RULING BY THE HON MR SPEAKER ON THE POINT OF ORDER RAISED BY THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION AND MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT OF MONZE CENTRAL PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY HON J J MWIIMBU, MP, AGAINST HER HONOUR THE VICE-PRESIDENT, REGARDING HER STATEMENT THAT MEMBERS OF THE UNITED PARTY FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (UPND) WERE HIDING DURING THE ISSUANCE OF NATIONAL REGISTRATION CARDS 

___________________________________________________

Hon Members will recall that on Friday, 4th December, 2020, when the House was considering Question for Oral Answer No. 71 on the Order Paper, and the Member of Parliament for Kabompo Parliamentary Constituency, Mr A Lufuma, MP, was about to ask a follow-up question, the Leader of the Opposition and Member of Parliament for Monze Central Parliamentary Constituency, Hon J J Mwiimbu, MP, raised the following Point of Order:

 

“Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order on Her Honour the Vice-President arising from the statement she has issued on the Floor of the House. Mr Speaker, the sanctity of this August House must be protected. She has made an allegation that Hon Members on your left were hiding during the issuance of the National Registration Cards (NRCs).

 

Mr Speaker, that was the time when the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill N.A.B. No 10 of 2019 was on the Floor. You may recall that the Hon Minister of Home Affairs issued a statement on the Floor of the House that he was not going to allow anyone to be involved in supporting the issuance of NRCs apart from his officials.

 

Now, how can Her Honour the Vice-President say that Hon Members were hiding when her Hon Minister gave a directive that he would not allow any other person to be involved? She knows that there is no evidence that Hon Members were hiding. We were in the House and that is when we raised these issues.

 

Is she in order to make a statement which is untrue, misleading and that should not be entertained by this House?”

 

Hon Members will also recall that on the same day, the Minister of Home Affairs, Hon S Kampyongo, MP, and the Member of Parliament for Katombola Parliamentary Constituency, Mr D Livune, MP, respectively, raised Points of Order related to Hon J J Mwimbu, MP’s Point of Order. 

 

Hon S Kampyongo, MP’s Point of Order was expressed in the following terms:

 

“Mr Speaker, I have been seated here following the Business of the House attentively, until my name and Ministry was drawn into a debate. I have made very clear statements in this August House which are on record. At no point did I say that Hon Members of Parliament were not to participate in the process of sensitisation of their constituents on the importance of being registered as citizens and obtaining National Registration Cards (NRCs). Regarding Her Honour the Vice-President, I know you have reserved your ruling, Mr Speaker.

 

Mr Speaker, I have further gone to engage my fellow colleagues the Hon Members of Parliament, including those from the Western Province. It is true that when the Permanent Secretary for Western Province tried to get hold of the Hon Members of Parliament from that province, they avoided him and his calls, when we extended the exercise of mobile registration for five days.

 

Is the Hon Member for Monze Central and Leader of the Opposition in the House in order to mislead this August House through this point of order and indeed, the nation, when all the statements pertaining to the mobile issuance of NRCs are very clear?

 

Mr Speaker, I even came here to pronounce extensions to the exercise of both Phase I and Phase II. I know you have reserved your ruling, Mr Speaker, but I equally deserve my point of order to be taken into account. 

 

I seek your serious ruling.”

 

Mr D Livune, MP’s Point of Order was as in the following terms:

 

“Mr Speaker… Both Her Honour the Vice-President, and the Minister of Home Affairs have referred to the five days which were added to the National Registration Card (NRC) registration period.

 

Mr Speaker, it is a known fact countrywide that the five days extension was not backed up with funding. As a result, no work was done in that five days they referred to. Therefore, are they in order to mislead the nation and deprive the citizens the required opportunity to get NRCs, since the five days they referred to was not backed up with funding?”

 

In my immediate response to all three Points of Order, I reserved my ruling. 

 

Hon Members, I wish to begin by addressing the points of order raised by Hon S Kampyongo, MP, and Mr D Livune, MP, which both hinged on the Point of Order raised by Hon J J Mwiimbu, MP. And were, therefore, evidently Points of Order on another Point of Order. This raises the issue or question whether a point of order can be raised on another point of order.

 

Hon Members, I must state from the outset, that our Standing Orders do not provide any guidance on raising a point of order on another point of order.  However, in accordance with Standing Order 179, where our rules do not provide any guidance on any issue, we fall back on the practice in other Commonwealth Parliaments.  In this regard, it is instructive to consider the discourse of learned authors M N Kaul and S L Shakdher, in their book entitled Practice and Procedure of Parliament, Seventh Edition, (New Delhi, Lok Sabha, 2016), which states at pages 1043 to 1044 as follows:

 

“There cannot be a point of order on a point order.”

 

It is, thus, self-evident that a point of order on another point of order is inadmissible.

 

I also recently guided Members of this House, on this issue on 13th November, 2020, when the Deputy Government Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Kabwe Central Parliamentary Constituency, Hon T S Ngulube, MP, sought to raise a point of order on a point of order raised by the Member of Parliament for Mazabuka Central Parliamentary Constituency, Mr G G Nkombo, MP.  My guidance in that instance, was that Members cannot raise a point of order on a point of order. 

 

Premised on the foregoing, my ruling, therefore, is that Hon S Kampyongo, MP and Mr Mr D Livune, MP’s  points of order were points of order on another point of order and, are therefore, inadmissible. 

 

I now turn to address Hon J J Mwiimbu, MP’s Point of Order. The   gist of his Point of Order is that Her Honour the Vice-President made an untrue statement, and misled the House that Hon Members on the left were hiding during the issuance of National Registration Cards due to the debate on the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill, National Assembly Bill No. 10 of 2019. He contends that that statement was untrue, because the non-involvement of Members of Parliament in the issuance of NRCs was as a result of a statement issued by the Hon Minister of Home Affairs prohibiting anyone, except for officials in his Ministry from being involved in, and supporting the issuance of NRCs.

 

The debate of her Honour the Vice-President, which is the subject of the Point Order, was in response to a question asked by the Member of Parliament for Nkeyema Parliamentary Constituency, Mr K A Mbangweta, MP, during the Vice-President’s Question Time on Friday, 4th December, 2020. Mr K A Mbangweta, MP, asked Her Honour the Vice-President whether her office would consider extending the mobile issuance of NRCs, and send officers to issue NRCs to those who had missed the opportunity, in Kaoma. In response, Her Honour the Vice-President stated as follows:

 

“Mr Speaker, a lot of information was disseminated to the Hon Members at the beginning of the mobile issuance of the National Registration Cards (NRCs). However, this was the same period that some Hon Members were literally hiding from Parliament due to the debate on the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill, N.A.B. No. 10 of 2019. So they missed out on a lot of information that was required for that five-day extension for the issuance of NRCs. You will find that the areas that were left out were those where the Permanent Secretary (PS) was trying to get in tough with his people to inform them about the one week extension, following complaints during the first phase of the NRCs issuance exercise.

 

Mr Speaker, therefore, I cannot guarantee, 100 per cent, returning of officers to all areas that had missed out. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs is still looking into this matter, particularly in acquiring resources to undertake this exercise. This is a costly exercise which requires teams to be moved to provinces.”

 

Hon Members, I will begin by outlining the background to this matter.  The Hon. Minister of Home Affairs issued a number of Ministerial Statements regarding the mobile issuance of National Registration Cards (NRCs) as follows:

 

1. First, on 23rd September, 2020, he issued a statement notifying members that Phase I, covering Northern, Luapula, Eastern, Northwestern and Copperbelt provinces commenced on 1st August, 2020. He further advised the House that Phase II, which covered Central, Muchinga, Southern and Western provinces, which was earlier scheduled to begin on 1st September, 2020, commenced on 20th September;

 

2. Second, on 7th October, 2020, he issued another statement which focused primarily on police shootings that occurred during the exercise. He explained the challenges facing the registration officers, including harassment, and attacks; 

 

3. Third, on 3rd November, 2020, he issued a statement that phase II, had been extended to 4th November, 2020, and that he would issue a comprehensive statement on the exercise, once it had been concluded; and  

 

4. Lastly, on 24th November, 2020, he rendered another statement in which he highlighted the outcome of the exercise. 

 

Hon Members, from the foregoing, it is noteworthy that information on the mobile issuance of NRCs was disseminated to Hon Members through ministerial statements over the period ranging from 23rd September, to 24th November, 2020.  In the meanwhile, the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill, N.A.B. No. 10 of 2019, was scheduled, and in fact, placed on the Order Paper for debate, and voting, at Second Reading Stage, on 29th October, 2020.  This was just a few days before the conclusion of the mobile issuance of NRCs exercise.  

 

In the circumstances, the assertion or allegation by Her Honour the Vice-President that: “Some Hon Members were literally hiding from Parliament due to the debate on the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill N.A.B No. 10 of 2019,” in relation to the mobile issuance of NRCs was unnecessary.  

 

I thank you.

 

_________________