Ruling by the Hon. Mr. Second Deputy Speaker - On a Point of Order raised by Hon. G G Nkombo, MP, against Mr. P Twasa, MP, on whether he was in Order to allege that functions of the Zambia Police Service Commission have been hijacked by Cabinet Office

RULING BY THE HON MR SECOND DEPUTY SPEAKER ON A POINT OF ORDER RAISED BY HON G G NKOMBO, MP, MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT AGAINST MR P TWASA, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR KASENENGWA PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY, ON WHETHER MR P TWASA, MP, WAS IN ORDER TO ALLEGE THAT FUNCTIONS OF THE ZAMBIA POLICE SERVICE
COMMISSION HAVE BEEN HIJACKED BY CABINET OFFICE
Hon Members, the House will recall that on Tuesday,1 st  December, 2021, when   the   House   was   considering   Head   10   –   Zambia   Police   Service Commission and Mr Mr P Twasa, Member of Parliament for Kasenengwa Parliamentary Constituency , was on the Floor, Hon G G Nkombo, MP, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development raised a Point of Order.  The gist of Hon G G Nkombo MP’s Point of Order was whether Mr P Twasa MP, was in order to allege that Cabinet had hijacked a function of service commissions   by   employing   police   officers   without   stating   which   police officers had been employed by Cabinet.
In my immediate response to the Point of Order, I, sitting as Chairperson of the   Committee   of   Supply,   reserved   my  ruling   to   enable   me   study  the matter.  I have studied the matter and I will now render the ruling. 
 
Hon Members, Standing Order 131 of  the National Assembly of Zambia Standing Orders, 2021   provides for the procedure to be followed when raising a Point of Order. In particular, Standing Order 131(3) states:
“In raising a Point of Order, a member shall cite the Standing Order, law on privilege of members, rule of procedure or practice, which has been allegedly breached.” Hon   Members,   I   have   perused   the   relevant   verbatim   record   of   what transpired on the material day and it is clear that in raising his Point of Order, Hon G G Nkombo, MP, did not cite the Standing Order, law on privilege or rule of procedure that Mr Twasa, MP, had breached. In view of this, the Point of Order breached the procedural requirement I have just outlined.  The Point of Order is, therefore, inadmissible. I  wish  to  remind  Hon  Members to  clearly cite  the rule,  law, privilege,
practice or procedure breached whenever they raise a Point of Order.
 
I thank you.
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Ruling Date: 
Friday, December 3, 2021