Ruling by the Hon. Mr. Speaker on the Point of Order raised by Mr. J J Mwiimbu, MP, against Her Honor the Vice-President on whether she was in Order to mislead the House and the Nation that the withdrawal of Public Order Bill was because of UPND

RULING BY THE HON MR SPEAKER ON A POINT OF ORDER RAISED BY HON J J MWIIMBU, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION AND MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR MONZE CENTRAL PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY, AGAINST HER HONOUR THE VICE-PRESIDENT, MRS I M WINA, MP, ON WHETHER SHE WAS IN ORDER TO MISLEAD THE HOUSE WHEN SHE ALLEGED THAT THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE PUBLIC ORDER BILL N.A.B 12/2019 WAS BECAUSE OF THE UNITED PARTY FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (UPND) MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT, WHEN IN FACT NOT

Hon Members will recall that on Friday, 26th February, 2020, when the House was considering the Report of the Committee on Legal Affairs,  Human Rights, National Guidance, Gender matters and Governance on the Legal Aid (Amendment) Bill N.A.B No. 1 of 2021, and Hon T S Ngulube, Deputy Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Kabwe Central Parliamentary Constituency was on the Floor, Hon J J Mwiimbu, Leader of the Opposition and Member of Parliament for Monze Central Parliamentary Constituency raised the following Point of Order:

“Mr Speaker, is her honour the Vice-President in order to mislead this House and the nation that we, in the United Party for National Development (UPND) are the ones who ensured that the Public Order Act was not debated here, in Parliament when, in fact, it is her Government that withdrew the Bill from the House?
Mr Speaker, the Hansard is there. The Hon. Minister of Home Affairs withdrew the Bill. Was it us who withdrew the Bill? 

Mr Speaker, is she in order to mislead the nation? Is she saying that we have the power to withdraw a Bill on behalf of the Government?”

In my immediate response, I reserved my ruling to enable me make a measured response. I have since studied the matter and now wish to render my ruling.

Hon Members, the Point of Order by Hon J J Mwiimbu, MP, was precipitated by a response by Her Honour the Vice-President, Mrs I M Wina, MP, to a question raised by Mr M Kabanda, Member of Parliament for Serenje Central Parliamentary Constituency, during Her Honour the Vice-President’s Question Time. Mr M Kabanda asked why certain sections of the Zambian society wanted the Patriotic Party (PF) Government to speed up the amendment to the Public Order Act, when previous Governments were not keen to amend the Act. In response, Her Honour the Vice- President stated, inter alia, as follows: 

“Mr Speaker, since independence, the PF is the first Government to present the Public Order Act to Parliament and consult all the stakeholders to ensure that, at least, before the 2021 General Elections, this law is amended, where there is a need for amendments. However, it is public knowledge that the idea was thrown to the winds by the opposition parties, especially the United Party for National Development (UPND), which did not want to participate in interrogating the Bill.” 

Hon Members, to re-acquaint myself with the matters surrounding the issue, I reviewed the events relating to the previous process to amend the Public Order Act. As members may recall, the Executive presented the Public Order Bill No. 12 of 2019, for First Reading on 3rd July, 2019. The Bill came up for Second Reading on Friday, 19th July, 2019. On the same date, Hon J J Mwiimbu, MP, raised a Point of Order questioning the placement of the Bill on the Order Paper (Daily Parliamentary Debate of 19th July, 2019).  The Point of Order was in the following terms:

“Mr Speaker, I rise on a very important procedural Point of Order. You may have noticed that today, on the Order Paper, we are supposed to debate the Electoral Process (Amendment) Bill No. 11 of 2019, and the Public Order Bill No. 12 of 2019. 

Mr Speaker, you have to note that these two Bills culminate from the proceedings of the National Dialogue Forum (NDF). The NDF considered three Bills which were tabled before it. One of the most important Bills that was considered, and that has been laid on the Table of this House, is the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill. 

…Mr Speaker, today, we are going to consider two Bills which will have a bearing on the proceedings of the Constitution. 
…Mr Speaker, is it a presumption on the part of the Executive that the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill is a done deal, even before it is debated? How can you pass a law that is anchored on the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill that has not yet been agreed to by the House? 

The proper way of doing things is to bring the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill, first, and debate it. If we agree to the content of the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill, the Executive can then bring the consequent Bills in this process. That is how it is supposed to be. Is the Executive in order to jump the gun, bring two Bills first and then, proceed to bring the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill? 

Mr Speaker, we, on the left will find it very difficult to support the Bills. Is the Executive in order to take a shortcut to the process of passing Bills in this manner?” 

Hon Members, subsequent to this Point of Order, the Minister of Justice, Hon G Lubinda, MP, presented the Bill for Second Reading (Daily Parliamentary Debate of 19th July, 2019). In so doing, he said, inter alia, as follows:

‘Sir, in a similar manner as the Electoral Process Bill, this Bill will have to be looked at after Parliament has concerned itself with the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment), Bill, as I had earlier indicated to your office. 
Mr Speaker, it is my hope that when an opportunity like this is offered to our citizens, political players, especially political parties must seize the opportunity. They should not stay away from such important processes. As you can see, some political groupings have decided to stay away when debating such important matters, but they will come back afterwards and say they were not involved or consulted, yet we have provided space for everyone to be engaged.

We have a duty to the Zambian people. The Government has simply agreed with what everybody has said regarding our looking at the Public Order Act…

Mr Speaker, having said that, allow me to defer consideration of the Second Reading Stage of this Bill until such a time that Parliament has considered the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill, 2019.”

Hon Members, it is clear from the foregoing that the Executive deferred consideration of the Public Order Bill at the behest of the Point of Order raised by Hon Mr J J Mwiimbu, MP.  It also goes without saying that, subsequently, when the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill, on whose enactment consideration of the Public Order Bill depended, came up for Second Reading on 29th October, 2020, the Bill failed to meet the threshold of 2/3 majority because, notably, the UPND did not lend support to the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill, No. 10 of 2019.

In conclusion, whilst it is true that the UPND could not then, and cannot now, defer a Bill, for obvious reasons because they are on the left hand side of the Speaker, it is clear however from the foregoing, that the deferment of the Bill by the Minister of Justice, Hon G Lubinda, MP, was in my considered view, precipitated by the Point of Order raised by Hon Mwiimbu, MP.

I thank you.

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Ruling Date: 
Friday, March 5, 2021