and Livingstone stadia have commenced. 

Mr Chairperson, during the MTEF period, 2014-2016, the Ministry of Youth and Sport will prioritise the implementation of the following programmes: 

Department of Youth 

Sir, with regard to infrastructure development in the Department of Youth, my ministry will continue to construct and rehabilitate youth resource centres. Funds allowing, our target is to build one resource centre in each district. 

With regard to youth affairs and development, the ministry will continue to equip the youth resource centres with tools that will enable the students to acquire knowledge in accordance with prevailing technology. 

Department of Sport

Mr Chairperson, concerning infrastructure development in the Department of Sport, the ministry will continue to build ultra-modern sports facilities and upgrade the existing ones to modern international standards. 

Talent Identification

Further, Sir, the ministry will continue to facilitate the achievement of medals in all sports disciplines through talent identification. 

Mr Chairperson, in conclusion, I wish to inform the House that Zambia has successfully lodged in a bid for the hosting of the Africa Cup of Nations 2019 and the results are expected in May, 2014. I wish to appeal to hon. Members to support the budget allocation to my ministry for 2014. 

I thank you, Sir. 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mooya (Moomba): Mr Chairperson, I thank you for the opportunity to debate. I have three or four issues to discuss. Firstly, I want to thank Mr Herve Renard, popularly known as ‘The Fox’. Secondly, I also would like to talk about his replacement. Thirdly, I also wish to comment on the rehabilitation of the Maramba Stadium and, lastly, but not the least, I want to discuss the Heroes National Stadium here in Lusaka. 

Sir, I must confess that I was one of the critics who openly criticised the re-hiring of the former coach, Mr Herve Renard, after he had abandoned our team. We know that he stayed in Angola for a short time after which he moved to Algeria, then back to Zambia. When he came back to Zambia. I, as one of the critics, told him that I would forgive him for abandoning us if he brought us the Africa Cup. He brought us the Cup and I forgave him. 

Laughter 

Mr Mooya: The article in which I forgave him is on page 12 of the Times of Zambia Newspaper of 3rd March, 2012. 

Mr Chairperson, the Zambia National Football Team also won the Mandela Cup and the 2013 COSAFA. Above all, we are in the annals of history as former champions and are, therefore, referred to as former champions wherever we go and play. I remember that even the pupils we taught how to play football − I will not name them − did much better than us and won the cup earlier than we did, but nevertheless, we are there in the books of history. Good bye, Renard. Good bye, my hero. Good bye, my friend.

Hon Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mooya: I am happy with his replacement because the new coach needs no time to adapt. There is that continuity which we require, but we need results. I wanted to debate for a longer time, but I have been excited by the announcement that we have beaten Somalia by four goals to zero.

Hon Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mooya: That is what we want. It is very annoying that, not long ago, we were ranked number seven or eight in Africa, but now we are number fifteen. In the world, we are ranked number Seventy-two. That is very bad. The new coach must be encouraged to do better.

Thirdly, Sir, I want to talk about the rehabilitation of the Maramba Stadium. I have not been to the site, but in one of the pictures in the newspaper, I saw that this stadium has a flight of stairs from the ground up to where people sit and it is very high. I think it is about two to three metres high. I think we must have standards. Normally, when you have a staircase, in between, there is a landing for people to rest. Even when we climb here at Parliament, I think the last staircase is too much such that some of us feel tired in the end and that is why we have that landing meant for people to rest. Imagine going up carrying your own weight for two to three metres. That is too much. I expected that there could be some landing for the people to rest, especially when they are climbing.

Mr Chairperson, on the Heroes National Stadium, I think some concerns were raised and I want the hon. Minister to say something regarding the roof. There were complaints that the roof does not look very durable. I want an assurance from the hon. Minister that the roof will last, at least, fifty years. There were also complaints about the electrification of the stadium which was overlooked during its construction. As a result, this has caused a delay in the commissioning of the stadium which would have been done a long time ago. Therefore, I would like the hon. Minister to assure us that this stadium will be commissioned soon.

Finally, Sir, let me also congratulate our team, the National Assembly Team, popularly known as “Parliamentarians”. I think , if I am not wrong, it will bounce back to Super Division next year.

Mr Mwaliteta: It has.

Mr Mooya: I have been assured that it has. My appeal here is that, WE support the team. I am appealing to every hon. Member of Parliament to give something financially every month so that it stays in the Super Division forever and ever.

I thank you, Mr Chairperson.

Mr Mbulakulima (Chembe): Mr Chairperson, I thank you for this rare opportunity to enable me to make some very few remarks. I will restrict myself to sport, soccer in particular.

Mr Chairperson, you know that football is a unifying factor. It is a known fact that there is no sport in the world that is like football. It is the most popular sport across the globe and we, in Zambia, follow the same trend. The concern I would like to present to the hon. Minister is the current form of the Zambia National Soccer Team. Since we last won the Africa Cup, we have not lived as champions. We went to Gabon with a bang. However, thereafter, it seems like we have just evaporated. The recent form is a source of concern because we have been on the decline. There is a need, indeed, for us to jack up the standards. As Hon. Mooya has said, being ranked seventy-second on the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) ranking is not a good thing. It has an effect on our boys because they cannot directly play in the European leagues because they first have to go through trials. However, if we are ranked below fifty or forty, then, it enables players to directly play in the European leagues.

Mr Chairperson, what we need to do is strengthen these friendly games that we are having. We must take them very seriously. If we are not ready to play, let us not engage in friendly matches because they have a bearing on the FIFA rankings. We used to be in the top ten, but nowadays we are out of those brackets. Indeed, it is a source of concern. Definitely, beating teams like Somalia is nothing to write home about. I am aware that there is no small country nowadays with regards to football, but I think going by what we have achieved as a country, by African standards, we should be in the category of Senegal, Cameroon and Nigeria. Those are the countries we should rub shoulders with. Most of our colleagues at that level, like Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal, have actually stopped playing local teams for warm-up games. What we saw when our team played China in Brazil, even though we lost by two goals to zero, is what we call losing with honour and dignity. We should be able to play Mexico, Germany and so on and so forth. I think that is the standard we should aspire to reach.

Mr Chairperson, as regards the employment of the coach, my submission is quite the opposite of what my colleague, who spoke earlier, said. I was for Herve Renard, knowing his record. I knew he was a good coach because he used to follow the local league. He was also very good in terms of talent identification and, on this aspect, I doubt the successor. The most critical thing, hon. Minister, is not about the colour of the skin. A lot of Zambians have expressed views that we need to go for a local coach while some have opted for a foreign coach. However, what we need to do is go for somebody who can deliver, regardless of the colour of their skin. You know very well that in Europe, for example, most of the coaches coaching national teams, or even clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United, are not indigenous people. They come from outside. Even in Africa, we had our own, the late Benny Bamufuchile, who was coaching in Namibia. We have a lot of coaches who are also trading their skills in South Africa and Botswana.

There, Sir, what we need is somebody who will be able to take Zambia to where it is supposed to be so that even when we watch football in our living rooms, we know that Zambia will deliver. In this regard, a coach has got a very critical role to play. Therefore, the advice I would give is that we really need to be very careful …

Mr Chilangwa: On a point of order, Sir.

The Deputy Chairperson: A point of order is raised.

Mr Chilangwa: Mr Chairperson, is Hon. Lubezhi in order to continue moving from one seat to the other enticing people to walk out one by one so that she collapses the quorum? I need your serious ruling.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mulenga: That is a good observation!

The Deputy Chairperson: Well, you have your own observation. The Chairperson is unable to rule on that because it is normal for hon. Members of Parliament to consult one another. 

Ms Lubezhi: Yes!

The Deputy Chairperson: So, I see nothing out of this world in what the hon. Member is doing. After all, unless you used telepathy, it is very difficult for you to hear what she is talking about there.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

The Deputy Chairperson: The Chairperson must confess that he has heard nothing to that effect.

May the hon. Member continue, please.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mbulakulima: Mr Chairperson, before the point of order was raised, I was advising the hon. Minister on the employment of the coach that he should be careful because he knows the way Zambians take football. As I earlier said, it is viewed as the number one sport. Literally, all Zambians are stakeholders regarding the employment of the coach. So, there might be a need for us to advertise for new coach. If we do not advertise, then, there must be wider consultation so that everybody has a say on the employment of the coach. At the end of the day, we shall say we all participated.

Sir, at the moment, the assistant coach leaves much to be desired because he came in as number two and has got no past record that will enable you to rate him up to the international standards. Of course, he could be a starter and might make a grade, but I think Zambians are very cautious and skeptical about his ability to take the Zambia National Football Team to greater heights.

Mr Chairperson, the other point I want to share with you, hon. Minister, is something that is not part of the Budget, but regards sports − the racial discrimination in soccer. This issue baffles me a lot. Beyond ten years in the 21st Century, there are a lot of people who still discriminate and have no regard for their fellow human beings. I am talking about how black players have suffered at the hands of our colleagues in Europe. I think you know that those players from Senegal, Cameroon, South Africa, including Zambia, have been jeered at and booed. Monkey sounds are made as they play football and we wonder whether it is that our colleagues in Europe have never seen how black people have succeeded in every industry be it music or boxing. Today, the President of the biggest country …

Mr L. J. Ngoma: On a point of order, Sir.

The Deputy Chairperson: A point of order is raised.

Mr L. J. Ngoma: My apologies to Hon. Mbulakulima, ba Zambia.

Sir, are we in order to continue deliberating without a quorum in place because we are less than fifty-three?

Interruptions

Hon. Government Members: That was the plan!

The Deputy Chairperson: Order!

May the Clerk, please, count the hon. Members present. I hope that was not the plan when you were talking to Hon. Lubezhi.

Hon. Government Members: That was the plan!

Interruptions

The Deputy Chairperson: Order!

Let us be in our positions.

Mr Mwenya left his seat

The Deputy Chairperson: Hon. Musenge Mwenya, we are counting.

May you ring the bells?

Business was suspended for a few minutes

[THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES in the
Chair]

The Deputy Chairperson: We now have a quorum. May the hon. Member continue, please.

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Mbulakulima: I thank you, Mr Chairperson. I was saying that we, as black people, have suffered at the hands of our colleagues in Europe. We have the skill, talent and taken football to higher heights in Europe, but they continue jeering and booing at us. I think this is not good. While FIFA has tried its best to put proper sanctions, I think the sanctions are not punitive enough because the football fans continue jeering and defying the law that FIFA has put in place.

Sir, I am aware that Blatter is a friend of Africa and he has tried his best to make sure that there is harmony in this sport, but this has continued. What I believe, hon. Minister, is that we, as Africans, have not played our role in this regard. In this case, I suggest that we, as Zambians, can initiate what ought to be done. Let us be the first ones to take this issue to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) or African Union (AU) where the Heads of State in Africa should be able to strongly speak against the racial discrimination that the African players suffer in Europe. We must send the message that we are not happy. All along, we have remained very docile as Africans, and yet our children and brothers continue suffering at the hands of our colleagues. What wrong have we really done to the people we believe are civilized that they should treat us in this manner in the 21st Century, and yet we are the best sports men and women in this world?

With these few remarks, Mr Chairperson, I thank you.

Mr Mucheleka (Lubansenshi): Thank very much, Mr Chairperson, for the opportunity given to me to contribute to the debate on this Vote. I will also try to concentrate on the youth’s side of the hon. Minister’s policy statement on the budget for the Ministry of Youth and Sport. 

Mr Chairperson, you may wish to agree with me that Zambia is a signatory to the 2006 African Union Youth Charter, and the Charter was drawn to address the growing needs of the youths on the continent. The biggest challenge of our time, apart from high levels of poverty, is, indeed, the issue of youth unemployment. This is a matter that concerns all of us. It is an African problem and a Zambian one.

Sir, the African Union Youth Charter on the youths has drawn up a framework which countries can use with regard to mainstreaming the issues concerning the youth in our respective countries, including Zambia. These issues include empowerment, development and ensuring that our youths participate in decision-making positions at various levels, but the question is: To what extent has the Ministry of Youth and Sport, indeed, popularised this particular charter? Are the youths themselves aware of this charter and its objectives and the rights that are contained therein? To what extent are the civil society organisations aware about this youth charter? To what extent are different stakeholders aware about this charter?

Sir, this is a charter that clearly outlines the rights of the youth and the steps that we should take as a signatory. As a signatory to this charter, we should not only end at signing and ratifying it, but we should also domesticate and implement it. Once implemented, this charter will help the ministry to comprehensively deal with national youth policies that address the plight and aspirations of the youth.

Sir, the challenge we have is that it is not clear whether or not we have accurate statistical data regarding the plight of the youths. As we debate, do we know that the largest population of this country is composed of youths. The youth of this country form over 60 per cent of the population. What are we doing to try to empower those youths economically? What are we doing about the fact that those who are graduating from tertiary institutions are not able to find formal jobs? How are we empowering them to ensure that they have access to financial services that will enable them to go into businesses as entrepreneurs and to what extent have we also revised the education curriculum so that the youths are prepared to create their own jobs?

Mr Speaker, in this country, quite often, we have seen what has happened to our youths. It is our youths who are being used by politicians to engage in violence. The youths are butchering each other because of failed politicians who cannot make it on their own. These politicians appeal to the youths, who are idle, and use them to carry out violent acts. This is an important ministry which should be at the centre of providing direction to the youths so that they can be effective and efficient in improving their livelihoods. 

Sir, why should we have so much youth unemployment in a country that is so rich? Why should there be so many poor people whose majority are youths? Is it possible, even as we debate, to prioritise the needs of our youths so that, indeed, they play their meaningful role in society? We should be talking about linking vocational training and looking at issues of business development, skills development and helping youths become employers as well as people who can create their own employment.

Mr Chairperson, I would like to urge the hon. Minister to address these issues when he comes to wind up debate and indicate to this country that the youths, indeed, can have a future. I appreciate all the positive issues that the hon. Minister has raised in his policy statement. However, I would like to say that we must also minimise the issue of politicising the Youth Empowerment Funds. For instance, I am aware that youth empowerment funds have been used or given out to various youths, but to what extent have we really assessed to determine the economic viability of most of those projects on which these funds have been used? I would like to suggest that, in future, before funds are given out, a proper viability analysis should be conducted to ensure that only projects that are viable are funded. To do that, you do not just need to look at youths belonging to a particular political party. If you are not aware, we are actually sitting on a time bomb and it is only right that, as leaders from various political parties, we take our responsibilities seriously. As leaders, we need to take the lead in ensuring that we do what is right and make our youths function.

Sir, the youths also have to take responsibility by being good citizens and desist from being used as pawns. They should desist from being used as tools for violence. In the last few months, what have we seen in this country? Sadly, we have seen how our youths are being abused and that is unfortunate. Let us use our youths in a fair way. In any case, why do we not use our own relatives? Instead, you go to other families and use those youths who are poor. You are taking advantage of their poverty and think you can use them to be violent. That must stop because the same youths can turn against you and do to you what they are doing to other people. Tomorrow, they will do what you are telling them to do on you. So, these issues affecting youths must be addressed very seriously. I want to see youths being able to participate in decision-making and that will require collaborative efforts.

Mr Chairperson, when it comes to sports, I am aware that we need to create serious linkages between the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education and the Ministry of Youth and Sport. I remember very well that Vincent Chileshe came from Roan Parliamentary Constituency, where the hon. Minister comes from. As a school boy, he was a goalkeeper for the national team. Currently, what are we doing? We are building schools without sports infrastructure and one wonders whether there is any linkage between the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education and the Ministry of Youth and Sport. I would like to call for serious collaboration between the Ministry of Youth and Sport and relevant ministries. Only then can we ensure that the issues affecting the youths are placed on the agenda. From there, we can look at how best to develop the sports disciplines using the youths. Over time, we will begin to take count of the quality of jobs that we are creating and how many youths we are empowering. Only then can we say that, indeed, the youths have a future in this country.

With these few remarks, I thank you, Sir.

Mr Bwalya (Lupososhi): Mr Chairperson, thank you for giving me an opportunity to support the budget for the Ministry of Youth and Sport. I want to talk to the hon. Minister on behalf of the people of Lupososhi Constituency.

Hon. Kambwili, you head an important ministry. This ministry is the agent of change. It is the youth of this country who can advocate for change. It is the youth who woke up in numbers, on that particular day when we went to the polls in 2011, to usher the Patriotic Front (PF) into Government. It is this ministry that I can term a make or break ministry because the youth command or make up the largest portion of the Zambian population. Therefore, the hon. Minister has a daunting task, one that needs to be taken seriously. The hon. Minister has to ensure that we look after our youths who must be given …

Business was suspended from 1815 hours until 1830 hours.{mospagebreak}

[THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES in the 
Chair]

Mr Bwalya: Mr Chairperson, before business was suspended, I was saying that this ministry is very critical to the development of this country because it is responsible for the very people who are agents of change. Therefore, we must nurture it and ensure that we give it the requirements that it needs.

Mr Chairperson, I want to talk about women in sport. This country is getting a lot of recognition and praise because the women of this country are performing very well in sport. We have the Esther Phiris and Catherine Phiris of this world and, very recently, the women’s under 17 football team qualified to the World Cup. This is quite a remarkable legacy and one which we must protect. Hopefully, we will be able to build on this particular legacy. 

This, therefore, takes me to the fact that the hon. Minister of Youth and Sport must pay serious attention to women’s football. As earlier pointed out, football is a unifying factor. Whether it is men or women playing, we get united in support of the game of football. Therefore, we need to invest in women’s sports so that we can continue getting the recognition that we are earning because of the women of this country.

Sir, the other issue I want to urge the hon. Minister of Youth and Sport to look at seriously is the involvement of persons who are physically challenged in sports. This particular group of our people has not gotten the attention that it deserves. When I was watching the Supersport channel, I saw men and women who are physically challenged participating in athletics and they performed very well. One cannot even tell that these people had artificial limbs. They are able to run even faster than those of us who are not physically challenged. Therefore, this is another issue that the hon. Minister of Youth and Sport must ensure that we pay serious attention to them and possibly provide adequate funding so that this particular group of our members of society also breaks into the international arena and even get gold or silver medals.

Mr Chairperson, the other aspect that I want to bring to the attention of the hon. Minister of Youth and Sport is on sports infrastructure. It is true that the national resource envelope is not enough and, therefore, we must distribute our resources based on the availability of funds. However, we also need to ensure that we build enough sports infrastructure. There are certain games that seem to be played in certain regions only. Therefore, we must promote these games in other regions so that they can also be part and parcel of these particular games at the national level. 

However, Sir, some youths are naturally talented in particular games in certain regions. An example is swimming. In this country, places like the Western Province and Chilubi have natural-born swimmers. Therefore, all they need is to be taught the tactics involved in swimming as a sport so that they can develop their skills and participate in competitions. Therefore, for swimming, let us not rely …

Mr Mulusa: On a point of order, Sir.

The Deputy Chairperson: A point of order is raised.

Mr Mulusa: Sir, I rise on a very serious point of order which borders on fraud. Are the ordinary hon. Members of Parliament of the PF in order to defraud the voters by just leaving the debate on this Vote to the hon. Members of Parliament for Lupososhi and Kaputa when millions of youths voted for them in the hope that they would work for them? 

The Deputy Chairperson: The point of order is not sustained.

Mr Bwalya: Mr Chairperson, I was saying that sport in this country is somehow segmented. Nonetheless, we need to get the youths that have natural talent for a particular sport, swimming, for instance, in certain areas and expose them to real and modern technology in this sport. I can assure you that once we do that, they can make very good swimmers and bring a lot of pride to this country.

Sir, it is the same thing with football. Football is also regionalised in this country. History has shown that there are certain areas where footballers in this country come from. Therefore, we need to develop the sport in other places, but we also need to look at those areas where we can get the best. Every country does that. Even in the education sector, we must look at such kind of things. When a pupil is good in certain subjects, we need to have a deliberate policy that will direct him/her to develop that particular ability so that they are recognised in society. Therefore, the hon. Minister has a daunting task in ensuring that sports infrastructure is created in various areas where we can get the best sports men and women.

Mr Chairperson, the other aspect that I want to talk about on the Ministry of Youth and Sport is the Youth Empowerment Fund. This fund is a very good tool for empowering the youths, as long as we are able to sensitise them on it. There are certain constituencies, like mine, where this fund is merely a story that people hear about. They do not know what is involved in order for them to access it. When they go to the district administration seeking information on how to access this fund, they will still not get the information on how to go about it. They have formed youth development clubs, but all has been in vain.

Mr Chairperson, when I debated on this Vote in 2012, I mentioned that the procedures involved in accessing this fund are too difficult for an ordinary Lupososhi resident to understand. Even the English language on the application forms talking about developing a business plan is too complicated for our youths. 

Sir, it is in this regard that I want to appeal to the hon. Minister of Youth and Sport to revise these procedures. Let us see if we can go further than the provincial headquarters into the districts and possibly into the constituencies and sensitise the youths that there is this money available for them to access so that they can better their living standards. There are those who repair bicycles, especially where I come from. What do they need to do in order to access this fund? There are those youths who are engaged in gardening. Therefore, do we have somebody who can educate and sensitise them on how to access this fund?

Hon. Minister, if the technocrats in this ministry have to do a research, this is an area I would recommend so as to ascertain what the challenges are and why this fund is only being accessed by a few youth and in provincial headquarters.

Mr Chairperson, that is part of my contribution and, yes, I tend to agree with the hon. Member for Lubansenshi, who is my brother and my neighbour, that the youth need not be used in violence. Violence is just that regardless of who incites it. The biggest culprits are ourselves because we are the ones who produce the money with which the youth get drunk and eventually get engaged in various vices. 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!    

Mr Bwalya: Therefore, we need to introspect as hon. Members of Parliament and political leaders and ask whether this is why we were voted for.

Mr Muntanga: PF!

Mr Bwalya: That way, we will make the work of Hon. Chishimba Kambwili very easy because all of us will say no to violence and, by doing that, we will stop funding violence.

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!    

Mr Muntanga: Tell them!

Mr Bwalya: Sir, this is crosscutting. It is not directed at a particular political party. We have to stop engaging certain formulas that we use so that we can preserve the youth and have a responsible youth who can say that they need to have families because they also want to look after their own children. We need to look at that aspect holistically as a nation and across the political divide.

Mr Chairperson, I want to end by saying that the hon. Minister of Youth and Sport is a very strong man. Hon. Minister, you have a cadre of people that you are able to contain and I want to encourage you to continue with the same spirit. I also want to appeal to the hon. Minister of Finance that this ministry needs to be funded in time so that it can attend to the many issues of youths in this country.

I thank you, Sir.

Dr Musokotwane (Liuwa): Mr Chairperson, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Ministry of Youth and Sport.  My contribution will be on the youth. 

Mr Chairperson, listening to both the statement from the Government and the debates, I get the impression that the seriousness of the youth problem in Zambia is not being captured and not being dealt with. 

Mr Chairperson, as has been said by Hon. Mucheleka, the youth comprise the largest number of citizens in this country. They are also the ones who suffer the most due to the lack of employment. The statistics show so but, also, as you walk around, whether it is in the urban areas, such as Lusaka, or the rural areas, you see that the ones who are roaming around without jobs are the youth. 

Mr Chairperson, at the same time, this is the most dangerous group of the population. When they are frustrated and have lost hope, they are like a matchstick or fuel ready to be put on fire. Once that happens, the country will be in trouble. This has happened in many places. I remember reading about the Malaysian race riots in the 1960s when the rest of the population descended upon the minority Chinese believing that they were poor because of the minority Chinese when, in fact, the problem was that there was too much unemployment in the country. The Arab Spring, which happened a few years ago, was also a problem directly related to youth unemployment.

Therefore, I consider youth unemployment to be the biggest socio-economic challenge Zambia is faced with today. Therefore, I expected to hear many initiatives on how this problem is going to be addressed.

Mr Chairperson, we say that the youth are the future leaders of the country. We say that they are the future engineers, lawyers and other professionals. Indeed, it is the youth who are going to be the taxpayers of tomorrow. They will pay up the huge debt that Zambia is acquiring today.

Mr Chairperson, if the youth are going to address the challenges of our country, we have to be clear in our mind on how we should prepare them to deal with that task. In the computer language, they say garbage in, garbage out (GIGO). This means that the result that you get depends on the inputs. If you put bad raw materials in a manufacturing process, it is clear that the product that you are going to get is going to be poor. Therefore, we have to be very clear about how we prepare our youths to be the future leaders, engineers, lawyers and so on and so forth. We must prepare for that. 

Mr Chairperson, the good thing is that the youth, if properly harnessed, can be the most dynamic group in the country and they can be the most creative. When you reflect through history, you will see that it is the youth that have contributed in momentous terms. The Jesus Christ that we pray to today was a youth. Great musicians all over the world, like Sebastian Bach, and Paul Ngozi, from here, were both youths …

Mr Muntanga: And Jeffrey.

Dr Musokotwane: Yes. They were not seventy years old. It is too late for innovation at that age. The greatest scientist that ever lived, Mr Albert Einstein, was only twenty-four years old when he came up with his theory of relativity. He was twenty-four years old. Later in life, there is nothing of substance that he discovered.

Mr Muntanga: Clear!

Dr Musokotwane: Mr Chairperson, if we do not harness resources to make sure that the youth are creative, then, I am afraid, we will just be saying, as a matter of rhetoric, that the youth are the future leaders of the country. If we do not give good education to our children, the youth, or rather if we give them good training and good opportunities, they will be at the cutting edge of technology producing computers, televisions and other Information Communications Technology (ICTs). If you do not prepare for them, the best industry for them will be charcoal burning. Is that not so?

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Dr Musokotwane: Mr Chairperson, it is as simple as that. There are challenges that the youth are facing. If we are going to get the youth to be what we want them to be, we should ensure that the education facilities in our country are improved. Today, if you read through various reports, for example, from the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education, you would come across situations of pupils in Grade 7 who can hardly read and write and pupils in Grade 9 who can hardly read a letter. If they can hardly read a letter, or read and write, how can we be optimistic that the Zambia of tomorrow is going to be a better Zambia? We cannot be optimistic. 

Sir, with regard to this issue of providing skills for the youths, the other day I was visiting one of the East African countries and furniture was displayed by the roadside. This furniture was made by the youths and what I saw was amazing. It was of very high standard and quality. So, under those circumstances, it will not be surprising if we start importing even basic things like furniture from Kenya or Tanzania. What are we doing to impart skills to our youths so that they are able to produce goods and services that we are able to sell to other countries?

Mr Chairperson, this problem of education and skills development …

Mr Kapeya: On a point of order, Sir.

The Deputy Chairperson: A point of order is raised.

Mr Kapeya: Mr Chairperson, is Hon. Dr Musokotwane in order to start giving examples of Kenya when, just nearby, here, in Mpika, Zambia, the youths are producing good stuff in terms of carpentry? I seek your serious ruling.

The Deputy Chairperson: Order!

The serious ruling is that the hon. Member debating is in order because he is giving an example of what he knows.

Please, continue.

Laughter

Dr Musokotwane: Mr Chairperson, this is precisely what I mean. I have a lot of respect for the hon. Minister, but some people believe that everything that is produced in Zambia is good quality. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Some things are of good quality, but others are not. If we do not produce cheap, but good quality, we will not be able to sell in this world economy.

Mr Mulusa: Garbage in, garbage out!

Dr Musokotwane: Garbage in, garbage out, yes.

Laughter 

Hon. Government Members: Aah!

Dr Musokotwane: Mr Chairperson, there is another problem that the youths are faced with. This is hopelessness. In 2011, they went for elections with the hope that their lot was going to be improved but, today, if you listen to the youths on the streets, they are very disappointed. They have lost hope. They do not know what is going to happen to them.

Sir, I was thinking that the PF Government would take this opportunity, having been voted in overwhelmingly by the youths, to give them hope and the assurance that Zambia is going to move forward. However, today, that hope is nowhere to be seen. So, under the circumstances, I want to make three proposals. There is nothing strange.

Mr Chairperson, the first one is just to get down to the basics …

Mr Muntanga: On a point of order, Sir.

The Deputy Chairperson: A point of order is raised.

Mr Muntanga: Mr Chairperson, is the doctor in order to state that youths were given nothing when they were given pangas and machetes to hammer and catapult themselves, and the police had to take truckloads to offload? Is he in order to say that they were not given anything when they were actually given something?

Laughter

The Deputy Chairperson: Order!

The hon. Member debating is in order because he is referring to the youths he is familiar with.

Please, continue.

Laughter

Dr Musokotwane: Mr Chairperson, I was saying that we needed to get back to the basics of ensuring that we improve the educational standards of our youths. I am not addressing the hon. Minister responsible alone. This is crosscutting. The educational standards must be improved. The skills must also be improved so that the youths of tomorrow are useful to the country.

Mr Chairperson, I also want to propose that this Government takes more serious measures to create employment opportunities. The other day, we were given a number to prove that jobs are being created. However, you just have to walk around the streets to see for yourself how many people are walking around selling plastic frogs and puppies. Those are not the jobs that we rely on. The Government must be very serious about creating jobs. 

Sir, the third proposal that I would like to make is that the attitude of our youths must be re-engineered. These youths were told very sweet stories by this Government which have not materialised. As a result of the absence of jobs and money, what has happened is that these youths have been traumatised. 

Mr Chairperson, there is a very interesting article that I recommend that we all read in the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Science of this week. It says that if you are traumatised, your sons, your grandchildren and their grandchildren will be traumatised without you telling them that you had a traumatic experience before.

Hon. Opposition Member: Social Reproduction.

Dr Musokotwane: The article states that when you are traumatised, the genes in your body learn that you were traumatised and that is passed on over to the next generations. If you were traumatised by a lion, your children and grandchildren will be traumatised even without seeing a lion. 

Sir, therefore, applying that to the issue of ‘Don’t kubeba,’ these youths, who have been ‘don’t kubebad’, having now acquired that trauma in their blood. Their children and grand children will also be traumatised …

Hon. Government Members: Bicycles!

Dr Musokotwane: … in the sense that, in the next generation …

Mr Nkombo: On a point of order, Sir.

The Deputy Chairperson: A point of order is raised.

Mr Nkombo: Sir, the state of trauma after the effect is called post-traumatic disorder. 

Mr Chairperson, are the Members on your right hand side, led by the hon. Minister of Justice, in order to subdue what is coming out of Hon. Dr Musokotwane to the hon. Minister of Youth and Sport by heckling so much …

Hon. Government Members: Aah!

Mr Nkombo: … to a point where we cannot hear what he is saying? What Hon. Dr Musokotwane is saying can be directly related to even the composer of the “Don’t Kubeba” song who made a public apology for singing that song and thereby helping the PF to win. This was a sign of post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Laughter 

The Deputy Chairperson: What is the point of order?

Mr Nkombo: Are they in order to continue making noise so that they subdue what we want to hear, just like they are doing now? 

Hon. Government Members: Question!

Laughter 

Mr Nkombo: I want to hear what Hon. Dr Musokotwane is saying.

Interruptions 

The Deputy Chairperson: Order!

The serious ruling is that there was, indeed, heckling from my right, but I do not know which person on my right was responsible for it. Your point of order is sustained, to the extent that there was heckling. Others were saying ‘bicycles’ and that is not in order.

Continue, Hon. Member for Liuwa.

Dr Musokotwane: As I wind up, I would like to propose that the Government sanitises this culture of “Don’t Kubeba” from the youths of Zambia.

Mr Nkombo: Put it in simpler terms 

Dr Musokotwane: Sir, the PF must cleanse the mind of the Zambian youths because, for now, it is a curse. Their grandchildren and great grandchildren will tend to believe that “Don’t Kubeba” is a normal thing. 

Sir, they will tend to believe that when you meet a colleague and make a false promise to him or her, that is normal life. As a result, Zambia will be a pariah State because those who will be going out of Zambia to conclude a commercial agreement will not be taken seriously. People will say, “These are don’t kubeba people. Do not trust them.” 

Interruptions

Dr Musokotwane: Mr Chairperson, I am very serious about this. Let us cleanse the minds of the Zambian youths.

I thank you, Sir.

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kambwili: Mr Chairperson, first and foremost, let me thank all the hon. Members who have debated. I want to state that, indeed, your views have been taken into account. I think that we will certainly work on the views which we will find helpful and improve on our service delivery.

Sir, I do agree that, indeed, when you are traumatised, even by losing an election that you thought you would win, you tend to forget that the problems that you are talking about were created by you. You tend to think that these problems are attributed by the people that have been in office for only two years. Indeed …

Hon. Opposition Member interjected.

Mr Kambwili: Excuse me!

The Deputy Chairperson: Order! Address the Chairperson.

Mr Kambwili: Mr Chairperson, some people are so traumatised that they forget what they left in the basket. This trauma is telling them to tell us that we have to do something about skills training centres and improve on the skills that we are giving our people, but they forget that the skills training centres that we found were a mere 1 x 3 classroom block with empty rooms without desks, computers and exercise books. Go to these skills training centres and see what we are putting up as the PF Government. They should ask their conscience whether their trauma is treating them well. It is disheartening that while we should, together, sort out this problem, some people tend to trivialise and narrow the issues concerning the youths. 

Sir, first and foremost, he who does not know that he knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool forever, but he who knows that he knows he knows not and knows that he knows not is a fool for five minutes. For any person to change, he must first accept his mistakes and not transfer the mistakes to others because of trauma. A lot has been said on the way we are running the aspect of youths. The person who has just been speaking was Minister in charge of finance. The budget for the youth …

Mr Nkombo: On a point of order, Mr Chairperson.

The Deputy Chairperson: A point of order is raised.

Mr Nkombo: Mr Chairperson, the levels in this House have to be recognised. The hon. Minister of Youth and Sport was doing a good job in responding until the point at which he indicated that Hon. Dr Musokotwane was a Minister of Finance. The rules that govern this House, for those of you who have just come and cannot learn in two years, do not permit us to make reference to our previous engagements. 

Interruptions

The Deputy Chairperson: Order!

Mr Nkombo: They do not allow that. Is the hon. Minister of Youth and Sport, my dear brother and friend, in order to be so personal by bringing Hon. Dr Musokotwane back into the Ministry of Finance, as hon. Minister, when the hon. Minister of Finance is seated there?

The Deputy Chairperson: The serious ruling is that we must desist from debating ourselves. However, I thought at the point the hon. Minister had reached, he was, in fact, moving into another point having talked much about the medicine of trauma. I hope that is the line he is taking. 

May you continue, hon. Minister. 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kambwili: Mr Chairperson, we are being reminded that we should enhance the education system in this country. However, the people that just left the Government left only three public universities. Today, we are on record for building about five public universities. Surely, who is traumatised? So, I think it is a question of understanding and accepting that this Government is doing something. I hate to be controversial, but I think that when certain things are said, it is important that we respond. Let me now turn to address some of the issues that were raised by genuine debaters.

The Deputy Chairperson: Order! Order!

All the debaters here are genuine. If they were not, I would have ruled them out of order.

You may continue.

Mr Kambwili: Thank you very much for that guidance, Mr Chairperson. 

Mr Chairperson, let me turn to the issue of youth employment and empowerments that was raised in the debate. Indeed, the problem of youth unemployment has been with us over the years. So many programmes have been tried by the Government and civil society, including the private sector, to create employment. The PF Government wanted to understand the underlying factors from which this situation arose and have evidence in this regard. We carried out a study on the situation of the youth in Zambia, with the help of the ILO, African Development Bank and the Government of Germany. The result of the study has led to the preparation of the Youth Empowerment and Employment Skill Development Strategy which is currently being printed. The strategy has brought out the need for youth mainstreaming where all sectors will be expected to address the issues of the youth in their programme implementation. It is a result-based strategy with a robust framework. We expect all stakeholders to embrace this strategy as the youth empowerment issue concerns us all. We shall soon launch the strategy and it will be widely distributed even to hon. Members of Parliament.

Mr Chairperson, there is a system in place for administering and managing of the Youth Development Fund. The Ministry of Youth and Sport has decentralised the management of the fund through Provincial Technical Committees that are responsible for desk and field appraisals. Once the process is concluded, the approved forms are sent to Lusaka for validation by the National Technical Committee, which comprises key stakeholders from various institutions such as the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), Future Search, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), and the Ministry of Justice, among others. All projects that are funded now are viable and monitored through the provincial and district administration.

Hon. Opposition Members walked out of the Assembly Chamber.

 Mr Kambwili: That is part of trauma.

Hon. Government Members: Trauma! 

The Deputy Chairperson: Order!

Mr Kambwili: Mr Chairperson, the ministry has come up with an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Physical Education and Sport. The committee comprises members, among others, from the Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication and the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education. Through this committee, the Ministry of Youth and Sport is looking into ensuring that all new schools have sports fields.

Mr Chairperson, the Ministry of Youth and Sport ratified the African Youth Charter in September, 2006. Therefore, the ministry has been popularising the African Youth Charter through the holding of workshops and seminars, for example, during the week in which the Youth Day falls. In addition, the ministry has included the context of the charter in the National Youth Policy and National Plan of Action as a way of domesticating the same.

Mr Chairperson, most local coaches may have the skill and expertise. However, most of them are not certified or accredited with FIFA to attain status of National Football Team Coach. 

Mr Chairperson, the requirement by FIFA is that coaches must have the ‘A’ Licence. In Zambia, today, only two people have this licence, namely the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) President, Mr Kalusha Bwalya, and the Technical Director of FAZ, Mr Honour Janza. Nevertheless, we shall do everything in our power at the ministry, in collaboration with FAZ, to try to make sure that more coaches are sent for training so that they can attain this ‘A’ Licence. 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

Mr Kambwili: Mr Chairperson, having said this, I would like to thank all hon. Members who contributed to the debate on this Vote and those who showed that they were traumatised to support my ministry. 

I thank you, Sir. 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

The Deputy Chairperson: We now move to individual items. 

Mr L. J. Ngoma: On a point of procedure, Sir. 

Hon. Government Members: On whom?

The Deputy Chairperson: A point of order is raised. 

Mr L. J. Ngoma: Sir, maybe, it is because of the trauma, but we are less than fifty-three. Are we in order to continue deliberating? 

The Deputy Chairperson: Well, my duty is to follow the Standing Orders. So, I will ring the bells for five minutes and, after that, we will ascertain whether there is a quorum. If we do not have a quorum, I will move and make a report to the House. 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Business was suspended from 1911 hours until 1915 hours.

[THE DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES in the
 Chair]

Vote 76/01 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 76/02 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

Vote 76/03 ordered to stand part of the Estimates.

The Deputy Chairperson: Order!

(Debate adjourned)

_____ 

HOUSE RESUMED

[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

(Progress reported)

______ 

MOTION

ADJOURNMENT

The Minister of Youth and Sport (Mr Kambwili): Mr Speaker, I beg to move that the House do now adjourn. 

Question put and agreed to. 

_____ 

The House adjourned at 1917 hours until 1430 hours on Thursday, 5th December, 2013.