FREE ADVICE TO MUNIR ZULU ON HIS PARLIAMENT KERFUFFLE
The Scoop Editorial: July 27, 2022
THIS afternoon, Lumezi Member of Parliament (MP) Munir Zulu was suspended from the House for 10-days for bringing the decorum of Parliament into disrepute after he beasted a number of officers, including the Sergeant at Arms on March 23, 2022.
Truthfully speaking, we are one of the media houses that supported Munir’s candidacy for Lumezi in the previous elections for two reasons; firstly, because we advocated for youthful MPs and secondly, because we felt he had been hard done by the Patriotic Front (PF) who opted to ignore him for another candidate despite him being popular.
Take it or leave it, Munir is a people person. He is a crowd-puller and a grassroot politician who commands such following not only in Lumezi but surrounding areas as well, mostly due to his philanthropic work and this is part of the reason we thought he was best suited to represent the people of Lumezi.
His energy and passion for work drew us to the conclusion that we needed more of such youths in Parliament and preside over our affairs but with the foregoing, we are beginning to think that our viewpoint could have been flawed. This by any means does not mean we now feel Munir is a bad guy in every aspect. We still respect his vigour and his passion to serve the people of Lumezi, only that most of the time he is in Parliament, has proved to be a nuisance especially on issues where he does not agree with others.
It is sad that each time Munir has a different viewpoint to others, more so, his political opponents, swords are drawn and in everything, he wants to come out the winner. Unfortunately, Parliament is about debate and debate tolerates different viewpoints and such viewpoints must be done with sanity. Even the actual process of enacting laws comes with a lot of debate and discourse analysis. Because of the fact that the National Assembly’s principle function is to make laws, our dear Munir should understand that different viewpoints are inevitable when dealing with Parliament because bebates are not arguments and are not a show of nemesis.
Munir should understand that Parliament is not for flexing muscles or showing who can disrespect others with impunity and go scot-free. The problem we have with Munir is that either he himslef is a bad habit, or he has inherited bad habits by accepting abnormal things to be normal. You see, the fact that chairs fly in some Parliaments in some countries in Africa and beyond while parliamentarians trade blows right on the floor of the House does not mean this is a normal way of conducting oneself in Parliament in Zambia.
What is wrong is wrong and must be condemned as such and our advice to Munir is to reflect on his suspension from Parliament with positivity. He stands to lose nothing from his absence in the House. Munir has money and so, not getting allowances from Parliament during the period is not an issue but the real losers in all this are the people of Lumezi because during the period, they wil have no representation. This is because the person they sent to Parliament to represent them has turned into a boxer, out to bully everyone opposed to him.
Munir will not be the first or last Parliamentarian to be elected to that House. The Zambian Parliament has had serious MPs. People like late George Kunda crafted a name for themselves not because they were the most antagonistic in Parliament, but because they debated issues with substance and with dignity.
We had Request Muntanga not long ago. When Muntanga stood to speak, everyone listened. When he debated in Parliament, he spoke with facts and conviction. He was among the most read MPs the country had ever produced during his time and this is why he commanded respect among his peers. People like late Michael Sata respected Muntanga during his reign as president not because he threatened to box anyone, but because of the data he offloaded on the floor of the House and we all know who Sata was. For Sata to give you respect, then, you must deserve it. Sata feared no one but among the people he respected, Muntanga was up there on the list because of how he carried himself as an MP.
Munir should realise that posterity will judge him not on the number of people he would have threatened to beat, but on his substance in Parliament. We know that by now, Munir is already all over social media trying to justify his actions by purporting that he is being fought.
Of course a lot of people are defending his case but truth is, most of the people defending him have no clue what Parliament is about and will defend him any rainy day, even when he is wrong like they have consistently done in the past but the truth of the matter is that these are the people misleading him or beckoning him to continue on this wrong trajectory.
For us, Munir has a lot of energy which if used correctly, can propel his constituency to greater heights than he is doing today but misguiding this energy like is he doing now serves no purpose; not for him, not for those who elected him.
Yama, those who are vuvuzelaling for you in everything you do usually do not mean well for you. Take time to listen to those who seem to be opposed to you and at least get something from their seeming criticism because this may build you. This too is just free advice which you can take or leave.