Tuesday, 10th October, 2017

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Tuesday, 10th October, 2017

 

The House met at 1400 hours

 

[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

 

NATIONAL ANTHEM

 

PRAYER

 

__________

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS BY MR SPEAKER

 

SPORTING ACTIVITIES FOR 53RD INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS

 

Mr Speaker: Hon. Members, I wish to inform the House that, as part of the 53rd Independence Celebrations, the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Child Development has lined up various sporting activities, including football and netball matches, between hon. Members of Parliament and Diplomats accredited to the Republic of Zambia.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Speaker: The matches are scheduled to take place at the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) on Friday, 20th October, 2017 at 14:00 hours.

 

Hon. Members wishing to participate in these matches should, therefore, see their respective team captains.

 

I thank you.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF SESSIONAL COMMITTEES

 

SESSIONAL COMMITTEES − MEMBERSHIP

 

Mr Speaker: Hon. Members, in accordance with the provisions of Article 80 of the Constitution of Zambia, Cap. 1 of the Laws of Zambia and Standing Order No.131 (11), the Standing Orders Committee has made further changes to the composition of some of the Parliamentary Committees as follows:

 

HOUSE KEEPING COMMITTEES

 

Standing Orders Committee

 

Dr J. K. Chanda, MP, has been appointed to replace Mrs R. C. Fundanga, MP;

Ms P. Kasune, MP, has been appointed to replace Mrs S. S. Mulyata, MP; and

Ms N. M. Subulwa, MP, has been appointed to replace Mrs G. M P Jere, MP.

 

Committee on Privileges, Absences and Support Services

 

Mr G. M. Imbuwa, MP, has been appointed to replace Mrs G. Katuta, MP.

 

Parliamentary Reforms and Modernisation Committee

 

Mr S. K. Michelo, MP, has been appointed to replace Mr V. Lumayi, MP.

 

PORTFOLIO COMMITTEES

 

Committee on Parastatal Bodies

 

Ms M. Lubezhi, MP, has been appointed to replace Mr M. Ndalamei, MP.

 

Committee on Education, Science and Technology

 

Mr M. Mutelo, MP, has been appointed to replace Mr G. M. Imbuwa, MP; and

 

Committee on Local Government Accounts

 

Mr D. Chisopa, MP, has been appointed to replace Mr M. M. Kabanda, MP.

 

The changes take effect immediately.

 

I thank you.

 

POINT OF ORDER RAISED BY DR KAMBWILI AGAINST HON. BOWMAN LUSAMBO AND HON. JEAN KAPATA

 

Mr Speaker: Hon. Members, the House will recall that on Tuesday, 3rd October, 2017, when the House was considering Question for Oral Answer No. 41 and Hon. Kasauta Michelo, Member of Parliament for Bweengwa Constituency was speaking, Dr Chishimba Kambwili, hon. Member of Parliament for Roan Constituency, raised a point of order against Hon. Bowman Lusambo, MP, Minister for the Copperbelt Province and Hon. Jean Kapata, MP, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources.

 

In his point of order, the hon. Member of Parliament for Roan wondered whether the two hon. Ministers were in order to physically assault him within the precincts of Parliament.

 

The House will further recall that the point of order by the hon. Member of Parliament for Roan was followed by another point of order by the hon. Minister of Lands and Natural Resources. In her point of order, the hon. Minister wondered whether the hon. Member of Parliament for Roan was in order to call her a thief on several radio stations as well as within the precincts of Parliament.

 

In my immediate remarks, I reserved my ruling on both points of order to enable to me investigate the matters.

 

Hon. Members, in view of the fact that the point of order raised by Dr C. Kambwili, MP, raises potentially conflicting versions or a contest of what transpired on the material day, I have found it necessary to refer this matter to the Committee on Privileges, Absences and Support Services to enable the Committee to fully investigate what happened and make appropriate recommendations to the House.

 

Similarly, I have decided to refer the point of order by Hon. Jean Kapata, MP, to the Committee on Privileges, Absences and Support Services for further consideration and recommendations.

 

I thank you.

 

__________

 

RULING BY MR SPEAKER

 

RULING BY THE HON. MR SPEAKER ON THE POINT OF ORDER RAISED BY HON. J. J. MWIIMBU, MP, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION AGAINST HON. D. SILIYA, MP, MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, ON THE FAILED MEETING FOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ON THE E-VOUCHER SYSTEM FOR THE 2017/2018 AGRICULTURE SEASON

 

Hon. Members, the House will recall that on Thursday, 28th September, 2017, when the House was considering the Question for Oral Answer No. 37 and Hon. Dr J. K. Chanda, Member of Parliament for Bwana Mkubwa was asking a follow-up question, Hon. J. J. Mwiimbu, MP, Leader of the Opposition, raised a point of order against Hon. D. Siliya, MP, the Minister of Agriculture.

 

The point of order arose from the announcement I made on Tuesday, 26th September, 2017, informing the House that I had authorised the Hon. Minister of Agriculture to hold a half-day meeting with all hon. Members of Parliament on the electronic voucher (e-Voucher) System for the 2017/2018 Agriculture Season. The meeting was to be held on Thursday, 28th September, 2017, in the Amphitheatre, here, at Parliament Buildings, starting at 0900 hours.

 

In his point of order, the hon. Leader of the Opposition alleged that despite Members of Parliament gathering for the meeting, the hon. Minister of Agriculture did not turn up. As a result, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture cancelled the meeting. In this regard, the hon. Leader of the Opposition sought to find out whether the hon. Minister of Agriculture was in order not to turn up for the meeting which she had convened.

 

In my immediate remarks, I reserved my ruling to enable me to investigate the matter. I have since carried out investigations and I now proceed to render my ruling.

 

Hon. Members, the House may wish to know that on the same day of the e-Voucher meeting, I received explanatory letters from the hon. Minister of Agriculture and Hon. M. B. Ng’onga, MP, who is the Chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture.

 

In her letter, the hon. Minister of Agriculture explained that His Excellency the President had, at about the same time of the meeting, called for an urgent special meeting of Cabinet on the 2018 Budget, which she was obliged to attend.  The hon. Minister went further to state that despite her absence, officials from her ministry and Smart Zambia were ready to proceed with the meeting.  However, only a few hon. Members turned up due to their other commitments in their various Committees, which were meeting at the same time as the e-Voucher meeting. On that basis, the hon. Minister requested for the re-scheduling of the meeting to another date.

 

The hon. Minister's explanation was echoed by Hon. M. B. Ng’onga, MP, who explained that he was among the nine hon. Members that turned up for the e-Voucher meeting which was scheduled to start at 0900 hours on that day. He went further to state that at about 0945 hours, just before a Parliamentary staff was to announce the start of the meeting, the hon. Members requested that he makes consultations with other hon. Members present at the meeting in view of the low turnout of the hon. Members. According to Hon. M. B. Ng’onga, MP, all hon. Members unanimously agreed to his proposal to postpone the meeting to a later date in order to allow other hon. Members and the hon. Minister herself to attend the briefing, as she was reported to have been attending an impromptu Cabinet meeting. The hon. Member concluded by stating that the ministry officials present at the meeting were informed about the decision of the nine hon. Members and, in turn, the officials undertook to brief the hon. Minister.

 

Hon. Members, I also received a report from the Parliamentary staff present at the meeting who attested to the explanations given by both the hon. Minister and Hon. M. B. Ng’onga, MP. The Parliamentary staff emphasised that the e-Voucher meeting did not fail to take place on account of the hon. Minister's absence. The ministry officials were ready, able, and willing to proceed with the meeting, as scheduled, but they could not proceed on the advice of the nine hon. Members who were present.

 

Hon. Members, from the preceding facts, I have, therefore, established that:

 

(i)      the e-Voucher meeting that was scheduled to take place on Thursday, 28th September, 2017 did not take place;

 

(ii)     the meeting did not fail to take place because of the absence of the hon. Minister of Agriculture. She was, in any event, ably represented by officials from her ministry and Smart Zambia who were ready, able, and willing to proceed with the meeting;

 

(iii)    the ministry officials did not cancel the meeting.  Rather, they were advised of the decision of the nine hon. Members present to re-schedule it, owing to the low turnout of hon. Members due to several other Committee meetings that were taking place at the material time;

 

(iv)    the nine hon. Members, who were in attendance, resolved to postpone the meeting in order to allow wider participation by other hon. Members of Parliament; and

 

(v)     the hon. Minister's absence was due to an impromptu meeting at Cabinet which took place at the same time as the e-Voucher meeting;

 

Hon. Members, in view of the foregoing, it was erroneous for the hon. Leader of the Opposition to assert that the e-Voucher meeting failed to take place due to the mere absence of the hon. Minister of Agriculture. Therefore, hon. Members, the hon. Minister of Agriculture was not out of order.

 

Thank you.

 

_________

 

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

 

ALLEGED HARASSMENT OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT DURING VISITS TO THEIR CONSTITUENCIES

 

The Minister of Home Affairs (Mr Kampyongo): Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to issue a ministerial statement in response to the point of order that was raised by Hon. Jack ‘Mumbu’, Member of Parliament for Monze Central Constituency, on the alleged ...

 

Mr Mwiimbu: Is that my name?

 

Mr Speaker: Hon. Minister, he is Mr Mwiimbu.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, I will try to pronounce it as ‘Hon. J. J. Mwiimbu of Monze Central Constituency’ on the alleged harassment of Hon. Tutwa Ngulube, Member of Parliament for Kabwe Central Constituency, who was alleged to have been harassed by the Zambia Police Service officers in Kabwe.

 

Mr Speaker, the House may wish to know that on 26th September, 2017, when the Member of Parliament for Chifunabuli, Hon. Mecha, was on the Floor, Hon. Jack Mwiimbu rose on a point of order and, I wish to quote:

 

“Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order hinging on the privileges of hon. Members of Parliament.

 

Sir, in one of the sittings of the Eleventh National Assembly, you directed members of the Executive and the Back Benchers to resolve issues pertaining to hon. Members of Parliament visiting their constituencies. This issue was addressed by your office and an announcement was made on it. Further to that announcement, a circular was generated by the hon. Minister of Home Affairs and sent to all police stations in the country asking them to allow hon. Members of Parliament to perform their duties without hindrance in their constituencies. Alas! Of late, we have seen a number of hon. Members of Parliament being harassed by the police when visiting their constituencies. The latest incident was the harassment of the hon. Member for Kabwe Central in the last three days, which was televised. The hon. Member almost cried as he was being harassed by the police in Kabwe.

 

 Mr Speaker, has the instruction that resulted from the agreement between the Ministry of Home Affairs and us, through your intercession, been withdrawn? We want to know so that we decide what measures to take as, hon. Members of Parliament, because it is now very difficult for us to visit the constituencies and meet our constituents.

 

Sir, I seek your serious ruling on this matter.”

 

Mr Speaker, in your ruling, you directed the Ministry of Home Affairs, through me, to render a ministerial statement to clarify the position on this matter. This was to be done last week.

 

Mr Speaker, you also graciously permitted me to attend to other national duties outside the country and I, therefore, was unable to render the ministerial statement last week. I am grateful to you for giving me this opportunity to present it now.

 

Sir, I am aware that your office had previously ruled and guided on the need for hon. Members of Parliament to be allowed unhindered access to their constituents as they carry out their duties.

 

Sir, with regard to the incident in question in Kabwe, Hon. Tutwa Ngulube, Member of Parliament for Kabwe Central, had notified the Zambia Police Service in Kabwe about his intentions to hold a meeting at Katondo Clinic. However, this meeting did not take place. Instead, the hon. Member of Parliament decided to convene a meeting at Kafulamase within Kabwe Central Constituency without giving the police fresh notification.

 

Sir, Section 5 of the Public Order Act provides guidelines and procedures for holding public assemblies, demonstrations or processions, while section 5(4) provides that any person intending to assemble or convene a public meeting, procession or demonstration shall notify the Zambia Police Service of such intent in writing seven days before the meeting.

 

Sir, hon. Members of this august House and the public at large know that we are currently under a state of threatened emergency, which measure was approved by this august House after His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu, invoked Article 31 of the Republican Constitution on 5th July, 2017. In addition, Statutory Instrument (SI) No. 55 of 2017, was also issued to provide guidelines and regulations governing the state of threatened emergency.

 

Sir, as regards the incident in question, the hon. Member of Parliament did not give the police a fresh notice like he always does when he has meetings in his constituency.

 

Mr Speaker, hon. Members of Parliament and the public at large should by all means comply with the provisions of the law at all times. With the threatened state of emergency in place, all public meetings and processions are subject to the public security regulations brought into force by the invocation of Article 31 of the Constitution and, indeed, the Public Order Act. We all, therefore, are expected to operate within the confines of the law as we go about our daily business.

 

Sir, the Zambia Police Service shall continue to uphold and enforce the law firmly, but fairly without fear or favour.

 

Mr Speaker, as hon. Members carry out duties in their constituencies, they should do so within the provisions of the law. Under the current circumstances, that means observing the provisions of the Preservation of Public Security Regulations of 2017 and the Public Order Act Cap. 113 of the Laws of Zambia.

 

Sir, let me conclude with an appeal to fellow law makers and citizens at large to be law abiding at all times. The Preservation of Public Security Regulations and the Public Order Act are in place to enhance public security and protect lives and property from those who seek to undermine the peace and security our country has enjoyed since Independence in 1964. Law-abiding citizens should, therefore, have neither fear nor misgivings about the Public Security Regulations currently in force or, indeed, the Public Order Act.

 

Mr Speaker, I also want to put it on record that the hon. Member for Kabwe Central has been on record working very well with the police in Kabwe. I am sure by the time the point of order was being raised, this matter had been amicably resolved.

 

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Speaker: Hon. Members are now free to ask questions on points of clarification on the statement given by the hon. Minister of Home Affairs.

 

Mr Mwiimbu (Monze Central): Mr Speaker, I want the hon. Minister to be very clear and categorical. He is aware that I referred to the intercession by your office in consultation with his predecessor, who is the current President of the Republic of Zambia, where a decision was made and a circular issued to hon. Members of Parliament on the need to operate freely without latent hindrance in the constituencies. My question to the hon. Minister, taking into account that he has referred us to the law, is he telling this House that, you, Mr Speaker, and the former Minister of Home Affairs breached the law by allowing us to operate freely in the constituencies by issuing that circular?

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, I appreciate the question from the hon. Member.

 

Sir, my statement has been very clear. I am equally privy to the discussions that we had. I was Deputy Minister then, like he has rightly pointed out. That mutual agreement still stands. However, like I have said, we are in a different situation. We were all here when we brought the matter of invocation of Article 31. Therefore, much as we are free to conduct business in our constituencies, we, as hon. Members, are not an exemption. We all prescribe to the same laws like any other citizen. The hon. Member, who is a seasoned lawyer, knows that.

 

So, Mr Speaker, there is nothing that has changed except that we are all supposed to follow the regulations, as they stand now. That is what I have said. There is a need for all of us, as hon. Members, to notify the police, as we agreed, when we are in our constituencies. The only exemption is that you cannot merely notify the police about being in a constituency. That was also part of the agreement and the hon. Member knows that. So, to come here and try to create an impression that we have changed positions is not being sincere. We are still bound by that mutual agreement, but we also have to understand that the agreement is subject to the laws that we, as an august House, have prescribed to the nation.

 

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

 

Hon. PF Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Livune (Katombola): Mr Speaker, there must be due respect accorded to the Office of hon. Member of Parliament. The hon. Minister’s last statement was that the hon. Member of Parliament for Kabwe Central is working well with the police. However, is the conduct of trailing a well-known person to the point of where he was addressing his meeting normal or acceptable?

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, that is why, sometimes, as hon. Members, let us be sincere with what we submit. I have had a chance to discuss with the hon. Member of Parliament for Kabwe Central and he explained to me what transpired. I have also received a report from the police. So, to try to insinuate that there was such a terrible situation …

 

Hon. Members: It was on television.

 

Mr Kampyongo: Listen.

 

Interruptions

 

Mr Speaker: Order!

 

You cannot engage the hon. Minister in that way.

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, …

 

Mr Speaker: Hon. Minister, wait.

 

I need to provide guidance.

 

We are asking questions. If you have a question to put to the hon. Minister, just hold your peace and ask the question when your turn comes. It is as simple as that.

 

May the hon. Minister, continue.

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, what I am saying is that, as leaders, we should always endeavour to provide leadership at all times. As I have said, the hon. Member for Kabwe Central discussed the matter with the police and he has always dealt with them. So, when the hon. Member was advised that he did not give notice for the meeting he was addressing, but for another meeting, it was just sensible that both sides engage in a normal discourse. Like I am saying, the hon. Member, being a leader, should have devised a way of discussing with the police in a manner which should not have degenerated into an argument.

 

So, Mr Speaker, both sides had their own points of weakness, which was regrettable, and should not have been the case. Going forward, we, as leaders, must always prevail at all times and act with utmost constraint. The police are there for all of us and we still need them. It was not desirable for the issue to have ended in the manner that it did. I think the police superiors have prevailed and dealt with the matter in order to make our officers restrain themselves when confronted with such a situation.

 

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

 

Mr Nkombo (Mazabuka Central): Mr Speaker, the truth has no disguise. The altercation that everyone, who is privileged to be on social media, saw between Hon. Tutwa Ngulube and the police is representative of the truth and nothing, but the whole truth. It was a very sad incident. When I look around in this House, I am privileged that it was only the Hon. Mr Speaker and I who were in the meeting that generated that circular. I do appreciate the hon. Ministers comment about the state we have just gone past that necessitated the invocation of Article 31.

 

Mr Speaker, now that the period for which the invocation of Article 31 has come to an end, life must go back to normal as per what was agreed upon in the meeting. The hon. Minister actually referred to this a minute ago when he was answering the hon. Member for Monze Central’s question. He said that the understanding was that the hon. Member of Parliament would have used his discretion to inform the police about his presence in the district and not the issue of whether a meeting failed in one place, but succeeded elsewhere. The issue was that the hon. Members of Parliament must inform the police if they so wish and should go about their business normally in their constituencies. Now that the period for the invocation of Article 31 has come to an end, will the hon. Minister reissue the circular, which I have, to all the new hon. Members of Parliament who may not understand that they are free to conduct their parliamentary business in their constituencies unhindered? I want an honest answer from him.

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, at the expense of repeating myself, I have clearly stated that the circular is still in effect and is subject to other laws, and this was made very clear during our discussions. The purpose of the hon. Members notifying the police is for their own safety. Something may happen to an hon. Member of Parliament and the police are supposed to be held accountable. So, how do they account for someone they did not know was in their jurisdiction?

 

Hon. UPND Members: Aah!

 

Interruptions

 

Mr Speaker: Order!

 

Mr Kampyongo: You can say aah, but …

 

Mr Speaker: Continue, hon. Minister.

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, I was saying that the circular is still in effect. If Article 31 is reviewed and it comes to an end, all business will return to normal. However, this circular, like I have said, is subject to other rules and is meant for the safety of the hon. Members of Parliament to enable the police to assist them when need arises. I think that is the honest answer for which the hon. Member of Parliament was seeking.

 

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

 

Mr Speaker: Hon. Minister, part of the question was whether you are able to reissue that particular circular.

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, when everything is settled and cleared, there is no harm in my office reissuing that circular.

 

I thank you, Sir.

 

Mr Jere (Livingstone): Mr Speaker, the behaviour of the police officers of late has been very questionable. Some of them attacked a person from the media from Muvi Television in Chipata, while one was seen exchanging blows with one of the citizens of this country and another had a confrontation with an hon. Member of Parliament. Could the hon. Minister assure this august House and the public at large that after the expiry period of the invocation of Article 31, we will see change in the behaviour of the police?

 

Mr Speaker: Hon. Members, specifically the new ones, when you are seeking clarification, the question must be connected to the original issue at hand. The subject the hon. Member is raising now has nothing to do with, firstly, the point of order itself, and secondly, the statement by the hon. Minister. Admittedly, it has to do with the police in general. However, the issue at hand is about the privilege of hon. Members of Parliament in the way they conduct their business in their constituencies. So, hon. Member, if you are eager to pursue that matter, you can ask a question and we will forward it to the hon. Minister. Certainly, your question does not qualify as a supplementary one.

 

Mr Muchima (Ikeleng’i): Mr Speaker, I had sought clarification on the terms ‘notification’ and ‘permission’ before the invocation of Article 31. Is the hon. Minister aware that we do not freely mingle with our electorate in the constituencies because the police demand that we seek permission and not mere notification? The hon. Minister must be categorical and state whether we are only supposed to merely notify the police officers.

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, I appreciate the hon. Member’s question. Notification means just that. I am also aware that the holding of processions and gatherings during the period of the invocation of Article 31 has been restricted because that was the requirement under the regulations that were issued.

 

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

 

Mr Michelo (Bweengwa): Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister should not make our lives difficult. As far as, we, hon. Members of Parliament, know, the period for which Article 31 was invoked is now over. Therefore, do we still need to notify the Zambia Police Service when we visit our constituencies?

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, the hon. Member is a part of this august House. Therefore, he may be aware that decisions made by this House are only revisited by it. The invocation of Article 31 was approved by him. So, until it is reviewed and a decision is made, he should assume it is in force.

 

I thank you, Sir.

 

Mr P. Phiri (Mkaika): Mr Speaker, when will the period for the invocation of Article 31 come to an end?

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, the stakeholders are reviewing the situation. As I speak, the Commanders of the Zambia Police Service are having a conference and this is one of the matters that they are reviewing. They will give feedback to the Executive. In the same way the Leader of Government Business in the House came to this House to seek for its approval, will she bring back it to be tabled for debate and the hon. Members will be informed accordingly.

 

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

 

Mr Miyanda (Mapatizya): Mr Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity to ask a question. I also watched the clip up to the point where the hon. Member of Parliament for Kabwe Central Parliamentary Constituency told the police officers that he was not a member of the Opposition, but of the Ruling Party. At that point, we all saw the police officer request the hon. Member to leave. I, therefore, want to find out if there is a silent rule which allows police officers to treat hon. Members of the Opposition differently from hon. Members in the Ruling Party.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, I appreciate the hon. Member’s question. The law has no colour. Therefore, when police officers are discharging their duties, they do not look at the political jacket that a person wears. They look at people, as citizens. If one is an hon. Member of Parliament, it does not matter whether on the right or left side of the Hon. Mr Speaker, all hon. Members of Parliament enjoy the same privileges. The police should have known that he was an hon. Member, but they did not have to treat him differently by virtue of him belonging to either the Patriotic Front (PF) or United Part for National Development (UPND). They were dealing with a citizen and that is how they work.

 

I thank you, Sir.

 

Mrs Chonya (Kafue): Mr Speaker, could the hon. Minister settle my mind by stating clearly if it is not an illegality that we are operating under an assumed threatened state of emergency when the period for which the Constitution provided for its effect has elapsed.

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, at the risk of repeating myself, there is no assumption. As hon. Members of Parliament, let us be helpful to our citizens. When we come to this House to conduct Business, we do so on behalf of the people. We should, therefore, be the ones to explain matters to them. The decision we made is still binding. It is not an assumption.

 

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

 

Interruptions

 

Mr Speaker: Order!

 

Hon. Minister, the question by the hon. Member of Parliament for Kafue Parliamentary Constituency, as I understand it, is whether that order that put into effect the threatened public emergency came to an end by or due to passage of time? I think that is her question.

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, my simple answer is that the order is still in effect. The hon. Member can count the days and calculate how long it has been since it took effect.

 

I thank you, Sir.

 

Mr Kakubo (Kapiri Mposhi): Mr Speaker, I am a victim of decisions that are made by the police. Just over a week ago, …

 

Mr Speaker: Hon. Member, what are you a victim of?

 

Mr Kakubo: Sir, decisions made by the police, which do not favour development and do not take the country forward. Just over a week ago, the police asked the residents of Kapiri Mposhi to obtain a permit, not a notification, in order for them to have an interaction with their hon. Member of Parliament. At the last minute, the police contacted me to tell me that the permit had been cancelled.  I would like to find out the kind of notification that the hon. Minister is referring to. Should the hon. Member of Parliament phone or write to the police to seek permission? I ask because what is currently prevailing is retrogressive.

 

Mr Kampyongo: Mr Speaker, I wish the hon. Member got that so-called permit. There is no such thing as a permit that is given to anyone intending to hold a meeting or a procession. Therefore, a notification has to be in writing for the sake of records. This cannot be done by phone because if that is the case, who would be held accountable? So, it must be in writing to the police and the applicant must also have a copy. Let us be helpful to one another. If the police tell you that they have cancelled a permit, as a law maker, you must be able to ask them which permit they are talking about. I, therefore, have difficulties with that question. However, it is something that the hon. Member can approach me over, and together, we can see what transpired.

 

I thank you, Sir.

 

________

 

QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER

 

CONSTRUCTION OF MPONGWE/MACHIYA ROAD

 

54. Mr Bulaya (Mpongwe) asked the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development:

 

  1. when the construction of the Mpongwe/Machiya Road in Mpongwe Parliamentary Constituency would commence; and

 

  1. what had caused the delay in commencing the project, considering that there was an assurance that the project would commence in the second quarter of 2016.

 

The Minister of Local Government (Mr Mwale) on behalf of the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development (Mr Chitotela): Mr Speaker, the Mpongwe/Machiya Road has been split into two lots of approximately 65 km long for ease of construction. The contract for Lot 1 was awarded to Landmark at a contract price of K313 million while Lot 2 was awarded to China Civil Engineering in a joint venture with Nakangea Construction Civil Engineering at a contract price of K381 million. However, due to the Budget ceiling, the project could not be accommodated in the 2017 Road Sector Annual Work Plan under Government financing. However, a provision was made to implement the project under the Contract Facilitated Initiative (CFI). Works are expected to commence once the financing agreements have been concluded and signed.

 

Sir, the project was procured under Government financing. However, due to budgetary constraints, works could not commence. The Road Development Agency (RDA) is in the process of converting the project from a GRZ Financing Project to a CFI, as explained earlier on.

 

I thank you, Sir.

 

Mr Bulaya: Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister may be aware that in 2000, the people of Mpongwe received a gift, which was the Mpongwe/Luanshya Road. Today, one is able to enjoy a cup of coffee as they drive on that road. In 2010, the people of Mpongwe received yet another gift. This time it was the Mpongwe/Luansobe Road. Could the hon. Minister tell the people of Mpongwe what they will receive from the Patriotic Front (PF) Government.

 

Mr Speaker: Hon. Member, are you still following up on your earlier question? What is the supplementary question?

 

Mr Bulaya: Mr Speaker, the people of Mpongwe have not received any project from this PF Government. I would like to find out from hon. Minister what they will receive.

 

Mr Mwale: Mr Speaker, if we took stock of the development that has gone to Mpongwe, the hon. Member of Parliament would honestly not raise this question. He has just told this House of some roads that were worked on, adding that a person can actually sip coffee while driving on them. There are so many projects and I would need a lot of time to explain them.

 

Mr Speaker, we have not abandoned this road. Owing to the fact that the project is too costly, we have decided to use a different mode by dividing it into lots. Works on Lot 1 will cost about K312 million while the other lot will cost K381 million. In total, we need close to K700 million, which is too colossal to fit into the budget of a single ministry.

 

Sir, this should give the hon. Member of Parliament for Mpongwe and his people hope that this road will be worked on. This is one of the projects that the Government is working on. As I speak, procurement has already been done.

 

Mr Speaker, I wish to reiterate that no project has been abandoned. The project will be implemented                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         and the people of Mpongwe will be very happy.

 

I thank you, Sir.

 

Mr Muchima (Ikeleng’i): Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister said that he can catalogue many projects that have been implemented in Mpongwe other than the two gifts that the hon. Member of Parliament mentioned. Could he be kind enough to give us a catalogue of the projects that the Patriotic Front (PF) Government has delivered to Mpongwe?

 

Mr Mwale: Mr Speaker, schools have been built in Mpongwe.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Aah!

 

Mr Mwale: A new district administration block, which will soon be commissioned by His Excellency the President, is being constructed. The hon. Member is aware of this. A lot of projects have been implemented. It is just unfortunate that I cannot itemise them off-the-cuff.

 

Sir, the hon. Minister of Energy has just whispered to me that there are a lot of projects in the energy sector that have been implemented. I am sure that every hon. Minister can attest to the fact that development is being taken to all parts of the country, including Mpongwe, without leaving anyone behind. This is evidenced by the Mpongwe/Machiya Road that will be worked on at a cost of K700 million.

 

I thank you, Sir.

 

Mr Bulaya: Mr Speaker, the Mpongwe/Machiya Road is a gateway to the Central Province. There are commercial farmers on this road who are supposed to transport their grain to the market and inputs to their farms. As you may be aware, rains are around the corner. Therefore, I would like to find out from the hon. Minister what measures will be put in place to put this road in a passable condition.

 

Mr Mwale: Mr Speaker, it would be imprudent of the Government to spend money on patching-up this road in an effort to mitigate the problem. This is because, very soon, we will do an overhaul of the road at an estimated cost of K700 million. I, therefore, do not think that it is necessary for us to spend in piece meal in an effort to improve the state of the road.

 

Sir, we will have to wait because soon after the rains are over, this project will be implemented. Provisions have already been made by this Government.

 

I thank you, Sir.

 

 

CREATION OF JOBS FOR CHIMWEMWE RESIDENTS

 

55. Mr Mwila (Chimwemwe) asked the Minister of Labour and Social Security:

 

  1. whether the Government had any plans to create decent jobs for the residents of Chimwemwe Parliamentary Constituency by December, 2020; and

 

  1. what had caused the delay in commencing the project, considering that there was an assurance that the project would commence in the second quarter of 2016.

 

The Minister of Labour and Social Security (Mrs Simukoko): Mr Speaker, the Government has plans to create decent jobs for Zambians, including the residents of Chimwemwe Parliamentary Constituency, by December, 2020, in line with the Seventh National Development Plan (7thNDP) whose theme is, “Accelerating Development Efforts towards Vision 2030 without Leaving Anyone Behind.”

 

Mr Speaker, job creation is one of the priorities of this Government. In this regard, it has plans to enable both rural and urban businesses, particularly the micro, small and medium enterprises, to increase productivity and expand and promote formalisation in terms of registration with the National Pensions Scheme Authority (NAPSA), the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and other relevant Government authorities of their businesses, with a view to enhancing the creation of decent and inclusive job opportunities in the economy.

 

Mr Speaker, this will be achieved through the implementation of an enabling policy environment for job creation such as the National Employment and Labour Market Policy, among others. Furthermore, the Government will prioritise involvement of the private sector in the implementation of the strategies to promote industrialisation and job creation. In addition, the Government will address the challenge of unemployment and informality by prioritising the creation of jobs in key growth sectors of agriculture, tourism, construction and manufacturing.

 

Mr Speaker, it is the expectation of the Government that the private sector will see the opportunity presented by the enabling policy environment in the 7thNDP and other policy documents and rise to the occasion to create jobs.

 

Mr Speaker, with regards to the specific number of jobs to be created in Chimwemwe Parliamentary Constituency, at the moment, the information is not possible to project because the information on the labour market is currently not broken down into specifics at district and constituency levels.

 

Sir, with the current efforts to develop a labour market information system, it is expected that information on the number of jobs to be created will be monitored at district level to begin with through the labour for surveys and public exchange services to be progressively implemented at district level.

 

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

 

Mr Mwila: Mr Speaker, Chimwemwe Parliamentary Constituency has seen an influx of Lebanese nationals making blocks all over and employing casual workers to mostly load blocks upon purchase.  I would like to find out from the hon. Minister whether these jobs are part of the promised 100,000 …

 

Mr Chabi: 1 million!

 

Mr Mwila: No, 100,000 for 2017.

 

Does the hon. Minister consider these jobs created by the Lebanese nationals in Chimwemwe Parliamentary Constituency as part of the promised 100,000 jobs for 2017?

 

Mrs Simukoko: Mr Speaker, types of jobs are well-defined in the Employment Act. Nonetheless, a job is a job. There are temporary, permanent, part-time, seasonal and even one-off jobs.

 

Indeed, Sir, these are part of the jobs promised. However, we are looking to create jobs that are permanent in nature. I think that this is what every Zambian looks forward to. So, apart from those jobs in Chimwemwe, at the moment, the Government will have others as itemised. 

 

Sir, after all, some people do not want to be in permanent and pensionable employment. Others would rather have contractual jobs while others prefer piece works because they want to make more money. So, jobs are different and it really depends on what a person is looking for.

 

I thank you, Sir.

 

Mr Livune (Katombola): Mr Speaker, to support my colleague, the hon. Member for Chimwemwe, I would like to find out from the hon. Minister what possible jobs can be created around Chimwemwe, according to her understanding.

 

Mrs Simukoko: Mr Speaker, it depends on what the hon. Member means by his statement. It also depends on the entities that are in Chimwemwe, which are creating jobs. There could be businesses, bars, shopping malls, Government departments, parastatals or whatever the hon. Member can refer to and, therefore, jobs will be created in that manner.

 

 I thank you, Mr Speaker.

 

 Mrs Chonya (Kafue): Mr Speaker, I want find out from the hon. Minister if the Government is enforcing the directive it had given at one point, where certain jobs were supposed to be reserved for Zambians. As my colleague mentioned, we have continued to see jobs, such as the block making industry as well as the rearing and selling of chickens, being done by foreign nationals.

 

 Mrs Simukoko: Mr Speaker, when we talk about jobs for foreigners, we must be aware that some jobs require skills. The employer may not find certain skills within our country. Therefore, will opt to bring an expatriate or whoever they would want to bring in. However, as the Government has put it, it will ensure that jobs which require the skills that are found in this country are taken up by the Zambians.

 

Sir, further, my ministry works in conjunction with the Ministry of Home Affairs. So, whenever expatriates are brought into the country, they are given clearance by this ministry. Therefore, we are mindful of the jobs that can be held by foreigners and those that can be held by Zambians. It is for this reason that hopefully, by the end of next year, we will have what is called ‘A Skills Audit’ so that we really know what type of skills we have in our country.

 

______

 

MOTION

 

BUDGET 2018

 

(Debate resumed)

 

Mr Chali (Nchanga): Mr Speaker, when the House adjourned last Friday, I was debating on the mining sector.

 

Sir, I was saying that I welcome the measures the Government has taken to continue with the mapping of the non-traditional minerals. It is gratifying that 60 per cent of the mapping has already been completed, although 40 per cent remained to be done.

 

Mr Speaker, gemstones and other non-traditional minerals are an area of concern in terms of who monitors the tax revenue. If the House looked at the revenue portfolio, it may be have seen  that the hon. Minister of Finance has struggled to see from where he could have raised funds to cushion the K71,662,385,976 billion that he presented to this House.

 

Sir, normally, gemstones are auctioned, but do we ask ourselves whether this is the best method of selling them? Are we getting the tax that we are supposed to get from them? If this is not the best method, what other methods can we use to ensure that they are properly taxed?

 

Mr Speaker, in most cases, the gemstones are block-auctioned. I am sure if it was done in grades or pockets, the country would raise more revenue. So, this is another area that the Government can look at.

 

Sir, upon confirmation of the existence of minerals from the mapping that is being carried out at the moment, I would humbly request the hon. Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development to prioritise the issuance of artisans or licences to Zambians. I know that there have been many licences that have been issued before, but our people are still struggling to get the funding that they require to carry out the mining operations. Considering the empowerment that is coming through, it is another area where the Government could come in to assist the small-scale miners as long as they can be monitored adequately.

 

Sir, let me now move to education. Nchanga Constituency is both peri-urban and urban. The House will be amazed to note that there is no secondary school in the peri-urban, which houses three wards and has the largest catchment of people. There is completely nothing. So, instead, people in that area squat with their relatives either in Kalulushi or Chingola urban in order for their children to continue accessing secondary education. This has since resulted into many girl children ending up in early marriages.

 

Sir, I am happy that the budget allocation to the Ministry of General Education has been increased, but we want to see equity in the distribution of the infrastructure that will come out from this Budget.

 

Mr Speaker, as regards the environment, the Zambia and Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) has been coming to Nchanga Constituency. During the last Session, one of your Committees visited Nchanga Constituency and saw the effects of the mining operations. The cracks on the houses of the residents who are close to the open pit mine are an eyesore, yet no one wants to take responsibility to repair the houses.

 

Sir, the current mine owners are saying that it is not one of the liabilities which were handed over to them when they bought the mines. The Mine Safety Department and ZEMA have been to that area and carried out their assessment, but no one is taking ownership. Honestly speaking, what is happening there are the effects of mining.

 

Mr Speaker, there is a fund that the World Bank released for the remediation of the effects of mining caused by the effects of the mining operations. These are the liabilities that were not taken over by the current mine owners.

 

Mr Speaker, four towns will benefit from that funding, namely Chingola, Mufulira, Kabwe and Kitwe. However, looking at the programmes and issues that will be sorted out from the funding, the plight of the miners in Nyanji has not been included. I would urge the hon. Minister, whose ministry is in charge of ZEMA, to, please, look into the plight of those people so that they are included in the programmes for that funding, although the figure does not look good.

 

Mr Speaker, I will now move on to roads. A lot of money has been allocated to the road sector. I am glad that the contractors working on the roads in Chingola are on site. I am very positive that we will recoup the tag we once had as the cleanest town in Zambia. As of now, when you are entering Chingola, you are greeted by the worst roundabout you may have ever seen in this country.

 

Sir, road infrastructure development should be done in tandem with the development of the railway system. There are a lot of heavy trucks that use our roads. If the railway system was also simultaneously worked on, our roads on which we are spending so much money would last longer because the haulage of heavy mining products and inputs would be done via the railway system.

 

Mr Speaker, there has been a slight increase in the budget to the health sector. The people of Nchanga are also crying for good health facilities. The largest catchment area in Nchanga uses a building that was constructed using the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) as a clinic. This is a structure that was initially meant to be an administration block for the proposed hospital in that area. So, can we see an equitable sharing of public resources so that even the people of Nchanga benefit from this allocation to the health sector.

 

Mr Speaker, the mining industry was affected last year because of not getting the required amount of energy it needed for its operations. That is now a thing of the past and I am sure that with the introduction of new tariffs, we should not expect any loss of production like it occurred last year. I would just request the Government to consider lighting the peri-urban area of Nchanga.

 

Mr Speaker, thank you very much for this opportunity to debate.

 

Thank you, Sir.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mung’andu (Chama South): Mr Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity to debate the 2018 Budget Motion. A budget spells out the plans on how the income that our able Government is generating will be spent. I will avoid going into the details of macroeconomic indicators. I will dwell on the microeconomic issues because those are the details that affect the people of Chama South.

 

Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister of Finance has allocated K8.7 billion for roads infrastructure. This includes feeder roads. Statistics show that the rural community contributes a higher percentage to food security in our country in comparison to the urban community. However, if you look at the number of feeder roads in our rural communities, you will see that much more needs to be done.

 

Sir, in the case of Chama South, the people would want the road from the Central Business District (CBD) to Mapamba, a stretch of not less than 160 km, to be worked on next year. We have no doubt that this working Government will make the feeder roads in Chama South accessible even during the rainy season for the first time since Independence. It is also the expectation of the people of Chama South that the 45 km stretch from Chasato to Chikwa is included in this K8.7 billion that the hon. Minister of Finance has allocated towards roads infrastructure.

 

Mr Speaker, allow me to talk about tourism. The hon. Minister highlighted to this august House that priority areas in the tourism sector will be looked into. These include feeder roads, bridges and airstrips.

 

Mr Speaker, Chama South presents a rare tourism opportunity because there are certain species of birds and other animals which can only be found there, particularly in the North Luangwa National Park. If one wants to enjoy the wildlife diversity of this country, he/she ought to visit Chama South. Without proper infrastructure, however, particularly the bridges which have been mentioned or drainages, that will make it possible for tourists to visit Chama South, the country will lose out on the potential that tourism has in terms of contributing to national development.

 

Mr Speaker, it is against this background that the people of Chama South are expectant that the airstrip at Chama CBD will be completed. The works had begun, but stalled. With this allocation, we expect that airstrip to be completed so that tourists are taken directly to Chama for them to enjoy themselves. Chama South, particularly in Mapamba, has a natural occurring hot spring bigger than the Chinyunyu Hot Spring. This coupled with the abundant wildlife presents opportunities in economic diversification into tourism.

 

Mr Speaker, allow me to talk about the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP). The hon. Minister of Finance mentioned that he allocated K1,785,000,000 to FISP. The number of beneficiaries has reduced drastically, this farming season. I am sure that is a signal the Government is sending that in the long run, it wants to phase out these subsidies. However, the people of Chama South are looking to have FISP sustained because the entire constituency is in a game management area (GMA). Just this morning, I received a call from one councillor from Mapamba informing me that a lion jumped onto the roof of his house. It tried to rip off the thatched roof, but by God’s grace, it fell on the veranda and not inside the house when it finally managed. People in Chama make large verandas to specifically take care of such eventualities.

 

Mr Speaker, we have lived with animals from time immemorial. For the past one year that I have been the area Member of Parliament, there have been no reports of elephant poaching in Chama South. This is because of the good policies that have been put in place by my office and the Government. We have been working hand in hand with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife. In the past, in a week, three to five elephants would be reported to have been poached. The reduction in poaching has led to an increase in the number of elephants. We also have a lot of other animals. In Chama South, buffaloes are like chickens or flies.

 

Mr Speaker, the presence of these wild animals in Chama South means that people spend the entire farming season outside trying to chase away animals from their fields and crops. We share what we produce with wild animals. Now, imagine what will happen when FISP is discontinued.  Imagine how the people in Chama South will be impacted. Therefore, I urge the hon. Minister of Agriculture to exempt certain places like Chama South from being left out of FISP.

 

Mr Speaker, allow me to comment on the budget allocated to education. The hon. Minister of Finance allocated K251.3 million to the education sector. In his Budget presentation, he mentioned that this budget will particularly focus on teacher recruitment, infrastructure and school requisites. It is the expectation of the people of Chama South, particularly those in Pondo, to benefit from this allocation. Earlier in the year, I asked the hon. Minister of General Education on the status of Pondo Basic School, which has remained without a roof for the past three years. He assured me that there was about K250,000 in the 2017 Budget which was allocated for the construction or rehabilitation of this school. Sadly, to date, nothing has happened to this school.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mung’andu: Sir, we are going towards the rainy season. This simply means that our children in Pondo area will have to stop going to school. For the past three years, during the rainy season, Pondo Basic School has had to close because it has no roof. The hon. Minister of General Education should consider giving our children there a roof so that they can compete fairly with other pupils. I will make a follow up on this matter because the hon. Minister of General Education promised that there was money allocated to deal with this in the 2017 Budget.

 

Mr Speaker, it is not only Pondo Primary School which is affected. Chimpamba Primary School is a sorry sight. The hon. Minister in the Office of the Vice-President was there. This school has no roof.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mung’andu: Sir, surprisingly, I had difficulties answering questions from the locals when I went there just a few weeks ago. They heard that the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) was distributing materials within Lusaka Province. However, nothing was done in their area. I expect our working Government to look into the plight of these people.

 

Mr Livune: Question!

 

Mr Mung’andu: These are the people who have made us who we are. I have no doubt that this Budget will take care of what I have highlighted.

 

Mr Speaker, allow me to look at the Social Cash Transfer programme. The hon. Minister of Finance allocated K721,180,000 to assist the most vulnerable members of our community. This is a well-intentioned initiative. As Zambians, we have brilliant plans, but at times, we have difficulties with implementation. It is the expectation of the people of Chama South that this money will really benefit the people on the ground. The ministry responsible for this programme should engage all hon. Members of Parliament so that we know the statistics of the people benefiting from it.

 

Mr Speaker, under health, a country which is ravaged by disease cannot be said to be prosperous. The hon. Minister mentioned that health infrastructure will be given priority and there was an allocation to employ 1,000 health staff.

 

Mr Speaker, out of the 650 health posts, we, in Chama South, expect to benefit six health posts, but none of these health posts have been constructed.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Aah!

 

Mr Mung’andu: Sir, we cannot keep on singing about the construction of the health posts in this Budget. The people of Mwanjabazimu and Maphamba in Kalasa area expect a health posts from this working Government.

 

Mr Jere: Question!

 

Mr Mung’andu: Therefore, Sir, we expect that with this budget in place, those six health posts which are part of the 650 health posts will be constructed. I would urge the hon. Minister to have them constructed.

 

Mr Speaker, in my conclusion, I will end by mentioning the shortage of drugs in health posts. We can have health posts, but if they are not stocked with essential drugs, then, they amount to nothing.

 

Mr Muchima: Yes!

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mung’andu: Recently, I visited Kapichilaselula Health Post in my constituency, and it was a sad story to find that there were no drugs there.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mung’andu: This is a fact. There were no drugs, not even panado.

 

Mr Jere: Question!

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear! Hammer!

 

Mr Mung’andu: Sir, we are here to highlight the challenges that our people are facing.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mung’andu: Let the truth be heard.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Jere: Hammer!

 

Interruptions

 

Mr Mung’andu: Mr Speaker, it might not be that there is a shortage of drugs because Medical Stores might have drugs, but it could be that the individuals who are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that these drugs are available in our health posts are not doing their job.

 

Interruptions

 

Mr Jere: Yes!

 

Mr Mung’andu: Mr Speaker, I am, therefore, urging those who are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that drugs are distributed to even the remotest parts of our country, particularly Chama South, to ensure that essential drugs, such as panado, pain killers and antibiotics are available in our health institutions.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mung’andu: We know that our working Government …

 

Mr Livune: Question!

 

Mr Mung’andu: … has these drugs in stock.

 

Mr Livune: Question!

 

Laughter

 

Mr Mung’andu: I have no doubt about that.

 

Mr Livune: Question!

 

Mr Mung’andu: These drugs are there, but why are they not available in some health posts in Chama South?

 

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

 

Thank you, Sir.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Laughter

 

Mr Bwalya (Lupososhi): Mr Speaker, thank you for giving me an opportunity to support the Budget that was presented to this House by the hon. Minister of Finance with the theme, “Accelerating Fiscal Fitness for Sustained Inclusive Growth without Leaving Anyone Behind.”

 

Mrs Mwanakatwe: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Bwalya: Sir, indeed, the people of Nshindaila in Lupososhi Constituency are in agreement with this particular theme. In supporting this particular Budget, I have one to five things to raise.

 

Mr Speaker, on Page 3 of the speech by the hon. Minister of Finance, Paragraph 14, he raised a very important issue that I thought I needed to comment on behalf of the people of Lupososhi. It says:

 

“It is worth noting that the Zambian economy has outpaced the Sub-Sahara African economic growth of 2.7 per cent. This is a reflection of the sound economic policies that this Government has put in place.”

 

Mr Speaker, this is very good growth and a good indication that a single country like Zambia, can be able to grow its economy more than the Sub-Sahara Region. My only appeal to the hon. Minister of Finance is for him to learn to use this positively to benefit our economy so that this growth that we have recorded should trickle down and translate into benefits to the people of this country. Growing it to this level is one thing, but ensuring that the people of Zambia benefit is yet another thing.

 

Sir, on page 4 of the speech, paragraph 23, the hon. Minister referred to the fact that the copper export earnings were higher by 38.1 per cent at US$2.9 billion from US$1.1 billion in the corresponding period in 2016. This is very good growth, especially that the volumes and, indeed, the prices on the international market increased. However, it would have been very important if the hon. Minister had gone further to allow us to get an in-depth understanding of how much in terms of taxes or revenue that ended up in the National Treasury to support the developmental agenda.

 

Mr Speaker, what I have seen here is that the volumes increased and that the price on the international market increased. As a result, so much revenue was earned by the various mining companies. How much taxes did we get, as country, so that we could also be happy when the price of copper goes up on the international market because, then, the Zambian Treasury is also getting so much money. So, this is an issue that the hon. Minister needed to address so that we know that the US$2.9 billion brought so much money into the National Treasury for the development of our country.

 

Sir, there is also a lamentation on page 5, paragraph 23 by the hon. Minister where he said:

 

         “Non-traditional exports, however, marginally declined to K811.7 million ...”

 

Mr Speaker, the question we should ask ourselves, as an economy, hon. Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry is that: What is it that has gone wrong that that this particular issue has declined? We have lost the drive that we used to promote this particular venture. We need to push as much as possible and exert a lot of energy so that people can turn to the non-traditional exports as opposed to just depending on copper. If we have to diversify, we need to go further and ensure that this particular aspect is also promoted.

 

Mr Speaker, on the same page, page 5, again, the hon. Minister of Finance is lamenting in paragraph 26, where he says:

 

“Sir, despite the easing of momentary policy, commercial bank average lending rates only fell marginally to 26.6 per cent in August, 2017 from 29.4 per cent in December, 2016.”

 

Sir, this lamentation clearly shows that the banking sector is not in tandem with Government programmes. If the banking sector and its strategies were supporting Government programmes, the lending rates should have been brought down. With this, we cannot surely talk of growing the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Sir, we expected that the easing of the Monitory Policy, the reduction in the base rate and reserve ratios, the stabilisation of the exchange rate and the reduction in inflation would yield a positive response from the banks by transferring the benefits to the ordinary Zambians. However, we see a situation where the interest rates continue increasing. We expect the hon. Minister of Finance to address this issue because banks are under his jurisdiction.

 

Mr Speaker, when the Government is talking about contractor financing, we expect the banks to position themselves to make money available for this particular venture. Similarly, we expect banks and financial institutions to position themselves to support the marketing of crops in this country and move in tandem with Government programmes. However, although the Government has worked hard to ease the Monitory Policy, banking rates are still not friendly to those who want to borrow money from the banks.

 

Sir, in fact, there was an Act of Parliament that was passed to use immovable assets as collateral and I believe it must be implemented. The hon. Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry and the hon. Minister of Finance should find out what is happening to our colleagues in the banking sector.

 

Mr Speaker, we still have bitter lessons to learn from the banking sector. On page 27, the hon. Minister makes reference to the restructuring of the Intermarket Bank Corporation. We need to protect the Zambian people. We saw a lot of banks closing under the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) Government. We are still recovering from the scars of Meridian BIAO, Commerce Bank and Prudence Bank. We must do everything possible to prevent banks from closing as we implement the 2018 Budget.

 

Sir, on page 7, paragraph 32, the hon. Minister of Finance says that we have to achieve real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of, at least, 5 per cent. My comment on this is that everyone should target higher growth to ensure that no one is left behind.

 

Mr Speaker, on pillar one, economic development and job creation, the hon. Minister on page 8 raises pertinent issues regarding youth and job creation. The hon. Minister stated that:

 

“... the large number of youth entering the labour market each year is limited. There is, therefore, need to diversify the economy to labour intensive sectors such as agriculture and tourism.”

 

This is a very good observation, but there is an issue here that we need to address, as a nation.

 

Sir, our biggest problem is a lack of skills amongst our youth. In fact, there is a disparity between education and the requirements of the economy. The education sector is churning out a lot of social workers, accountants and lawyers, but is that what the economy needs? We are churning out a lot of lawyers, but we are leaving out a certain cadre of artisans who use their hands. These are people who drive the manufacturing industry. They work with their hands and are able to repair that grader which has been laying idle work because no one else can repair it. That is the cadre we need to concentrate on as we implement the 2018 Budget.

 

Mr Speaker, let us look at what our education sector is missing. The industry is looking for certain qualifications and the education sector is bringing out something completely different. We need to do something on this particular front.

 

Sir, page 9, paragraph 41, of the Budget Speech, the hon. Minister of Finance made reference to the rising market potential for livestock, especially goats and sheep. He says:

 

“Government will facilitate access to both local and foreign markets for livestock products. One such initiative is the exportation of one million goats per annum to the Middle East.”

 

There is a very good market available there. The question is whether we are able to exploit it as we implement the 2018 Budget.

 

Mr Speaker, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock cannot deal with this potential market in the state it is in. The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock is responsible for ensuring that the extension services and vaccines are available to farmers and that there is enough land for livestock to graze. However, to burden it with looking for market and then selling goats would be asking for too much.

 

Sir, therefore, my suggestion is that there be a stand-alone institution responsible for livestock marketing. That is exactly how the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) was born. It was because the hon. Minister of Agriculture was overburdened. The Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for providing extension services, ensuring inputs and all other things that go with agriculture are available while the marketing aspect was given to the FRA. We need to do the same if we are to export 1 million goats the Middle East. That is a mammoth task. There is a lot of work that is involved. We need a dedicated institution for this particular exercise if we want to earn the much-needed foreign exchange.

 

Sir, on page 11, the hon. Minister looks at how best he can curb avoidance of payment of taxes and levies. My comment on this is that we need to deal with the issue of transfer pricing because that is that biggest issue that we are grappling with in this country.

 

Mr Speaker, on disaster management, the hon. Minister referred to the fact that the Government will strengthen the National Disaster Response System. It is a good thing, but I have a different view. We must emphasise prevention of disasters. Let us put more money into prevention of disasters because, then, we will be able to cut down on costs.

 

Sir, there is a cancer in this country where the Government will construct nice buildings, but not work on them ever again. There are some structures that were built in 1964 and beyond that have never received a facelift.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Bwalya: It is only when buildings are damaged that we want to respond and the same applies to State House. We should not encourage that. Prevention is better than cure.

 

Mr Speaker, people become emotional when we talk about State House, but that building is old. If we do not do anything now, it will end up a disaster, and I pray that my President is not trapped in that building. We must concentrate on taking preventive measures.

 

Sir, on page 28 of the Budget, the hon. Minister of Finance made reference to the fact that the Government proposes to spend a total of K71.6 billion in 2018. Although that amount is colossal, I can safely say that it is too low, especially because we have a very big informal sector that should be tapped into to aid in financing this Budget. All we need is a proper and elaborate data capture exercise which can reveal this significant anomaly in the informal sector. Therefore, I urge the hon. Minister of National Development and Planning and the hon. Minister of Finance to invest in the Central Statistical Office (CSO) so that we have credible, timely and accurate data to enable us to plan and put resources where they are supposed to be.

 

Mr Speaker, it is always important that we do what is needed so that the Zambian people can benefit out of it.

 

Mr Speaker, I wish to conclude with a quote by the 53rd Governor of New York, Mr George Elmer Pataki, who said:

 

 “This Budget reflects a choice − not an easy choice, but the right choice; and when you think about it, the only choice. The choice to take the responsible, prudent path to fiscal stability economic growth and opportunity.”

 

Mr Speaker, this Budget is the only choice for now. It is not an easy choice, but it is one that the country has taken to ensure that it provides that which it promised to the Zambian people. His Excellency the President has shown that even in the midst of hardships, he is able to stand all and provide for the people of Zambia. During the times of shortage of water when we had no rains, he demonstrated that we, as a country, can live above our difficulties. That is what we need to do, as a country, so that we do not leave any Zambian behind.

 

Mr Speaker, the 2018 Budget is not only a collection of numbers, but also imbedded in it are the principles and values, that is, the values of unity, peace and togetherness that we need to apply. We need to move as one Zambia, one Nation.

 

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Miti (Feira): Mr Speaker, I thank you for giving me this chance to contribute to the debate on the 2018 Budget. Hon. Members will recall that when I debated the President’s Speech, which was delivered to this House on 15th September, 2017, I did mention that it required wisdom for us to appreciate His Excellency the President’s projections. The 2018 Budget requires divine intervention to be actualised next year.

 

Mr Speaker, on paper, the Budget looks very good. The economic projection is very brilliant, but when we go down to the rural Zambia, we will discover that people are living in poverty. So, a person who has not been to the rural parts of Zambia will think that what has been talked about in the 2018 Budget is the gospel truth.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hammer!

 

Mr Miti: Mr Speaker, after so many days of interceding, the Holy Spirit shows me that the 2018 Budget is very important because the 2021 events are anchored on it. If this Budget is not well handled, it will disturb the 2021 events. It is incumbent upon those who are charged with the responsibility to take development to all corners of this country to do so. They should not live anyone behind. I am glad that both the President’s Speech and, indeed, the 2018 Budget Speech talk about not leaving anyone behind.

 

Sir, when the hon. Minister of Finance was presenting the Budget, on two occasions, his voice projection went low, ...

 

Laughter

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Miti: … as if he was trying to stress a point, yet not. There is a saying that, “When you see a man chew awkwardly, just know that there is sand in the food.”  There is a lot of sand in the 2018 Budget. However, I am comforted by the fact that we have the Ministry of Religious Affairs and National Guidance which will assist us in removing the sand which is contained in the 2018 Budget.

 

Laughter

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Miti: Mr Speaker,  …

 

Mr Speaker: How will the ministry remove the sand, if you may explain?

 

Laughter

 

Mr Miti: Mr Speaker, as I stated earlier, this can be done through divine intervention. That will be possible because if it is not attended to, the sand may become gravel.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Miti: Mr Speaker, Hon. Livune spoke very well on the Local Government Equalisation (LGEF). Many councils misuse 20 per cent of the fund. In my constituency, my people have not seen any development from the fund. I concur with Hon. Livune that the hon. Minister of Finance should consider taking the 20 per cent of the K1.1 billion LGEF for 2018 to the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Miti: Mr Speaker, in many constituencies, Feira inclusive, the CDF has come under extreme pressure. I will give you an example of the Ministry of General Education, which is on record saying that teachers’ houses will not be built. This has made secondary schools, which were recently upgraded from primary schools, rush for the CDF so that teachers’ houses can be built out of it. The CDF alone is not enough. In some constituencies, such as Feira, the CDF has been turned into a bursary scheme. As I speak, our CDF Committee was given a bill amounting to K506,000, as fees owed to schools, yet it only received K700,000. What can the Committee do with the remainder?

 

Sir, the hon. Minister of Local Government is telling us to use the CDF to rehabilitate our feeder roads. What can we do with that small amount of money? I do not know if my good colleague, Hon. Nkombo, Member of Parliament for Mazabuka Central will be able to mend those potholes on the Kafue/Mazabuka Road.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Miti: Mr Speaker, this is why my people have sent me to ask the hon. Minister of Finance to consider taking the 20 per cent LGEF to the CDF because they are not seeing any development. They can only see meaningful development through the CDF. They have told me to only support the 2018 Budget if the hon. Minister considers our proposal. We have already done our calculation. If the 20 per cent of the fund is taken to the CDF, then, each constituency will have K2.7 million as CDF, which, at least, can see us undertake serious projects.

 

Mr Speaker, …

 

Mr Speaker: Order!

 

Business was suspended from 1640 hours until 1700 hours.

 

[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

 

Mr Miti: Mr Speaker, diversification into tourism is very important because tourism can help improve our economy. Let us take a leaf from Rwanda. It is doing fine because tourism is also contributing a lot to its gross domestic product (GDP). For this year, Rwanda projected to realise close to US$444 million from tourism into the national economy.

 

Mr Speaker, here in Zambia, we have many national parks and game management areas (GMAs), but seem to be very reluctant in taking care of these resources.

 

Sir, I would like to remind the hon. Minister of Tourism and Arts to ensure that our village scouts are well taken care of because if not and they are left the way they are, we will have no animals to boast about.

 

Sir, the hon. Member for Chama South debated very well on tourism. There is one component in the tourism sector that is not well equipped, the National Heritage Conservation Commission (NHCC). The work of the commission is hampered by the lack of access to many heritage sites. I will give you an example of Feira. We have so many heritage sites in Feira and one of them is the Kavalamanja Bombings of 1978. However, the famous KVM or Kavalamanja Road that goes to this area is in a very deplorable state.

 

Mr Speaker, may the hon. Ministers of Tourism and Arts, Local Government and Housing and Infrastructure Development ensure that the Kavalamanja Road is rehabilitated to enable our good friends from the NHCC to do their work well. May the hon. Minister of Finance also consider, at least, increasing allocations to the NHCC to enable it to carry out its work successfully so that our tourism sector can contribute immensely to our GDP.

 

Mr Speaker, my people in Feira Constituency have just started to enjoy television, but the reception only covers a radius of 11 km. The vast population is still left behind. May the hon. Minister concerned ensure that the entire Feira Constituency is served.

Mr Speaker, our lamentation on the television reception is the levy which has gone up to K5. May the hon. Minister of Finance consider reverting to the old cost of K3 so that my people in Feira Constituency, who have just started to enjoy watching the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), can afford the TV Levy.

 

Mr Speaker, last year when I debated the issue of borrowing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), my stance was against rushing into getting a loan.

 

Mr Nkombo: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Miti: My position still stands.

 

Mr Speaker, I wondered why the hon. Minister of Finance could not mention the position of the Government on the Kabompo Hydro Power Plant which is under construction.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Miti: He just mentioned the Kafue Gorge Lower Power Project, the Maamba Thermal Plant and the Batoka Hydro Power Project. I wondered why he left out the Kabompo Hydro Power Plant.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Miti: What is happening there? What is the stance of the Government? It has a stake in the Kabompo Hydro Power Plant, ...

 

Mr Nkombo: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Miti: ... but as things stand, we are left to wonder where we are going. We do not know if this project will continue to its fruition or will be abandoned and, if so, what the consequences can be.

Mr Speaker, I am very disappointed with the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) and the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) for just increasing electricity tariffs by 75 per cent without considering cost reflective tariffs. I thought that instead of increasing by 75 per cent, the ERB and ZESCO would consider removing subsidies from the electricity tariffs. Now, suppose we were to remove subsidies, what would happen to the tariffs? I am very disappointed and request the Government to look into this matter.

 

Mr Speaker, talking about job creation, we are let down by the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry. We seem to concentrate much on trade and forget about the manufacturing industry which could create the much-needed jobs which, in turn, could help improve our economy.

 

Mr Speaker, when you create an enabling environment for entrepreneurship, the economic situation would positively change, yet it is one area we are forgetting to improve. When we talk about entrepreneurship, all we see are handouts which are given to the youth without meaningful capacity building.

 

Mr Speaker, the jobs we are seeing now are casual in the road construction sector. My appeal to the hon. Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry is for him to ensure that an enabling environment is created for entrepreneurship to excel.

 

Mr Speaker, in my conclusion, I would like to urge the Government to, once again, consider the 2018 Budget as very important, as it is a litmus test for 2021 events, as I earlier stated. Let us not pay a blind eye or deaf ear to the 2018 Budget.

 

Mr Speaker, with these few words, I would like to support the Budget and I thank you.

 

Dr Chanda: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kafwaya (Lunte): Mr Speaker, I would like to thank you for giving me an opportunity to contribute to the debate in support of the Budget on behalf of the people of Lunte.

 

Mr Speaker, firstly, I would like to congratulate the Minister of Finance, Hon. Felix Mutati, on the manner in which he moved this Motion which has generated a lot of views. Some views are complimenting while others are opposing. I want to clearly state that I have taken a bit of time to look at some of our national anchor documents. In 2006, the late President Mwanawasa, SC., launched the Vision 2030. In June, 2017, His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu, launched the Seventh National Development Plan (7thNDP).

 

Mr Speaker, these documents are there for everybody to see, including the people of Lunte. These documents give this country direction. The Vision 2030 gives us a longer term direction while the 7thNDP gives us a medium-term direction. These strategic documents have to be broken down into strategies and tactics so that their objective can be achieved. One of the strategies is the National Budget, which was presented to the nation, through this august House, by the hon. Minister of Finance.

 

Mr Speaker, the Budget, therefore, needed to be consistent with these documents in order to gain credibility so that the people of Zambia, and those in Lunte in particular, can have confidence in what his Excellency the President is trying to achieve in the twelve months from 1st January to 31st December, 2018. I am glad to say that I actually observed consistency in these three documents. On that score, I would like to congratulate the hon. Minister of Finance for bringing that consistency. We need it, as a nation, for us to support the policies of the Government.

 

Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister of Finance wants to spend K71 billion. This is higher than K64 billion presented last year. There will be no argument that this Budget is an increase from the one currently being implemented. Last year, when I rose to contribute to the debate on the Budget, I observed that there was a tendency for many people in here and outside of the House attempting to translate the Budget into dollars. My reasoning was that, maybe, because the rate of the dollar was at K14 per US$1, but this time around, I have not heard any translation because the dollar is at K9. That is inconsistency even in debates. However, I would like to be consistent by breaking down my debate in the manner I did last year.

 

Mr Speaker, I would like to remind the House, before I break down my debate, that His Excellency the President talked about five pillars upon which he wishes his Cabinet to stir development. I have chosen only two pillars and then I will make additions. The pillars I have chosen are job creation and diversification and good governance.

 

Mr Speaker, this country needs jobs. We need to stimulate our economy so that it is able to produce the jobs that are needed in Lunte and all over the country. When I look at this Budget, it is just less than 25 per cent of our economy, or less than 25 per cent of our gross domestic product (GDP) which means that it is not my expectation to see all the jobs that we need to come from this Budget because it is such a small proportion of our economy. I have heard a lot of misunderstandings whereby people are questioning the ability of this Budget to produce jobs. It is my submission that the jobs which we want will be produced by all players in the economy, including the Government. So, as we talk about job creation, we need to attribute some of the jobs to the Government and non-governmental organisations, which are also participating in the economy.

 

Mr Speaker, for these jobs to be sustainable, we have to develop industries which are able to remain afloat even when the mining sector is not doing well. This is why we are seeing farming blocks on the Copperbelt, Central and the Northern provinces. I am more interested in the farming block in the Northern Province particularly because much of it will be in Lunte Constituency. I would like the hon. Minister of Finance to consider actualising this farming block because when we do that, then, we will be able to build all the auxiliary industries which are needed to promote industrialisation.

 

Sir, when we promote industrialisation, then, we will promote export diversification, which this country needs to talk more about because that is what we lack. Our economy is very well diversified. There are activities happening in health, education and social sectors and everywhere else, but we only export in one area of our economy, which is mining. So, when we talk about diversification, primarily, what must bother us is the fact that we have classified our exports in into two, which is the mining exports and the others that have been lumped together and are called none traditional exports. However, His Excellency the President, Mr Lungu, in his visionary leadership, has said, “Let us diversify.” He has guided that model farming blocks be developed on a multi-sectoral integrated basis so that we cannot only grow, but also process. Then, we should be able to export.

Mr Speaker, by so doing, we will diversify our exports so that the day that our mining sector does not perform well, we will still export other things from the agriculture sector. This will give us the much-needed foreign exchange which we lack in times of difficulties when copper mining sector is not doing very well. As a responsible representative of the people of Lunte, I have no option, but to support the policy on diversification and job creation, which is sustainable.

 

Sir, let me briefly talk about good governance. As I said earlier, we have to ensure that we understand that it is not only the Government which has to provide all the jobs that we need, but also the private sector and all players in the economy. In fact, when we exclude the Government, other players amount to 75 per cent of the economy. So, for the private sector to contribute adequately to job creation, the Government must ensure that it provides an enabled environment so as to attract more investment from foreigners and locals so that economic activities can be stimulated.

 

Mr Speaker, in this vein, the Government wants to modify some laws and intends to bring new ones to this Parliament and enact them. The enactment of the Planning and Budgeting Act is an important tool which will help this country to enable the environment even more. So, I would like to encourage the hon. Minister of Finance to ensure that this Bill is brought to Parliament so that we can enact a law that will help us to plan properly.

 

Interruptions

 

Mr Kafwaya: Sir, if this law is enacted and implemented, we will have a planning system which is more effective and even the arguments may reduce. There have been a lot of arguments around numbers and policies, but when we are given an opportunity, through the enactment and implementation of this law, people would have an input on what they think ought to appear in the Budget even before it comes to Parliament for enactment.

 

Mr Speaker, let me talk about the review and amendment of the Public Finance Act. It is very important for the hon. Minister to ensure that he brings this Act to be reviewed in Parliament so that we are able to come up with a law which has teeth. This is because there are issues in the Auditor-General’s Report which is brought to this Parliament every year that can be avoided if we streamline this law. I, therefore, encourage the hon. Minister to ensure that this is done.

 

Sir, we have heard many conversations around the Public Procurement Act. As a country, we cannot continue to just converse and not act. Again, I would like to admonish the Government to ensure that we look at this piece of legislation.

 

Furthermore, Mr Speaker, the Loans and Guarantees (Authorisation) Act should be reviewed and revised. The hon. Minister stated that he intends to review it so that Parliament can fully participate in the contracting of Government borrowing. This will enhance the governance we need in order to stimulate the economy through the injection of capital by both private and foreign individuals.

 

Mr Speaker, this Budget is progressive. I would like to also state that light and darkness cannot mix. Ignorance and knowledge are not complementary, but antagonistic. Therefore, the interpretation of numbers and qualitative issues contained in the Budget are based on understanding. Interrupting the economy and policies is also based on understanding. It is my view that when there is a lack of understanding, there is a lot of confusion in interpretation and people may be misled.

 

Sir, however, I am happy because after the modernisation of Parliament, people are able to listen and perceive who is misleading. Somebody will say this Government is borrowing senselessly all over the place and the gross domestic product (GDP) will be 100 per cent geared. Now, how can one say that without adding that borrowing will help to stimulate the economy? How can there be a complete disregard of the effect of that borrowing on the economy and just a concentration on the fact that there is borrowing? That is a lack of understanding.

 

Mr Speaker, in conclusion, the people of Lunte expect the Government to use some of the money to upgrade the feeder roads in Lunte and to develop the district administration. They also expect it to construct bridges on the rivers and streams. This has been a problem for so many years and they hope it will be looked at, and with that, I wish to support the Budget.

 

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

 

Mr Kamboni (Kalomo Central): Mr Speaker, thank you very much. As I begin my speech, I would like to disagree with the previous speaker. Borrowing to a level where it becomes senseless cannot stimulate an economy.

 

Hon. Government Members: Question!

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, what stimulates an economy is proper planning and putting money to the right cause. If you borrow to a level that it becomes senseless, it will eat you up.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, money will never be enough and you cannot have all the money that you need. Even the United States of America (USA) does not have all the money that it needs. How you plan to use the money is what is important. We are here today to look at the Budget that guides us where to go and where to end.

 

Mr Lubinda: Twamuyeya Muntanga!

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, the purpose of the Budget is to provide for people’s needs. We all budget at family and district levels. There is nothing complicated about budgeting, but it is important for the budget to cover the people’s needs. The question is: Does the Budget cover the people’s needs in Zambia? The answer is no.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Shame!

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, a few selfish individuals should not use leadership and projects to corruptly take money from the citizens using the Budget and this is what the Patriotic Front (PF) does. The other important element of the Budget is execution. The money that is budgeted for has to be used according to what it is planned for. If what is planned for is not executed, then, the Budget remains a piece of paper which does not answer to the people’s needs.

 

Mr Speaker, the tough question that I have today is whether this Budget covers the needs of my people in Kalomo Central Parliamentary Constituency. The answer will come as I debate.

 

Mr Speaker, Kalomo Central Township roads were budgeted for in 2015, but nothing happened. These roads are in a terrible state. The hon. Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development moved on those roads and confirmed that they are in a terrible state. So, does this Budget cover the township roads of Kalomo Central Parliamentary Constituency? The answer is no. The Nalubumba Bridge was washed away and this led to the constituency being cut in two parts. Does this Budget cover it? The answer is no.

 

Sir, we were assured that the Baila Dam would be sunk. Has it been done? The answer is no. Does this Budget cover that? The answer is still no. Forty schools in Kalomo Central Parliamentary Constituency need computers, laboratories, electricity and additional classroom blocks, and if we ask whether this Budget covers that, the answer will still be no.

 

Mr Speaker, in Kalomo Central Parliamentary Constituency, sixty-six villages have no water. The villages have neither boreholes nor running tap water. Does this Budget cover them? The answer is no. The marketeer, farmer and the youth are all expecting something from this Budget. However, when we ask whether it covers all these people, the answer is no. So, what, then, is wrong? The process of how this Budget is made must be looked into. We have Committees here whose members are never consulted when planning. I am a Member of the Committee on Education, Science and Technology and I would have expected the Budget for the Education sector to have passed through this Committee before being brought to this House. Unfortunately, that did not happen. The Budget is made in such a way that non-stakeholders are excluded from the process. The framework of the Budget must be looked into for it to make sense.

 

Sir, let me also specify some of the weaknesses of this Budget. Firstly, it lacks specifics, and this is dangerous. I say so because that being the case, we will have difficulties in evaluating whether it has achieved its objectives and goals. For instance, the Government will say it is allocating so much to the Ministry of Agriculture, …

 

Mr Speaker: Order!

 

Hon. Member, take a seat.

 

Mr Kamboni resumed his seat.

 

Mr Speaker: What we are considering now is the Budget Speech. Beginning on Friday next week, we will start looking at the Yellow Book. That Yellow Book probably has the specifics you are referring to. What we are considering now is a policy statement with different facets. I just want to be sure that we are on the same page in the hymn book.

 

Further, the equipment that we have installed in the House is quite sensitive and adequate. So, even if you lowered your voice, you would still be adequately captured.

 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, a policy will give direction and also specify what it entails. I do know that there is a difference between a policy and a rule. The difference is that a policy will specify what it wants to achieve. If the policy is creating confusion, then, it is not a policy.

 

Hon. Government Member: Question!

 

Mr Kamboni: Sir, what I am saying here is that what I expected in this Budget was roughly what happened last year in some instances. If we say we are allocating so much to the agriculture sector, we should also know the number of jobs that are expected to be created. It may not be very specific, but the direction being taken will be clear. This is what I was trying to explain.

 

Sir, when it comes to my voice, I am sorry, but that is the way I speak.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, the Budget must have precision and a time frame. For instance, when we talk about the electronic voucher (e-Voucher Scheme), we know that farmers plant their crops in November and December. Therefore, if the money is released in March, then, the Budget would have lost its direction. That is because that money will not buy the seed it was intended for. So, the timing and correctness matters as we are budgeting. That aspect was lacking in the 2017 Budget, just like in the 2018 Budget.

 

Sir, let us look at poverty and agriculture. In his speech to this House, His Excellency the President clearly stated that statistics show that poverty levels in towns are lower than in rural areas. I remember very well that the figures for urban areas stood at 54 per cent while that of rural areas stood at 76.6 per cent. This Budget should have addressed that. At the moment, this Budget is increasing poverty in both the urban and rural areas. So, one would have expected the Government to allocate more money to agriculture so that poverty in the rural areas can be reduced. Instead, what we see is the status quo. The Government talks about diversification, but that is just on paper as what is on the ground is totally different.

 

Mr Speaker, let me now talk about this Budget in terms of loans. As a country, the rate at which we borrow is very alarming. The hon. Minister of Finance knows this fact and something must be done about it. We cannot run an economy based on borrowing and nothing else. My belief is that the purpose of the Government is to make profit, which must benefit the citizens. So, let us now have a synopsis of how the Government’s Budget is done. 50 per cent of this Budget is going to salaries, about 30 per cent is for clearing interests for the loan acquired and not the loans themselves. 10 per cent is going towards subsidies in the universities. So, when you add this, you already have 90 per cent. The remaining 10 per cent is what is allocated to other projects. This is why I am saying this is not a good Budget. My colleague who is saying this is a progressive Budget has not looked at it holistically.

 

Mr Speaker, still on loans, the amount of money we spend on interest for loans is equivalent to the money we are giving the Ministry of Health and the ministries of Higher and General Education, and that is too much. A good Government should be concerned about this. We have not even started clearing these loans. The Government borrowed money through the Eurobond and this will mature in 2021. When that happens, Zambians will feel it. Those who borrow senselessly must know that they are not the only ones who pay back for these loans. Mr Speaker, you and I as well as all the citizens of this country pay for the loans although we do not see the impact.

 

Mr Speaker: Hon. Member, you do not draw the Speaker into your debate.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Speaker: He may be a taxpayer, but you still do not draw him in.

 

You may continue.

 

Mr Kamboni: Sir, what is surprising is that the country has borrowed so much. Unfortunately, this borrowing has not had any positive impact on the economy. There is no impact on that villager in Kaputa. So, where is this money that we are borrowing going? Further, I want to know when the Government will stop borrowing. The PF Government was proud of getting the first Eurobond. That news of how it was celebrating the acquisition of the Eurobond was in the newspapers. This is the only Government that I saw hold a party to celebrate the acquisition of a loan. Why should it do that?

 

Laughter

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, there is high talk here about the Social Cash Transfer scheme. The Government is saying this scheme is doing very well because it is helping the poor and that the number of beneficiaries is increasing. Now, let me give you this example. If I have five children whom I am supposed to take to school, to the hospital when they are sick and provide all their needs, but then I fail to do all that and the Church starts looking after three of my children, and the following year, I, again, fail to provide for my remaining two children whom the Church also takes over, but I go to brag amongst my friends about being a good father is not right. Similarly, if the Government has more people being captured as beneficiaries of the SCT, it means it is not doing well. If it was doing well, it would have saved them from that bracket where they get K90 per month, which does not even come on time. I want to make it very clear that this K90 is never on time. It is very sporadic and sometimes it comes after three or four months. Meanwhile, people would have been starving during the period they expected to get the fund. So, we should not talk about the SCT as a success because it is a sign of failure and making everyone poor in the country.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, let me now talk about the Public Order Act. In terms of governance, it looks like the PF has a different system. How can it allocate K2.1 million to the Ministry of Home Affairs? It has been the worst performing. It brutalises the citizens who pay tax. The money that is allocated to it does not come from the PF, but from citizens. The Government uses the Ministry of Home Affairs to brutalise anyone who holds a different view from the Government. What kind of a Government is that?    

 

Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister of Finance must realise that this is a misallocation. This money should be taken where it can be put to proper use. The police are so unprofessional that I do not even want to talk about them. What they are doing is very disappointing and embarrassing to the country.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, what we lack, as a country, is investment in the structures, which are very weak in Zambia. They allow anybody to loot or steal from Government coffers. The system …

 

Mr Speaker: Order!

 

Hon. Member, the word ‘steal’ is unparliamentary.

 

Mr Kamboni: I am sorry, Sir.

 

Mr Speaker, these weak structures allow people to take money illegally from Government coffers.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, I suggest that the hon. Minister of Finance enacts some laws to strengthen the system.

 

Mr Speaker, some of these Bills are already on the Table, but I do not know why we are not enacting them. For instance, we have the Public Finance Management Bill, which will increase punitive measures of erring officers. You can steal from the Zambian Government today …

 

Mr Speaker: Order, hon. Member!

 

You have repeated that word.

 

Mr Kamboni: I am sorry, Sir.

 

Mr Speaker, one can take money from the Zambian Government corruptly and only be charged sixteen months later, if at all he or she is charged. Such a system is not good. By the time the Government wants to take action, the perpetrator would have fled the country. We need this Bill so that such people can be checked or charged immediately after found wanting.

 

Mr Speaker, the Loans and Guarantee Bill will allow Parliament to approve debt before it is contracted. I want to add that we do not want simple majority approval, but two-thirds majority. We do not want simple majority because we are also involved when it comes to paying back these loans that the country contracts.

 

Mr Speaker, the Social Protection Bill will provide a framework for health insurance. This is the modern language in this modern alignment of governance. We also need the Planning and Budgeting Bill to align annual budgeting to important documents such as the Seventh National Development Plan (7thNDP) even though I really do not like the document.  

 

Mr Speaker, someone talked about how the PF is very good at creating jobs. There is a policy that will be effected in this Budget under which minibuses in the country will be phased out. Do we know how many people will lose jobs if these minibuses are phased out? Is that creating employment? How many mouths will stop feeding because of phasing out these minibuses? The reason being advanced for doing away with these minibuses is that they have killed more people in traffic accidents than the big ones, yet the opposite is the truth.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: In the past three years, we have had more big buses taking the lives of good Zambians in numbers than the small ones. What doing away with minibuses will do is simply make many Zambians unemployed. If this is truly a listening Government, then, this policy must be stopped. Just bring the big and small buses together in competition. This is what business is all about.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: Sir, people will choose whether to go on a small bus or a big one. However, do not do away with small ones because they are doing a good job of carrying my mother, my cousin and I.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, I want to look at the corruption that has been taking place. Sometimes, I am tempted to ask the hon. Minister of Finance whether he has made any provision for corruption.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Kamboni: This is because corruption is taking a lot of our money from the Budget.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: There is so much corruption with regards to the Road Development Agency (RDA). Moving the RDA to State House means that it cannot be audited. How can billions of dollars not be audited? How can we expect progress?

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: How can that be done?

 

Sir, the agency handles K1.2 billion, yet it cannot be audited and you want to complain about corruption. There cannot be progress in the fight against corruption with the prevailing status quos. The RDA must be removed from State House and be placed where it can be audited.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: We need transparency in the road sector.

 

Mr Kampyongo: On a point of order, Sir.

 

Mr Speaker: Hon. Members, take your seats.  Hon. Minister, in fact, you raised a point of order last time reminding me whether I should allow points of order. So, it also applies to the Budget Speech and, the position, which I have repeated time and time again, is simple. If I allow these points of order, people will debate through them. If the person who is debating has said something that you would like to challenge, take note and, at an appropriate juncture, I will give you an opportunity to respond. As a matter of fact, you can single him or her out when responding. You can say that the hon. Member of such and such a constituency said this or that, just like the hon. Member for Kalomo Central started his debate. He began by saying that he did not agree with what the debate of the hon. Member who had spoken right before him. That is debate.

 

Continue, hon. Member for Kalomo Central.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for your protection.

 

Sir, the other area that we need to seriously look at in this country is deforestation. Trees are depleting at an alarming rate, thereby resulting in the change of weather patterns. We have had a lot of disasters. For example, bridges have been washed away. How do we stop deforestation? We can stop it by making electricity affordable. Believe it or not, electricity tariffs for an ordinary Zambian are too high. Due to these exorbitant tariffs, the common man, including hon. Members of Parliament, are using charcoal to cook instead of electric stoves. 

 

Mr Speaker, I expected the hon. Minister of Finance to do something that would stop deforestation, that is, making electricity tariffs affordable for ordinary Zambians.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: If we do not do this, then, we should expect the worst in our weather patterns. Disasters will be a daily song in this country.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, I would like to look at education. I do not know why people forget about education after being educated. We need to change this economy to a knowledge-based one. Zambia used to be among the top three countries in Africa in terms of education. However, our current ranking has really gone down. If we concentrated on education, we would perform miracles for this country. Employment would not be a problem.

 

Mr Speaker, the budget for education in 2018 has reduced even further. We are even failing to meet the requirements of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Education Policy. We need to change. I would suggest that we take money from the Ministry of Home Affairs to education.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Kamboni: This is because education is the only hope for the poor man’s child.

 

Mr Speaker, I want to move onto to the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). As a country, we are very good at starting things. However, we do not always end well. In Kenya, the CDF is about K10 million per constituency. The same goes for Botswana and people are feeling the impact of development.  Both of these countries took a leaf from us.

 

Mr Speaker, I am complaining about the distribution of wealth in this country. It leaves much to be desired. We the same route to the same places all the time. Last year, we were told that we would continue with old projects, but we did not get anything. This year, wealth is being taken to the same places. When will we get something as well seeing as we also pay tax? The development we are seeing in places like Kalomo Central comes from non-governmental organisations (NGO) and the Church.

 

Hon. Government Members: Question!

 

Mr Kamboni: These are organisations that do not even get any tax from Zambians. There is nothing, not even a toilet, from the Government, which taxes us.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: Mr Speaker, if we increase the CDF to K10 million per constituency, we will be able to monitor it ourselves. Those who are corrupt can steal it, but those of us who are honest can make use of it properly.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kamboni: Finally, Sir, I suggest that we involve all stakeholders in the planning of the next Budget. Let us make use of parliamentary Committees because they move around the country and have a clearer understanding of what happens in constituencies. Let us not leave them out of the budgeting process. What happens in this House is cosmetic because of the different numbers. All expenditures, even those that I am not willing to support, go through. Last year, every proposal passed through. We need to emphasise proper planning at the first stage where everybody should be involved.

 

Sir, the distribution of wealth should be done properly in this country. We should increase the CDF. We should stop corruption by strengthening structures. We must stop politicking and engaging in politics of hate. We must look at every Zambian as equal.

 

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mwila (Chimwemwe): Mr Speaker, I would like to thank you for giving the chance to make a few comments on the Budget Speech delivered to this House by the hon. Minister of Finance.

 

Ms Mulenga: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mwila: Mr Speaker, the people of Chimwemwe Constituency are happy about the Ndola/Lusaka Dual Carriage Way Project and are urging the Government to do everything possible to ensure that it was worked on. However, they do not agree that the cost of the construction of the hotels and service stations should be recovered through the toll gate fees. Instead, they are suggesting that the issue of auxiliary services be separated from the cost of the construction of the main road.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mwila: Sir, one of the reasons being given is that people have just migrated to the cost-reflective electricity tariffs and are still nursing their wounds over this. Again, in 2022, this country will be paying interest on the Eurobond, which was contracted. Therefore, to that cost, we cannot add the cost of the construction of hotels which will be accessed by people we do not even know. In any case, when we talk of service stations, there are many companies, such as Puma, Sam Fuel or Petroda, which the Government can approach to can set up the service stations at their expense without recovering that money from the toll gate collection.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mwila: Sir, the people of Chimwemwe believe and have every confidence that the Patriotic Front (PF) Government is a listening administration. They also have every confidence and believe that they will be listened to. Therefore, the issue of hotels and that of the service stations will be treated separately, but not to be recovered through the toll gate collections.

 

Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister of Finance talked about the revitalisation of the Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL), but did not elaborate how he intends to do that. The position of the people of Chimwemwe on the ZRL’s revitalisation is that the Government should not, again, borrow money to put into the ZRL because they were not convinced by how the US$120 million Eurobond was utilised. What we know is that some railway slippers of the ZRL were worked on and this increased the speed from 25 km to 35 km per hour.

 

Sir, the people of Chimwemwe would, therefore, like to suggest that if the hon. Minister of Finance has some sources of funds to revitalise companies that went down during the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme, then, he should let that money be pumped into Luangwa or Mansa Batteries industries in Chipata and Luapula provinces, respectively, so that these companies can come back to life. Apart from that, there are other companies like the Mulungushi Textiles in Kabwe, Kapiri Glass in Kapiri Mposhi or Zambia Air Ways that need revitalisation. I suppose money can be pumped into those companies and not the ZRL.

 

Sir, let me also refer to page 22 of the Budget Speech made by the hon. Minister of Finance. He talked about the legal reforms provisions that will enable the revision of the Public Procurement Act. I am sure this will relate to the issue which we experienced some time last week or the other week when people were talking about the procurement of fire tenders.

 

Sir, the issue at hand is that this is a welcome statement from the hon. Minister. We are, therefore, looking forward to seeing the Bill being tabled on the Floor of the House so that we can interrogate it. The people of Chimwemwe are expecting this House to revise the Procurement Act in order to remove the issue of middlemen in the procurement of some of the high value items, such as motor vehicles, including the fire tenders whose procurement we witnessed.

 

Mr Speaker, although people may try to justify this, the complaint by the people about the fire tenders was their price and not necessarily the procedure, which was okay, hence being cleared by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and other relevant bodies.

 

Mr Speaker, the issue about the price is that the US$1 million is not the amount that was paid to the equipment manufacturer, but to the middleman who supplied the equipment and had to remove the mark-up and paid the difference of the sum to the manufacturer. What we do not know is the percentage the supplier got. Again, there is no law in Zambia, which compels the supplier to disclose the mark-up that one gets.

 

Ms Mulenga: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mwila: So, Sir, what the people are saying is that the Government should try as much as possible to remove the issue of middlemen in some of these purchases.

 

Sir, two weeks ago, I was in my constituency and some women were asking me if the vehicle I was driving was also supplied by the so-called middlemen. I told them that the vehicle was bought by the Office of The Hon. Mr Speaker directly from Toyota Zambia because The Hon. Mr Speaker does not use middlemen.

 

Ms Mulenga: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mwila: They further asked why the Government did not use the same route when acquiring the fire tenders or other purchases.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mwila: Sir, that is the language which is being used by our cadres at the lowest level.

 

Mr Speaker, let me now refer to page 29 of the …

 

Interruptions

 

Mr Speaker: Order!

 

Can we have some silence right at the back? There is an animated discussion going on involving a sizeable number of hon. Members.

 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Speaker: You may continue, hon. Member.

 

Mr Mwila: Mr Speaker, let me now talk about expenditure by function. I agree with my colleagues who said the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) needs to be increased.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Speaker: You may continue, hon. Member.

 

Mr Mwila: Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister of Finance is allocating 0.3 per cent of the Budget which he presented to this House to the CDF. This is less than half of 1 per cent. Why should it be this way? The people of Chimwemwe are saying that the 0.3 per cent should be increased to 1 per cent. Let us pick money from less serious proposals and take it to the CDF because this is the money which brings about tangible development.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mwila: Sir, may I withdraw the word ‘less serious’ because they are also relevant. Let us remove some money from some proposed projects and take to the CDF. One of the projects from which money can be removed is the Climate Change Resilience, which is 0.6 per cent of the Budget. What is this about? It is about conferences, the Oslo Convention and so on and so forth. We can take one third of that and add it to the CDF.

 

Mr Speaker, let me now turn to public affairs and summit meetings.  Last year, the allocation was about K100, 000 and there has been an increase to about 105 per cent. Definitely, we need summit meetings, but we are in a global village and can learn from what is happening next door, in Tanzania with President Magufuli. In Tanzania, they have tried to cut down on some expenses. If what we are reading is true, then, it is worth noting that Tanzania has now stopped looking to the International Monitory Fund (IMF) because it is able to fund its national budget from locally generated resources.

 

Mr Speaker, we probably need to send a Parliamentary Select Committee to Tanzania to learn best practices. How come our Tanzanian counterparts have managed to start financing their own budget? There is no talk of borrowing from the IMF for budgetary support in that country. In this country, we always talk of achieving certain macroeconomic benchmarks in order to be able to borrow from the IMF. So, maybe, the hon. Minister of Finance can sort out that issue as quickly as possible.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Mwila: Sir, on page 10 of his speech, the hon. Minister of Finance talked about access to affordable credit. His Excellency the President of Zambia, through the hon. Minister of Finance, was very categorical on this issue. He said that he wants our youths, women and children to access funding for their businesses. The Movable Assets Act will enable women at the Chisokone, New Nakadoli, Racecourse, Twatasha and Kamatipa markets in Chimwemwe Constituency to walk into a bank and access some loans using the stoves and fridges they have in their homes as collateral. This is the message from His Excellency the President. It is one of the reasons His Excellency the President, Mr Edgar Lungu, got a lot of votes in Chimwemwe Constituency because this is what people want to hear.

 

Mr Speaker, there is also the Agricultural and Industrial Credit Guarantee Scheme. Under this scheme, if a bank, for example, buys a tractor worth K100,000 for a small and medium enterprise (SME), the SME only has to provide security worth 50 per cent of that asset. However, the people of Chimwemwe are asking the hon. Minister of Finance to revise the percentage of the security to be provided by the beneficiary to 10 per cent and the bank to cover the other 90 per cent.

 

Mr Speaker, this scheme is very progressive and we are looking forward to it. However, come November, 2018, the people of Chimwemwe do not want to hear that nobody in Chimwemwe accessed funds under this scheme because the Government failed to agree with the banks. His Excellency the President has made a pronouncement and we will look forward to the hon. Minister of Finance ensuring that this is implemented.  We do not want to see what we saw last year. We approved US$50 million for onward lending to the Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ). One year down the line, no one has accessed that fund.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mwila: Sir, I am very happy with the hon. Minister of Finance that, in the 2018 Budget, he has not allocated any ngwee towards constitutional amendments. This is fantastic and what the people of Chimwemwe are expecting is that constitutional amendments be done by this august House. There are a lot of issues that need to be adjusted in this august House. I will just cite the example of Article 60 and Article 4 (a). These talk about establishing a political party fund. This is in the Constitution that hon. Members of Parliament who were in this House at that time passed.

 

Mr Livune: Question!

 

Mr Mwila: They gave authority to the hon. Minister of Finance to start funding political parties with representation in Parliament. The people of Chimwemwe are saying no to that. After increasing electricity tariffs by 75 per cent and removing fuel subsidies, why should people use their meagre resources to fund and contribute to the growth of political parties like the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD), which has only one hon. Member of Parliament in here? Why should it happen that way?

 

Laughter

 

Mr Mwila: Therefore, Sir, people are wondering why the Front Bench is taking too long to bring clauses such as the ones I mentioned to this House so that we amend them.  As things stand now, I would not be surprised to hear that the Ministry of Finance has been sued by the United Party for National Development (UPND) or the FDD for not releasing funds to them, as stated in the Constitution. If the hon. Minister does not release the money, then, he is abrogating the Constitution. We swear here to uphold what is in the Constitution. So, can the Government quickly bring all those contentious issues before this House so that we sort them out.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Mwila: If it delays, then, we will bring bus loads of protestors. Unlike those who came from the Eastern Province, this time they will come from Chimwemwe so that we force the Government to amend those constitutional provisions.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Mwila: Mr Speaker, I am happy with the hon. Minister’s allocation to public order and safety. This is fantastic because we need this money for the maintenance of public order and safety. I heard you guiding one of my colleagues to not talk about the Yellow Book, but I spent most of my time last evening trying to find where the allocation to the procurement of service vehicles is under the Ministry of Home Affairs to enable police operations. I could not see anything in the Yellow Book. This means that the Ministry of Home Affairs has not planned to buy even one Land Cruiser.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Mwila: Mr Speaker, I stand to be guided, but there is no allocation in the Yellow Book to that activity. So, I do not even know what to say about how the police will maintain public order and safety.

 

Mr Speaker, in Chimwemwe Constituency, we have two police stations and two police posts, but there is not even a Corolla for our men and women in uniform. The only Land Cruiser that we had at Garnerton Police Post was grabbed by the Commissioner of Police in Ndola and this has now crippled police operations in Chimwemwe Constituency. So, the hon. Minister of Home Affairs should ensure that this matter is addressed. If it means borrowing to purchase vehicles for the police, that is the borrowing that we want. The ministry can just go to Toyota Zambia, which is just opposite Parliament Motel, and get vehicles on credit. We need those vehicles in Chimwemwe Constituency.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mwila: If the hon. Minister of Home Affairs does not do that, I will donate the vehicle that I got from the Hon. Mr Speaker to Chimwemwe Police, then, grab his vehicle. Let us be seen to be making progress.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Mwila: Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister of Finance talked about the recruitment of 1,000 health personnel next year. This year, 7,400 health workers were recruited, but that is not enough. How will we support His Excellency the President’s pronouncement of creating 1,000,000 decent jobs by 2021 at this rate? One thousand plus 7,400 is only 8,400. The hon. Minister of General Education also talked about recruiting 2,000 teachers. That only adds up to about 10, 000 jobs. When will we reach the 100,000 mark that the hon. Minister of Finance promised? Let us up the numbers so that we employ more youths. Let us do what we can in our ministries to support His Excellency the President’s intentions because that is what people want.

 

Mr Speaker, part of the theme of the hon. Minister’s Budget Address is “Not Leaving Anyone Behind.” However, there is limited school infrastructure in Chimwemwe Constituency. What is happening is that at schools like Kaoma Basic School, Grades 3, 4 and 5 are only learning two and half hours out of five hours. After two and half hours, pupils are sent home so that the next class gets in. This is happening in Chimwemwe, not in the villages or rural constituencies. Chimwemwe is an urban constituency. When will we make an improvement on such matters?

 

Sir, on the issue of desks, it is no wonder you are seeing most of the back benchers now rising against the Front Bench because what we are seeing is that only schools in constituencies held by hon. Ministers are receiving desks. If you go to Chimwemwe Constituency, you will find pupils in Grade 3, 4 and 5 sitting on the floor which is not even tiled. There is just a bare floor made of cement. How can somebody who has come from a home where there is nice sofa be made to sit on the floor? Can we ensure that we share the national resources equally.

 

Mr Speaker, we have heard of tricycles and bicycles being donated. Again, this has only been done in the constituencies held by hon. Ministers. When will we learn to share? I think the Acting Leader of Government Business in the House should look into such matters. If he does not, then, we will be forced to now go to the Vice-President’s Office or even to His Excellency the President, but that is not necessary. When it is time to vote or campaign, His Excellency the President will not only need to win in one or thirty constituencies. He will be expected to win in all the constituencies. So, let us learn to share resources equally and equitably.

 

Mr Speaker, I can see that time is not on my side, but I just want to make a few more remarks. The people of Chimwemwe are saying that they support His Excellency the President’s call, vision and programmes of the Patriotic Front (PF) Government.

 

Ms Mulenga: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Mwila: They approve the 2018 Budget and want it to be executed. We do not want to hear excuses about technocrats impeding Government programmes. Technocrats have always been there. Even in the time of the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) Government they were there and have remained. If you see that a technocrat is a problem, kick her/him out or retire them in national interest so that, probably, they can go and farm somewhere.

 

I thank you, Mr Speaker.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Speaker: Order!

 

Business was suspended from 1810 hours until 1830 hours.

 

[MR SPEAKER in the Chair]

 

Mr Kasandwe (Bangweulu): Mr Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to debate.

On behalf of the people of Bangweulu, I would like to make a few comments on the speech that the hon. Minister of Finance presented in trying to resolve some of the developmental challenges this country is facing.

 

Mr Speaker, from the onset, the hon. Minister realises that there are a number of challenges that this country has gone through. That is why he has called upon all of us, as hon. Members of Parliament and other stakeholders, to move together so that we can provide the needed leadership in order to bring the poverty levels that are more eminent in rural areas to acceptable levels, if there is such a thing as acceptable levels of poverty.

 

Mr Speaker, I will hasten to look at what the hon. Minister proposed in terms of investment in agriculture and fisheries, tourism, and the timber industry for value addition and job creation.

 

Mr Speaker, investment in fisheries alone can transform the economic activities of the people of Bangweulu. Predominantly, my people are involved in fishing. However, as you may be aware, the fish stocks in the water bodies in the area have depleted due to a number of factors, one of which is basically a lack of varied industries. As the population is growing, most of the people in the area are engaging in fishing activities, leading to a drop in fish stocks. The hon. Minister has given us hope in Bangweulu by proposing that he will invest in fisheries and aquaculture so that the fish stocks can, once again, go up to acceptable levels to enable our people to get involved in ...

 

Interruptions

 

Mr Speaker: Order, on the left and right!

 

Mr Kasandwe: I was saying that investment in fisheries alone, can improve the livelihood of the people in Bangweulu Constituency because this will drastically contribute to poverty reduction. Investment in fisheries will also help the people to find ways of earning disposable income that they can use in their communities.

 

Mr Speaker, people may not be aware that Bangweulu Constituency has more than six lakes. They are only aware of Lake Bangweulu. If the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock restocked the lakes and prevented people from using long line fishing gear, fish stocks would increase. We, as the people of Bangweulu, are proposing that since we have more than six lakes in the constituency, the hon. Minister should, maybe, come up with a Statutory Instrument (SI) to restock three lakes and lock them by having them guarded to give room for fish to increase in number for a number of years and allow people to fish in the other lakes.

 

Mr Speaker, another point I want to talk about is tourism in Bangweulu Constituency. As you may be aware, we have naturally beautiful sceneries in the area. Once we invest in tourism infrastructure, I think the economic activities of the district and the constituency in particular will also go up.

 

Sir, the hon. Minister said that the Link 8,000 km Road Project will continue and that it is high time we invested in feeder roads and air strips. In fact, I have been thinking that in order for tourism to thrive in Zambia, we need to begin to think about developing more runways. I have done simple arithmetic and come to the conclusion that the easiest and cheapest way of linking towns in Zambia is by air. To work on a basic runway with basic infrastructure will cost between US$10 million and US$15 million. For example, constructing the road from Kafue to Mazabuka, which is about 70 km, at US$2.9 million per km, will require US$170 million for the entire 70 km. In this amount, we can construct more than five runways and connect areas. When we talk about connectivity, we only think about roads. If we really need to improve tourism and accessibility to some facilities we have in Zambia, especially in Luapula Province, we need to improve connectivity. For example, if a tourist lands in Lusaka and wants to come to Samfya, it will take him not less than eight hours to get there by road. So, one day is already gone. That is why I am saying that it is important that we construct more runways in districts because that is the easiest way of connecting different areas. While a road may cost US$170 million to construct, it will cost only about US$10 million or US$15 million to construct a runway with basic infrastructure. That means ...

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Water!

 

Mr Kasandwe paused to drink water.

 

Mr Kasandwe: I needed some water because of the flu and cough I have.

 

Mr Speaker, the point I am making is that if we really want to make tourism sustainable, we need to look at other means of enabling tourists to move from one point to another, and I am suggesting that it is high time we put money in constructing runways and basic infrastructure.

 

Mr Speaker, the other place I would like to talk about apart from my constituency is the Western Province. I will talk about it in general and the viability of some sectors there.

 

Sir, I have been to some of the districts in the Western Province such as Senanga, Kaoma, Sesheke and recently in Sioma, when the Parliamentary Couscous on Conservation visited this area. I saw a lot of timber there. It is my perception that if the timber industry was promoted, it could transform the economy of the Western Province. If the Government could invest more in the timber industry alone, it can transform the lives of the people in the province.

 

Mr Speaker, while we were in Sioma, a few weeks ago, as I have already mentioned, we found huge chunks of timber that were being cut by the Chinese using basic equipment and infrastructure. So, before we talk about value addition, empowerment and creation of jobs, firstly, the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry has to invest in the timber industry in the Western Province using the same basic equipment that the Chinese are using to cut and process timber. Therefore, we really need to think seriously about value addition. The timber industry alone in the Western Province can create jobs for the young people.

 

Mr Speaker, in the Budget Speech, the hon. Minister of Finance has proposed a number of elements that can attempt to transform the lives of the Zambian people. In my constituency, he has proposed to fund a number of feeder roads so that there is connectivity and movement of goods and services.

 

In Bangweulu Constituency, Sir, there is one economic road that is important to us. During the Question for Oral Answer session, I have raised questions, on several occasions, concerning this road. This road is called Samfya/Kapata/Twingi Road and it leads to the biggest fish market in Luapula Province. So, our appeal, as people of Bangweulu, is that the Government works on this road. I have checked in the Budget and seen that there is money allocated to feasibility study and the design of this road. Once the design is done, our hope and trust in this working Government is that it will start constructing this road during the course of 2018.

 

Mr Speaker, there is another road, which is a shortcut, called Mano/Mwabukund and connects Kapata Peninsula and Tuta Catchment area. Once this road is also worked on, it will improve the movement of goods and services for the people in Bangweulu Constituency.

 

Sir, I would also like to comment on what the hon. Member of Parliament for Kalomo Central said concerning the non availability of water in his constituency. I worked in Kalomo for four years, as a young graduate. In 2002, when there was a drought in the Southern Province, about 500 boreholes were sunk in Kalomo. These were sunk between the two constituencies Kalomo Central and Dundumwezi.

 

Mr Livune: Question!

 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kasandwe: By that time, the advice from the technocrats was that …

 

Mr Kamboni interjected.

 

Mr Kasandwe: Mr Speaker, I worked in the hon. Member’s constituency and was in charge of all water activities and projects in four districts of the Southern Province.

 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kasandwe: So, I know what I am talking about.

 

Mr Ng’onga: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kasandwe: Mr Speaker, what has depleted the water in Kalomo District is that by 2002, there were more than 500 boreholes and more than sixty dams. So, the water was depleted. If one went to a place like Mapatizhya …

 

Mr Mubika: 500 dams?

 

Mr Kasandwe: I am saying there were more than sixty dams by that time.

 

Interruptions

 

Mr Kasandwe: Sixty dams.

 

Therefore, Sir, it is wrong for the hon. Member to come here to say that there are no boreholes in Kalomo, yet as far back as 2002, there were more than fifty boreholes …

 

Mr Miyutu: Fifty?

 

Mr Kasandwe: ... more than 500 boreholes.

 

The hon. Member of Parliament for Mapatizya can attest to that because I rehabilitated one of the boreholes at his farm as far back as 2002.

 

Mr Miyanda: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kasandwe: However, the point I am making is that there were more than 500 boreholes at that particular time and the water has depleted.

 

Mr Speaker, the other issue I would like to talk about is the negative way in which we are approaching the Budget. The hon. Member of Parliament for Dundumwezi said that this is the worst budget he has ever seen since he came to Parliament. How can this Budget be the worst, when he has not even seen it being implemented? These are just proposals.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Aah!

 

Mr Mwiimbu: That is the Budget!

 

Mr Kasandwe: Mr Speaker, before it is even implemented, he is saying it is the worst thing he has ever seen.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Kasandwe: Mr Speaker, this is the kind of thinking that I have problems with. Some people are negative about everything and they do not want to see anything good. When someone becomes negative on anything, then, it means he or she is no longer in control of his or her faculties.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Aah!

 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

 

Interruptions

 

Mr Speaker: Order!

 

Hon. Member, take a sit.

 

Mr Speaker: One of our rules of debate is not to make insinuations or aspersions. When you suggest that somebody is not in control of faculties, it is a very serious aspersion.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Speaker: There is no need for that kind of debate. If you want to debate, be objective and give your viewpoints, but do not drag in personalities and throw mud at intellect, which is what you are doing, yet you have just said that you are an intellectual. So, I am preaching to the converted. It is a battle of ideas.

 

You may continue, please.

 

Mr Kasandwe: Thank you, Mr Speaker, I withdraw that statement. I will simply say that it is high time that we became objective, as I have been guided, in order to support this Budget like the people of Bangweulu are doing. So that together, we can begin to dismantle the ramification of poverty that is ravaging our people.

 

Mr Speaker, poverty is our biggest enemy in this country. So, we need to come together and work towards ensuring that we bring developmental ideas so that we all win at the end of the day. In fact, we are all part of the Government. Some hon. Members continue referring to us as “this Government,” yet we are all here in this Parliament which is part of the Government. So, I am appealing to hon. Members to look at this Budget objectively, support the hon. Minister of Finance and all of us, so that at the end of the day, we will achieve and reduce poverty amongst our people.

 

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Ng’onga (Kaputa): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for according me this opportunity to support the 2018 Budget Address by the Minister of Finance, Hon. Felix Mutati, MP.

 

Mr Speaker, to start with, allow me to commend His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu, and through him,  the Minister of Finance, Hon. Felix Mutati, for presenting to this House the Budget which has been described by many institutions in Zambia and many learned individuals as progressive. They also say it is indicative of growth and is inclusive. The people of Kaputa join the many Zambians that are saying “Hon. Mutati, this is a Budget that is well-couched and well-presented.”

 

Sir, I will talk about some issues that justify my earlier statements by looking at how resources have been apportioned to areas that make sense to most Zambians and also areas that address issues that are paramount to the people of Kaputa. These are issues of infrastructure development, agricultural investment and growth, education and health, tourism, mining and, above all, social protection, just to mention, but a few.

 

Mr Speaker, the biggest subject for now is infrastructure growth. We are very grateful that the hon. Minister of Finance has indicated to the nation that he will continue with the Link Zambia 8,000 km Road Project.

 

Mr Bwalya: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Ng’onga: Sir, those of us who were in the House at the beginning of this project can attest to the progress that this investment has made in the road infrastructure sector. I can cite a number of roads that are masterpieces. As a result of the Link Zambia 8,000 km Road Project, we marvel at the infrastructure just after Luangwa as you head towards Chipata. If you are in the Lusaka, you would probably get lost in the Chunga/Matero area because things have changed beyond recognition. If you go to some townships like Avondale and other areas, you will see the investments that have been made there.

 

Sir, there are also roads like the Mansa/Luwingu Road, which has shortened the distance between Mansa and Kasama.

 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Ng’onga: Moving onto the southern part of the country, we know that there is infrastructure development on the Bottom Road. I have travelled on part of this road and there is marvellous infrastructure there. Continuing these road projects is a good thing and we hope that no one will be left behind.

 

Mr Speaker, not only are we linking Zambia, through the Link Zambia 8,000 km Road Project, but also continuing with the Lusaka 400 km Road Project (L 400) and the Copperbelt 400 km Road Project. This is putting money where people want it to be. Once these roads are developed, we know that Zambia will move from being a landlocked country to being land linked. Our expectations, as Zambians, on the investments made in road infrastructure are very high.

 

Sir, the people of Kaputa are also very expectant as the Government continues with the Link Zambia 8,000 km Road Project because they know that they are also in the infrastructure development plan, especially under road construction. The Mporokoso/Kaputa Road via Nsama and Nsumbu, the Chienge/Kaputa Road via Lambwe Chomba and the Mununga/Kaputa Road, which links Kaputa to the Copperbelt, are all part of the Link Zambia 8,000 km Road Project. We were happy when the hon. Minister of Finance indicated that the Government is continuing with this programme because we were hopeful that the roads would be added to the many roads that are being worked on. The people of Kaputa are expectant that they will benefit from the Link Zambia 8,000 km Road Project.

 

Mr Speaker, under the road infrastructure sector, the hon. Minister of Finance has also indicated that he will set money aside from this Budget to work on the Copperbelt International Airport, which has since been launched. We hope that this infrastructure will be completed on time. There is also the completion of the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport. That investment will be a masterpiece. Apart from being a marvel, it will also increase the inflow of cargo and commercial planes that bring tourists into this nation. Spending money in these areas is what we expect this Budget to accomplish. 

 

Sir, allow me to look at a subject that is dear to me, knowing very well that the hon. Minister of Finance has allocated resources to the agriculture sector and the fisheries and livestock sector, among other sectors that I will look at. When I look at the Budget of the agriculture sector, I see that there is money that has been allocated to migrate 100 per cent to the electronic voucher (e-Voucher) system.

 

Mr Speaker, some hon. Members cast a spell on the success of the e-Voucher System. Everyone that I have listened to out of this House and in institutions that contribute to agricultural growth recommend the bold decision to implement the e-Voucher system. This is a very good programme in comparison to the previous system of allocating subsidies through the conventional Farmer Input Supply Programme (FISP) under which the Government picked a few suppliers of fertiliser to supply to the farmers.

 

Sir, the e-Voucher System will bring about a lot of benefits, one of which will be savings. The money which is allocated to the e-Voucher System will not only benefit the agro-dealers, but also create jobs. Some people are even estimating that up to about 3,000 jobs will be created within the agro sector. This means that the Government has used part of these resources to empower those who will be involved in the distribution of inputs to farmers.

 

Mr Speaker, another thing which the e-Voucher System brings about is targeting. This system is able to target beneficiaries who are actual farmers. It also brings about diversification because farmers are able to choose which inputs to go for. If one is a fish farmer, he/she will definitely go for fish feed instead of fertiliser. If one is a livestock farmer, he/she will probably go for livestock drugs as opposed to seeds.

 

Further, Mr Speaker, the e-Voucher System brings about answers to one of our nutritional challenges because people are able to diversify into other crops. Instead of only depending on maize, people will be able to grow a variety of foods that add to their nutritional requirements.

 

Mr Speaker, the hon. Minister of Finance spending money on the e-Voucher System and rolling it out 100 per cent is a very progressive move and it is being supported. Indeed, it will not go without challenges because that is the nature of new and effective programmes. The best is to be resilient in order to conquer and find solutions to these problems.

 

Sir, some people are talking about problems of network and power. However, people with experience are saying that this system can work even in places where there is no network. Work can be done offline and then a person can log into the system when they get to an area with network. So, the lack of network will not be a challenge that will defeat the people. People will still be able to benefit from this system. 

 

Mr Speaker, in the agriculture sector, there is money that has been set aside as an aquaculture fund of about US$50 million. Once this money has been put to good use, we will see many youths engaging in catfish farming. Kaputa is sitting on massive water bodies because it hosts three lakes. So, if these funds will be allocated to places such as Kaputa, Nsama and Chienge, there will be a lot of employment and empowerment to the people.

 

Sir, we also commend the hon. Minister for the money that has been allocated to the completion of the 200 dip tanks in order for us to not only reduce, but also eliminate the disease burden in the livestock sector. There is also the construction of four regional veterinary laboratories. All these are investments within the agriculture sector which will bring about the much-needed change or improvements within the agriculture sector. We can also see that there is money that has been allocated to the employment of 750 extension service workers. The hon. Minister of Agriculture has been crying about not having sufficient extension workers to support farmers in the rural areas. With this development, we will be looking at employing even more extension workers because we know that extension workers and researchers are the driving factors which will bring about the required changes within our agriculture sector.

 

Mr Speaker, before I leave the subject of agriculture, allow me to comment on the introduction and development of farming blocks, where funds have been allocated. We know for sure that the three farming blocks which have been mentioned in the Budget are on the Copperbelt, Northern and Muchinga provinces. These farming blocks will consist of farmers who will drive whichever products they will produce. There will also be small or medium-scale farmers who will tap into these anchor farmers. The development of these farming blocks, especially the Kalungwishi Farming Block in Northern Province, in Lunte Area, will bring a lot of joy to the people there. We hope and expect that the earlier we can approve of this Budget and start making this happen, the better.

 

 Sir, we have also got the Nansanga Farming Block, which is very advanced, in Serenje. I think this farming block should not be left unattended because much of the backbone work has been done. Basically, what is required is to put an anchor farmer so that people can start benefiting from this farming block.

 

Mr Speaker, while I speak about the many expenditure lines that are targeted to move the people forward within the agriculture sector, I also commend the hon. Minister of Finance for having realised that in order not to leave anyone behind, according to the theme of this Budget, it is important to support the social protection programmes. I see a number of social protection programmes within this Budget which have been uplifted by increased funding.

 

Sir, with regards to the Social Cash Transfer scheme, in 2018, the Government intends to increase the beneficiaries from 590,000 in 2017 to 700,000. This is a mammoth leap. I would even want to suggest that this figure should have been put at 1,000 beneficiaries because the amount of work that is required in order to capture this 700 beneficiaries would be the same amount of work that is required to capture 1,000 beneficiaries. This would be done once, probably, without having to redo it the following year. I, therefore, urge the hon. Minister to increase the number of beneficiaries from 700 to 1,000, if there is a possibility. This way, we would have moved everybody together without leaving anybody behind.

 

Sir, there are also funds which will be spent on public welfare assistance. We are moving from 134,000 in 2017 to 200,000 beneficiaries. The food security pack is moving from 40,000 to 80,000 beneficiaries. The home-grown school feeding programme is moving from 1.2 million people to 1.5 million. Details of this particular programme indicate that this is another way we are meeting the nutritional requirements of our children. This is not a new programme. In the past, I remember there were times when the Government provided nutritional foods not only to keep children in school, but also to answer to their nutritional requirements. Therefore, spending money on these social programmes is a very welcome move.

 

Sir, this Budget indicates that even with the work and support of the World Bank, about 16,000 girls from extremely poor households will be supported in sixteen districts. About 75,000 women in fifty-one districts will be empowered. So, what more would we want from a Budget? It is a Budget like this that carries both the weak, those who are stressed by finances, and the strong, those who can afford, so that the resources that are collected from one hand are shared amongst those who do not have.

 

Mr Speaker, the people of Kaputa have seen a lot of positivity and sense in this particular Budget, which I definitely would want to support. Before I sit down, there is one quotation that I just wanted to read for the hon. Minister of Finance and also, those who are listening. This came from the 2017 Budget, which was presented to this House on 11th November, 2016. It states:

 

“Mr Speaker, policy consistency is important in the agriculture sector as it facilitates stability and predictable access to wider markets. Policies such as export bans and setting of prices above market rates have the effect of generating uncertainty which, in turn, negatively affects production. To redress this, the Government will refrain from using these instruments to regulate agriculture markets.”

 

Sir, this document is here. Those who dare to read, should have read. Let us not pressurise this Government into going back to policies that we know are detrimental to this country. We need to move forward. The agriculture sector has been liberalised like any other market and we wish for it to grow.

 

Mr Speaker, I thank you.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila (Magoye): Mr Speaker, let me also add the voice of the people of Magoye to this debate and make specific observations regarding the Budget.

 

Sir, on the outlook, you would see that the Budget was written in a professional manner, as usual. However, my worries and those of the people of Magoye are the implementation and adherence to what is set out to be achieved being a major problem. Let us take, for example, the 2017 Budget item where 2,000 boreholes where outlined to be drilled and the hon. Minister of Finance, on the Floor of this House, indicated that 1,340 boreholes were drilled and 600,000 were rehabilitated. The challenge is that we are not specifically told in which areas they were sunk. For the people of Magoye, not a single borehole was drilled. Already, the issue of equity and not leaving anyone behind is a challenge. So, as far as the 2017 Budget is concerned, the people of Magoye were left behind because, of the 1,340 boreholes, not one was drilled in Magoye Constituency.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, let us now talk about the US$200 million loan for rural roads. This is a very good idea. However, the challenge is that we are not very sure where these roads will be constructed. Again, the issue might be like that one of boreholes. All the rural roads might be lumped in certain selected areas which are perceived to be strongholds of the Patriotic Front (PF) Government leaving the very productive agricultural areas in some of the parts in which it perceives itself to be unpopular. Some of these roads will just end up being social roads.

 

Mr Speaker, I, therefore, appeal to the hon. Minister of Finance to use simple arithmetic. If the US$200 million is divided by ten, it will give us US$20 million per province. At least, if there is an assurance of US$20 million per province, then, each province would choose where to invest its share of the money. They would find the roads that go to more productive areas. This would be better than to just lump the money together for rural roads and then invest it in one area which is agriculturally non productive and, in turn, making the roads social.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, I am sure that the people of Magoye would have been happier to learn that some of the very important roads like Chivuna, Kalama, Munenga and Itebe were on the priority list. Of course, we remember the hon. Minister of Local Government persuading us to submit our rural roads if they were not appearing, but we know very well that submission is one thing while consideration is another because the priorities of the PF are lopsided and, ...

 

Mr Mung’andu: Question!

 

Mr Machila: ... chances of getting some of the most important roads to be included for rehabilitation are highly questionable.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, I am still worried about rural roads. If the Auditor-General’s Report is anything to go by, you will find that there have been a lot of projects that have been carried out and funded by the PF Government, yet not having been implemented in actual sense. Huge amounts of money have gone to waste.

 

That is why with regard to rural roads, Mr Speaker, we would like the Government to be very precise so that we do not have roads that are constructed in atmospheric space.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Sir, we need to know where these roads are constructed. If the Government says that the roads are in Mazabuka, we should be able to check and see that, indeed, the roads were constructed there. The PF Government gives evidence of projects that have been proposed and funded, yet not been carried out.

 

Mr Chilombo: Question!

 

Laughter

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, let me comment on the policy of not leaving anyone behind. That is a very good policy in terms of utterance.

 

Mr Jere: Bauze mbuya!

 

Mr Machila: Sir, I know that in terms of explaining to the people of Zambia that the Government will walk with them, it has, indeed, not left anyone behind. It has informed the people of Zambia what it intends to do, however in terms of being practical, it has left the majority of Zambians behind.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, let me talk about the infamous Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

 

Mr Nkombo: The infamous?

 

Mr Machila: The infamous CDF.

 

In 20 …

 

Mr Speaker: Did you say infamous?

 

Mr Mwale: Infamous?

 

Mr Machila: Yes, Mr Speaker. I said infamous.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Machila: In 2017, K1.4 million per constituency was approved.

 

Mr Mwale: It was disbursed.

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, up to this time, most constituencies have not received any funding.

 

Mr Chaatila: Corruption.

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker,  some of the constituencies have received K700, 000. However, my worry is that we are seeing what I perceive to be abuse of this noble House whereby we approve, allocate relevant amounts of money per constituency, yet the Government does not come back to us to explain why it wants to give half of the money to half the number of constituencies. This makes us worry. When the people of Magoye see that the allocation for 2018 is the same as last year’s, yet the funds for 2017 were not received, the Budget Speech has left them and other constituencies behind. People were expecting K1.4 million.

 

Mr Chaatila: Correct.

 

Mr Machila: However, Sir, the hon. Minister came here and argued eloquently lobbying for support and we unanimously supported him. Unfortunately, he has disappointed us.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Sir, for this disappointment, this Budget Speech offers a puzzle to the people of Zambia. Will we receive the money for the CDF? The CDF could have been an equaliser had it been increased by removing money from certain votes where it is abused.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Machila: With due respect to various ministries and what they do, Mr Speaker, I think there is a need to get money and increase the CDF to about K10 million.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, then, development would have been equalised and there would be equity in terms of resource distribution to the people of Zambia.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, for the people in rural areas would budget, plan, supervise and ensure that development of their interest takes place.

 

Mr Chaatila: That is right.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Unlike the situation we are in, Sir. When you ask the hon. Minister of Local Government about a bridge or something, he says the CDF should be used when he knows very well that there is no money that has been disbursed. Surely, this is what I call abuse of this noble House.

 

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, we cannot approve a Budget that we cannot implement. The Government talks about inadequate resources to the Treasury, yet it spends huge sums of money on things, such as fire tenders, which are not budgeted for.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: The change from one fire tender, had their procurement been correctly, could have been used to construct beautiful roads in the rural parts of Zambia.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, we sit here as lawmakers and smile as we approve K1.4 million. Billions of kwacha spent outside the Budget, yet the PF Government does not take punitive measures …

 

Mr Mukosa: Question!

 

Mr Machila: … against those who abuse resources. When money is spent on something that was not budgeted for, it is misappropriation of funds and that is an offence. We budgeted for the CDF and only K700 was released. That is not doing the correct thing. It is total chaos and abuse of the lawmakers.

 

Mr Mwiimbu: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, we should not be used to approve things that will not be done. I request the hon. Minister of Finance to take note of the observations made by various hon. Members of Parliament. We should not take it business as usual where at the end day, no single figure will be alternated or transferred to another Vote according to the people’s demands. When we pass whatever comes without making any changes, then, I do not see the need for us to be here. Do we debate just to approve? That is sad.

 

Mr Speaker, let me talk about agriculture.

 

Mr Michelo: Ema headmaster aya!

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, the electronic voucher (e-Voucher) system is a very good idea. However, it was haphazardly done last year. Up until last week, 40,000 members’ cards had not been activated and this translates to K1,600,000 for the poor people. This money is in the hands of the Government, which is supposed to take care of the poor people, particularly those in the rural areas. The Government does not know how they survive. It identified them as vulnerable, but grabs the money from them and does not give them the inputs. This figure is for thirty-nine districts, but now ambitiously, it wants to roll out the programme to 110 districts. What chaos that will be by the end of 2018.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, the e-Voucher System is currently in its infancy. This is October and the rainy season has started. Even last year, we advised the Government, but it is still doing desk work. Extension officers have not been trained on how to capture the people who will get the e-Vouchers. 15th November is the standard time for planting crops. It worries me because the PF Government has good plans on paper, but executes them poorly.

 

Hon. UPND Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, the Government has talked about establishing new farming blocks in the Northern, Muchinga and Copperbelt provinces and I support this excellent idea.

 

Mr Mukosa: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, unfortunately, the Government has forgotten that there are farming blocks that have been established elsewhere, although they have no facilities. For example, we have Ngwezi Settlement in Magoye, Mbaya Musuma, Chinkwansala and the faming block in Mwanachingwala area. The farms are well established on State land, yet the Government has not facilitated for the issuance of title deeds to the small-holder farmers. The Government has not taken good roads to those areas, but it wants to experiment by going in an area where people are not accustomed to the activity it wants to introduce. Is that being serious?

 

Hon. Opposition Members: No.

 

Mr Machila: Sir, that is not being serious. Let the people in a particular locality do what they know best. The Government could do this by taking aqua culture or root crops to other areas. From those root crops, produce beer, which the country can then export.

 

Interruptions

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, the Government should bring irrigation farming to Magoye, and this should be extended from Mazabuka at Kaleya Small Holding. The Government should put irrigation pipes and introduce irrigation in Ngwezi. That way, people will produce crops three times in a year the way Egyptians used to. The country will, then, be able to export crops such as sugar cane and earn us the much-needed foreign exchange, for other people can abuse.

 

Laughter

 

Mr Machila: Sir, if the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources could rise to the occasion by facilitating …

 

Ms Kapata: On a point of order, Sir.

 

Mr Jere: Ema Jean the Baptist aya!

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Aah!

 

Sit down!

 

Mr Speaker: Order!

 

 Hon. Minister, take a seat. Hon. Member for Magoye, that is casting aspersions. When these resources are earned in the manner you have indicated, rightly so, the function is not to be abused by anybody. When I say by anybody, I am talking about both sides of the divide not abusing resources. Those resources are managed, ultimately, by people around here. Therefore, let us avoid insinuations. You can debate your point without making insinuations. Certainly, the primary function of earning foreign exchange is not for abuse. Of course, one of the tenets of our debate is being factual in the assertions we mak. I am sure that as a social scientist, you know that an assertion needs to be backed up by evidence.

 

Mr Machila: Mr Speaker, thank you for your guidance. Indeed, prior to this statement, I had indicated that from the Auditor-General’s report, there was overwhelming evidence that there has been abuse of resources in this country.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Sir, the Government of the day has a responsibility to change this trend and discipline those erring officers. In saying so, I thought I was on point. At the moment, the PF Government has that responsibility.

 

Mr Speaker, I was talking about the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources issuing title deeds. If title deeds were, for example, given to the people in Magoye area, in particular Ngwezi Settlement which has 136 farmers, the Government would have been getting more money from there. I am appealing to the hon. Minister of Finance to work hand-in-hand, as he usually does, with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to facilitate the acquisition of title deeds. This will enable the Government to broaden its tax base and income generation for our country.

 

Hon. Opposition Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Machila: Finally, the Budget, in its current form, needs a lot of detailed surgery so that we can transfer monies to important areas. Having said so, I support the principle, but not all the allocations.

 

I thank you, Sir.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Siwanzi (Nakonde): Mr Speaker, I thank you for allowing the voice of Nakonde to debate the 2018 Budget.

 

Mr Speaker, from the onset, I support the Motion of Supply for the 2018 Budget, but with observations. In debating this Budget, I want to look at different sectors that have an impact on the ordinary person or the common man in my constituency. I will start by looking at road infrastructure in Nakonde.

 

Mr Speaker, the people of Nakonde hope that out of the K8.6 billion allocated to road infrastructure in 2018, they will get a fair share. I want to thank the Government because for the first time since Independence, the Nakonde/Kanyaya Road in my constituency, an important stretch that completes the Nacala Corridor, will be upgraded.

 

Mr Speaker, road infrastructure in Nakonde is not that good. The access road to the border really needs to be worked on. It is my appeal to the hon. Minister of Finance to pay attention to this area. Due to the poor road infrastructure leading to the border, this Government is losing a lot of revenue.

 

Sir, the one-stop-border post that was constructed at the border is not fully utilised. This infrastructure requires a dual carriageway if it is to operate effectively. Having only a two lane road leading to this border post, there is so much congestion and confusion. Unscrupulous people have taken advantage of this to smuggle cargo in and out of the country.  I, therefore, appeal to the hon. Minister of Finance to look into this matter and give it the attention it deserves.

Mr Speaker, I am aware that the Government has contracted a loan through the African Development Bank (ADB) to rehabilitate the Great North Road. My appeal is that the stretch from the border up to Mbala turn-off be contracted separately. I have engaged the Road Development Agency (RDA) and according to the specification of this contract, it is supposed to be a two lane road, which will still not facilitate the movement of goods into Zambia and Tanzania.

 

Mr Speaker, I am happy that His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zambia and the hon. Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development have indicated that the stretch a of 10 km from the border to Mbala turn-off will be expanded into a dual carriageway, under Government financing or through other lines of credit. The people of Nakonde hope that this project will be activated in 2018.

 

Sir, Nakonde District does not have any township roads that are upgraded to bituminous standard, yet this district is the face of Zambia to the eastern part of the region. Therefore, we really need to work on giving this place a facelift.

 

Mr Speaker, just like when our women are leaving home, they will first ensure to put on make-up because that is the first impression they give to the people they are going to meet.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Siwanzi: In the same way, Mr Speaker, when people are entering Zambia from the east, Nakonde District gives the first impression of what Zambia is about. I would, therefore, like to appeal to the Hon. Minister of Finance to ensure that the roads in Nakonde are funded so that our township roads can be upgraded to bituminous standard.

 

Sir, road infrastructure coupled with proper road furniture adds to the beauty of a town. When many people hear about Nakonde, they have the impression that this is probably a very beautiful town that they may wish to visit, but when they enter Nakonde, all they would see is dust. This time around, the people of Nakonde would like to appeal to have a fair share from the K71.6 billion 2018 Budget because that is the only way the Government will make the people of Nakonde partners in the collection of tax.

 

Mr Speaker, people hear that Nakonde is second in terms of revenue collection, but they see little out of what they hear. Therefore, we have to make the people of Nakonde partners in the revenue collection because they play a very important role in ensuring that smuggling is curbed. If they do not see the fruits of the revenue collection, then, they will be partners with those who are smuggling goods to and from Tanzania. I would, therefore, like appeal to the Government to look into this issue critically.

 

Sir, let me now talk about education and skills development. It is the hope of Nakonde that this time around, they will get a fair share from the K11.6 billion allocated to this sector. Let me put it to the hon. Minister of Education that there is a certain school in Nakonde whose construction started in the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD tenure, but it has not been completed to date. People are wondering what is happening. There are some projects which started after the PF Government came into power, but have been completed, yet this particular School, Donald Siwale Technical High School, is still under construction. The people of Nakonde are appealing to the Government to get a fair share from the K11.6, which has been allocated to the education sector.

 

Sir, Nakonde District is growing at a very fast rate, yet the education facilities cannot accommodate all the learners. The only standard secondary school in Nakonde is Mwemzo Girls Secondary School. Nakonde High School was just upgraded from a primary school to a secondary school, hence its infrastructure is still that of a primary school. I believe that this time around, the working Government will do something to ensure that we also get decent education facilities in our district.

 

Sir, on the issue of health, again, it is the hope of the people of Nakonde to get a fair share of the national cake. I would, therefore, like to thank this Government for constructing a modern district hospital in Nakonde, …

 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Siwanzi: … which is currently at first phase.

 

Mr Speaker, it is my appeal that this facility be completed fully and I believe this working Government will not fail the people of Nakonde. I also want to thank the Government for indicating that Nakonde will receive six new rural health centres. This will really help us to deliver health services to our people. It is my appeal that the line of credit that was contracted from India can be fully accessed so that these six clinics are completed.

 

Mr Speaker, I move on to housing and community amenities. Nakonde is now turning into a cosmopolitan town. There are so many people who have come from different sectors to settle there. Currently, however, the challenge that we have is housing. There is no decent accommodation for people who are coming to work in different sectors such as banks, schools, the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and many others. Therefore, it is for this reason that I appeal to the Government to consider probably embarking on a housing project in Nakonde that will also add to the beauty of the town.

 

Sir, children in Nakonde do not have any recreational facilities. This has really contributed to the abuse of alcohol and so many other illicit activities by youths because they do not have activities on which to exhaust their energy. It is, therefore, important that the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Child Development probably considers constructing a sports facility in Nakonde so that our children can, at least, have a place where they can exhaust their energy. Otherwise, they will spend time exhausting their energy on bad activities which lead to early marriages, abuse of alcohol and smoking dagga. I, therefore, appeal to the Government to look at this matter critically.

 

Mr Speaker, I also want to comment on public order and safety. Nakonde is a town that borders Malawi, Tanzania and Mbala on the Zambian side. Therefore, my appeal is that the Ministry of Home Affairs looks at sending more men and women in uniform so that we can have our borders secured. I also appeal that transport be looked at. Can the Ministry of Home Affairs send more vehicles so that our officers can patrol our border areas twenty-four hours, seven days a week because the biggest challenge that we have, at the moment, in Nakonde is transport. The police do not have adequate transport to patrol the border lines twenty-four hours seven days a week. As a result, crime has ‘rised’ …

 

Mr Musukwa: Has risen!

 

Mr Siwanzi: Sorry, crime has risen.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Laughter

 

Mr Siwanzi: Thank you for the correction. Crime has risen and there are so many murder cases happening. There is an influx of criminals from Tanzania into Zambia who commit crimes in Zambia and before the police reach the crime scene, they would have already escaped into Tanzania. Therefore, we request that our police service be equipped with adequate transport.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Siwanzi: Mr Speaker, as regards agriculture, I think the idea of the electronic voucher (e-Voucher) system is a brilliant one. However, I feel there are areas that the Government should look at to improve the system. First of all, I want to look at the expense of operating the e-Voucher system. I had the privilege to work for a company that piloted the programme in Zambia. Therefore, I know how it operates and its benefits.

 

Mr Speaker, one thing I have observed is that the Government has decided to use banks to distribute e-Vouchers. I am assuming that the cost of producing them in the form an automated teller machine (ATM) card is a huge. When this project was piloted in Zambia, under the Ministry of Agriculture and the World Food Programme (WFP), we were using mobile network companies. I think all we need the provision of internet facilities. Even if we are using the banks, at the end of the day, they are not offering us any credit. We have to give them money for them to activate the e-Vouchers. I cannot confirm this, but I think that the banks are charging about K60 per e-Voucher.

 

Mr Speaker, when this e-Voucher System was piloted in Zambia, we used mobile network companies to redeem them at a very minimal cost. The advantage of using the internet to redeem e-Vouchers is that agro-dealers will not need to be centred at the central business district of the towns. Now, agro-dealers say that they cannot go to where farmers are located as they have to monitor the process of redeeming the e-Vouchers in towns. However, if redeeming the e-Voucher is internet based, agents can be based nearer to where the farmer is and can monitor the redeeming of the e-Voucher wherever they are as it is done in real time. I am also sure that the cost of this programme can be reduced.

 

Mr Speaker, looking at the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) itself, I feel we should work very hard on crop marketing because what is happening, at the moment, is that the main beneficiary of FISP in Zambia is the businessman, and not the farmer who is tilling the land.

 

Hon. Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Siwanzi: Mr Speaker, what is happening is that a businessman in Lusaka, in the comfort of his sitting room, just waits until the farmers harvest the crop. He has a title deed and just goes to the bank to contract a loan to enable him purchase the crop. At the end of the day, the farmer is just works for the businessman who sells the crop and makes a lot of money.

 

Mr Livune: Correct!

 

Mr Siwanzi: Mr Speaker, we should strengthen the co-operatives so that farmers can sell their crops through their co-operatives and graduate from FISP. I am assuming that the Government did not introduce FISP to continuously support the same people. I am also a product of FISP. My father and mother depended on FISP for so many years and they never graduated from peasant farmers to subsistence or commercial farmers. The reason is simple, they were selling the crops they were growing at a giveaway price so that they could send me to school. At the end of the day, if we want farmers to graduate from peasant farmers to subsistence farmers, and probably commercial farmers, we should strengthen co-operatives and ensure that we market their crops internationally.

 

Mr Speaker, with those few words, let me say, I support the Motion.

 

I thank you, Sir.

 

Hon. Government Members: Hear, hear!

 

Mr Kintu (Solwezi East): Mr Speaker, thank you for this opportunity you have given me to add my point of view on the speech that was delivered to this House by the hon. Minister of Finance.

 

Mr Speaker, from the outset, let me state that the Budget does not inspire me in any way. If anything, it is frustrating to note that it does not address the basic necessities of life, such as provision of access to adequate safe water supply and sanitation, in the rural areas of Zambia.

 

Sir, the people of Solwezi East Constituency, in Mushindano District, are disappointed by this Budget, which is so insensitive to their basic needs such as safe water supply, sanitation, school infrastructure, health facilities, roads, feeder roads and their livelihood, which is farming.

 

Mr Speaker, I am just laying a foundation today and would like to draw the attention of the hon. Minister of Finance to the 2017 Budget Address on page 9, where it says:

 

“Mr Speaker, in 2017, Government will target to increase access to clean and safe drinking water from the current 51 per cent to 55 per cent and access to sanitation from 44 per cent to 47 per cent in rural areas. This will be done through construction of 2,000, and the rehabilitation of 1,000 water points. Government will also continue to promote community-led approaches to sanitation and will construct 300 sanitary facilities.”

 

Sir, the hon. Minister wanted to increase the coverage of people with access to safe and clean drinking water from 51 to 55 per cent of the population. However, he budgeted for the construction of 2,000 water points. How do we move from 51 per cent to 55 per cent coverage with 2,000 water points? In my constituency, for example, we need more boreholes and water supply points. According to my calculations, I divided 2,000 by 156 constituencies. This means that in Mushindano District, we will, maybe, only have ten or twelve boreholes. This means that whatever he planned for could not be achieved. The targets are very good, but he did not plan it according to where he wanted to go.

 

Mr Speaker, on the aspect of sanitation, the hon. Minister’s programme was to promote community-led approaches to sanitation. However, how were these to be done? If people are to participate in sanitation programmes, there is a need for community support in terms of resources. So, how will the 300 sanitary facilities that have planned be implemented and in which area? These are the issues the hon. Minister of Finance should have considered.

 

Mr Speaker, when we talk about safe water supply and sanitation, it is not just like one of those things. In this country, water supply and sanitation has been taken for granted for too long. That is why there has been no development in the rural areas.

 

Mr Speaker, water supply and sanitation are issues pertaining to communicable disease control in the rural areas of Zambia. In terms of reduction in disease, we need these facilities …

 

Mr Speaker: Order!

 

(Debate adjourned)

 

_______

 

The House adjourned at 1955 hours until 1430 hours on Wednesday, 11th October, 2017.