RULING BY THE HON MADAM FIRST DEPUTY SPEAKER ON A POINT OF ORDER RAISED BY MR S KAMPYONGO, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR SHIWANG’ANDU PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY, AGAINST HON J J MWIIMBU, MP, MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND INTERNAL SECURITY, ON WHETHER THE INFORMATION HE GAVE TO THE HOUSE REGARDING THE ARREST OF MR K MUKOSA, MP, MR N CHILANGWA, MP AND MR R CHITOTELA WAS FACTUAL AND VERIFIABLE

Hon Members, the House will recall that on Tuesday, 9th November, 2021, when the House was considering a Ministerial Statement presented by Hon J J Mwiimbu, Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, on the arrest of three (3) Patriotic Front (PF) Members of Parliament and Mr A Kasandwe, Member of Parliament for Bangweulu Parliamentary Constituency, was on the Floor, Mr S Kampyongo, Member of Parliament for Shiwang’andu Parliamentary Constituency, raised a Point of Order.  

Mr S Kampyongo, MP’s Point of Order was premised on Standing Order 65 (1) (b) of the National Assembly of Zambia Standing Orders, 2021, which provides as follows:

“65. (1) A Member who is debating shall –
(b) ensure that the information he or she provides to the House is factual and verifiable.”

In his Point of Order, Mr S Kampyongo, MP, raised concern that in response to his question on why the police was only acting at that time on the cases of Mr K Mukosa, MP, Mr N Chilangwa, MP, and Mr R Chitotela, MP, which had allegedly occurred five (5) months before, the Hon Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security stated that it was because the police were afraid to act at the time the cases occurred. Mr Kampyongo further stated that in his Ministerial Statement, the Hon Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security had given examples of prominent persons who had been arrested when the PF was in government, and that these included serving Ministers at the time. He further stated that if the police had not been afraid to arrest sitting Ministers, how could they have been afraid to arrest ordinary citizens. He, therefore, submitted that it was that contradiction in the Hon Minister’s statement that he was bringing to the attention of the House.  

Hon Members, in her immediate response, the Hon Madam Speaker reserved her ruling in order to examine what the Hon Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security said in his statement.  The matter has since been reviewed and I will now render the ruling. 

The Point of Order raises the issue of a Member making contradictory statements on the Floor of the House and thereby breaching Standing Order 65 (1)(b) which obliges Members to ensure the information they present to the House is factual and verifiable.

Hon Members, former Speaker, Rt Hon Dr Patrick Matibini, SC, had occasion to consider the issue of a Member making contradictory statements on the Floor of the House in the case of Mr S Kakubo and Hon M Mwanakatwe (Daily Parliamentary Debate of 19th March 2019). In that matter, Mr S Kakubo alleged that Hon M Mwanakatwe, then Minister of Finance, in responding to questions on the decline in reserves at the Central Bank had made contradictory statements. This was with regard to the source of funds for servicing the Eurobonds.  In one statement the Hon. Minister had said that the Government used the reserves in the Central Bank to service the bonds while in another she had said that the government did not use the reserves to service the Eurobonds, but, instead, used its own earnings. In rendering a ruling on the matter, the Speaker stated, inter alia, as follows:

 “The rules of the House demand that any information provided to the House must be factual.  It is an offence punishable by the House for any person to willfully mislead the House.

Therefore, Hon Members of the House have a duty to ensure that they carefully verify their information before submitting the same to the House.  This is important because the House, in making decisions, relies on the information submitted by Members.

Upon considering the relevant verbatim record, the Speaker found that the Hon Minister had, indeed, made contradictory statements on the Floor of the House. He, consequently, ruled her Out of Order.

Hon Members, to ascertain whether or not the Hon Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security gave contradictory statements as alleged by Mr S Kampyongo, MP, I had recourse to the verbatim record of the Hon Minister’s Ministerial Statement. Of particular relevance to the Point of Order is the following statement by the Hon Minister:

“Allow me, Madam Speaker, to provide examples of sitting Members of Parliament and prominent members of the society who were arrested by the previous regime. The current Head of State was arrested more than fifteen (15) times. Hon Nkombo, Hon Stephen Masumba, Hon Chishimba Kambwili, Hon Romeo Kangombe, Hon Keith Mukata, Hon Douglas Syakalima, Hon Chitalu Chilufya, including Hon Ronald Chitotela were arrested while they were sitting Members of Parliament.”

I further had recourse to the Hon Minister’s response to Mr S Kampyongo’s Question on why it had taken the police over five (5) months to arrest Mr K Mukosa, MP, Mr N Chilangwa, MP, and Mr R Chitotela, MP. In his response, the Hon Minister stated, among other things, as follows:

“I have no doubt in my mind that the former Hon Minister of Home Affairs knows that during the reign of the PF, the police were executing their duties in fear.

Madam Speaker, we have to note that these cases were reported immediately they occurred, but the police could not take action at the time because they feared that if they took action at the time, they were going to be disciplined.”

Hon Members, from the foregoing, it is clear that by giving examples of some Ministers who were arrested while the PF was in government and subsequently stating that the police could not arrest Mr K Mukosa MP, Mr N Chilangwa MP and Mr R Chitotela MP when the PF was in power because they were afraid of being disciplined, the Hon. Minister made contradictory statements in the House.

Hon Members, in keeping with Standing Order 65 (1) (b) and the precedent set in the case of Mr S Kakubo and Hon M Mwanakatwe, I find that by making contradictory statements in the House, the Hon Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security was Out of Order.

I thank you.