Hon Members will recall that on Tuesday, 27^th February, 2018, when the House was considering Urgent Question for Oral Answer No. 176 and Mr G. K. Mwamba, Member of Parliament for Lubansenshi Parliamentary Constituency, was speaking, Mr M Mutelo, Member of Parliament for Mitete Parliamentary Constituency, raised a Point of Order.  In the Point of Order, Mr M Mutelo, MP, asked whether the word “fake” used by the Hon Minister of General Education, in response to his question, was parliamentary.

In my immediate response, I reserved my ruling. I have studied the matter and now render my ruling.

Hon Members, the National Assembly of Zambia: Unparliamentary Language booklet contains a list of Unparliamentary words and, at page 1, defines unparliamentary language as follows:

“unparliamentary language may, therefore, be regarded as encompassing “offensive words” under the standing Orders, which also include words which, while not strictly excluded by the Standing Orders, are inappropriate for use in a Parliament.”

The booklet, at page 1, further gives guidance on how a word, which is ordinarily unparliamentary may be parliamentary because of the context in which it is used. It states as follows:

“Unparliamentary language must be considered in context; words which may be regarded as objectionable under some circumstances may be acceptable under other conditions.”

Hon Members, you may wish to note that the word “fake” has been listed on page 9 of the booklet as one of the unparliamentary words.

Therefore, in light of the authorities cited, the issue to determine is whether the context in which the Hon Minister of General Education used the word was acceptable.

Accordingly, Hon Members, my office conducted a review of the verbatim record of Tuesday, 27^th February, 2018, in order to ascertain whether or not the Hon Minister of General Education did use the word “fake” and to determine the context in which it was used. An excerpt of the relevant debate is as follows:

“Hon Minister: At a particular time, I will come and render a Ministerial Statement in detail to clarify that there is no child who would be required to go and repeat Grade 6. That is fake news.”

As shown in the verbatim, Hon Members may wish to note that the Hon Minister used the word not as a single word, but in the phrase “fake news”.

Hon Members, the online Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary defines “fake news” as follows:

“false stories that appear to be news, spread on the internet or using other media, usually created to influence political views or as a joke.”

The Hon Minister of General Education used the phrase “fake news” in relation to the Hon Member for Mitete’s reference to a government policy in which pupils that failed Grade 10 would be sent back to Grade 6. The Hon Minister was, in this regard, saying that, the information which was circulating in the media was false and with the intent to discredit the Government.  Clearly, the use of the term conforms to the definition in the Cambridge Advanced Learners dictionary that I cited. In this regard, the context in which the Hon Minister used the word “fake” was not unparliamentary, and he was, therefore, in order to use the word.

I thank you.