RULING BY THE HON MR SPEAKER ON A POINT OF ORDER RAISED BY HON G LUBINDA, MP, MINISTER OF JUSTICE AGAINST MR M MUTELO, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR MITETE PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY, FOR ALLEGEDLY USING LANGUAGE THAT AMOUNTS TO HATE SPEECH ON THE FLOOR OF THE HOUSE 

Hon Members will recall that on Thursday, 20th February, 2020, when the House was considering Question for Oral Answer No. 162, and Dr M Malama, Member of Parliament for Kanchibiya Parliamentary Constituency, was asking a follow up question, Hon G Lubinda, MP, Minister of Justice, raised the following Point of Order:

“Thank you, Sir. I rise on a very serious point of order and I would like to apologise to the Hon Member. Sir, I have only recovered from a minor shock and I seek your ruling. The Hon Member of Parliament for Mitete, said in vernacular that: “mwendi abalati fela ma Lozi”, meaning, probably, they just do not like Lozis in reference to the Government. I, therefore, seek your ruling whether that statement in itself is not an expression of hate speech and an expression of one who would like to foment tribalism in this Parliament.  Is he in order to make such statements to remain on the record of Parliament? Sir, I seek your ruling on this very serious matter, particularly at the time when all of us, well-meaning Zambians, and Hon Members of Parliament, are working very hard at stopping the growth of this tendency of tribalism in our country.”

In view of the vernacular language employed Mr M Mutelo, MP for Mitete Constituency, I reserved my ruling in order to reflect and consult on the import of the language employed.  Hon Members, I have since studied, and reflected over the matter.  And I will now render my ruling.

I perused the verbatim record of Mr M Mutelo, MP’s debate of Thursday, 20th February, 2020, which gave rise to Hon G Lubinda, MP’s, Point of Order.  It revealed that Mr M Mutelo, MP, uttered the following words in Lozi, “Mwendi abalati fela ma Lozi” which when translated in English means, “Maybe they just hate the Lozi people.”

Hon Members, Hon G Lubinda, MP’s, Point of Order alleged that Mr M Mutelo MP used hate speech or an unparliamentary expression in the House.  In order to address the allegation, it is necessary to define the phrase “hate speech.”

Hon Members, I had recourse to Bryan A Garner, Editor-in-Chief of the Blacks Law Dictionary, Ninth Edition, (USA, Thompson Reuters 2009), which defines “hate speech” at page 1529, in the  following terms:

“Speech that carries no meaning other than the expression of hatred for some group, such as a particular race, especially in circumstances in which communication is likely to provoke violence.”

The import of the above definition is that hate speech involves one’s public expression of hatred for a particular race or grouping which causes a negative reaction towards that race or grouping that may even result in violence.

Hon Members, from the verbatim record, it is evident that Mr M Mutelo, MP, used the phrase complained of in reference to absence of a temporal bridge on the Lusaka-Mongu Road.   And not as an expression of hatred against any particular group or class of persons.  In this regard, the statement did not amount, in my considered view, to hate speech.

However, while the statement did not amount to hate speech, the context in which Mr M Mutelo, MP, used it, contended that the Zambian Government does not like the Lozi people, hence, the delay in the rehabilitation of the Lusaka-Mongu temporal bridge. This in itself, Hon Members, had the potential to provoke a perception among the Lozi people that the Government has ill- feelings towards them, when in fact it is not substantiated.  Therefore, to the extent that Mr M Mutelo, MP, suggested that the Government disregards the Lozi people, he was out of order.

Hon Members, I wish to seize this opportunity to urge Hon Members to desist from making unfounded statements that tend to promote ill-feelings amongst the citizens.  As Hon Members, you are national leaders and should not be in the forefront of promoting ill-feelings amongst the citizens.  Such statements not only tend to lower the decorum and dignity of the House, but also have the potential of causing unnecessary tension in the country in general and the House in particular.  I, therefore, urge Members to desist from such conduct.

I thank you.

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