THE PARLIAMENT MOTEL SAGA
By Sean Tembo – PeP President
1. A lot of people have commented on the issue of Lumezi Member of Parliament; Honorable Munir Zulu and what transpired at Parliament Motel a few days ago. According to the story narrated by Hon. Zulu himself, he says he went to Parliament Motel and ordered a bow of soup. However, his order took longer than usual to be processed, to the extent that patrons who came after him and ordered main meals, had their orders served while he continued waiting for his bow of soup. This, according to Hon. Zulu, made him suspicious as to what was delaying the processing of his order. When the order finally came, Hon. Munir Zulu asked the waiter to taste the soup, and the waiter refused to do so. Hon. Zulu then decided to pay for his order but did not consume it as he was not sure if the soup was safe to consume.
2. However, after narrating his story, Hon. Munir Zulu received a lot of backlash from various Government officials, including some Parliament Motel staff who vowed never to serve him again. So the question that needs to be addressed here is whether there is anything wrong with Hon. Zulu’s narration of events which deserves condemnation?
3. The first issue to determine is whether the story narrated by Hon. Munir Zulu is accurate or was it exaggerated in any way, shape or form? Well, the National Assembly actually formally responded to the story narrated by Hon. Zulu, through it’s Senior Media Liaison Officer, a Mr. Nshamba Muzungu. As a matter of fact, the National Assembly in it’s response did not dispute the story in any way. They only condemned Hon. Zulu for making the story public, as according to their statement; “it could tarnish both the motel and the National Assembly itself”. So, for all intents and purposes, the story narrated by Hon. Munir Zulu is accurate, because if it wasn’t, the National Assembly would have disputed it, or at least aspects of it.
4. The second question to determine is whether Hon. Munir Zulu was in order to publish this story of possible poisoning by the National Assembly Motel? Or should he have just kept quiet about the issue? Well, there is a document in this country that we call the Constitution. And in that document, there is a portion that is referred to as the Bill of Rights which gives every citizen of this nation the freedom, right and liberty to express themselves. Therefore, if Hon. Munir Zulu had decided to keep quiet about the issue, that would have been within his rights. Equally, the decision to publicize his suspected poisoning at the National Assembly Motel is very much within his rights as a bonafide citizen of this Republic. No one has a right to tell him to keep quiet. Especially given the fact that no one is disputing the accuracy of his story.
5. The third issue to determine is whether the facts of the circumstances that transpired at the National Assembly Motel provided a reasonable basis for Hon. Munir Zulu to suspect that the soup which he ordered might have been poisoned? Well, any politician would be suspicious if their food took longer than expected after placing an order. Such suspicion would be more than doubled if the waiter serving the food refused to taste it. Why would anyone refuse to taste the food which they have prepared if there is nothing wrong with it? If the waiter in question was uncomfortable tasting the food, why didn’t his supervisor taste it? Or if the supervisor was equally uncomfortable tasting the soup, why didn’t the chef who prepared it taste it? If there is any reputation damage that occurred to the National Assembly Motel by this event, it was occasioned by their own poor handling of this event and not Hon. Munir Zulu.
6. The fourth issue to determine is whether Hon. Munir Zulu acted in any untoward manner during this entire event? The immediate answer to this question is a definite no. The Honorable Member of Parliament even had the courtesy to pay for the soup, despite the fact that he was unable to consume it. If it was me, l doubt that l would be that diplomatic. I mean, the fact that the person who has prepared the food refused to taste it basically renders the food unconsumable, so why should l pay for it? Unless of course l feel charitable on that particular day. So instead of condemning Hon. Munir Zulu, the National Assembly should be applauding him for having behaved in such a gentlemanly way, and should instead chastise their Motel staff for poorly handling the matter. That is assuming that the soup was not in fact poisoned.
7. The last question to determine is whether the National Assembly Motel is in fact capable of poisoning food that is served to a guest? Well, to answer that question, allow me to take you back 11 years ago, to an incident that happened on 12th July 2013 at the National Assembly Motel. On that day, according to a narration of events by the then Solwezi Central MMD Member of Parliament, Hon. Lucky Mulusa, him and his colleagues sitting at the National Assembly Motel bar when a waiter brought him three shots of whiskey which he had not ordered. The MP became suspicious and refused to drink the whiskey. But it did not end there. Him and his colleagues decided to take the whiskey in question for a laboratory analysis. And behold, they results found a high concentration of a poison called Clonazepam. The MP further narrated that he was advised by physicians that had he consumed the whiskey in question, it would have collapsed his liver and also led to a breakdown of the nervous system and subsequent death.
8. In retrospect, it would have been nice if Hon. Munir Zulu had taken the route that Hon. Lucky Mulusa took 11 years ago, by subjecting the suspected laced soup to a laboratory analysis. Then we would have known for sure whether the soup in question was laced with poison or not. Whatever the case, the National Assembly and Government in general should immediately cease and desist from attacking Hon. Munir Zulu regarding the National Assembly Motel saga. The MP’s actions were gentlemanly and above board. His refusal to consume the soup probably saved his life. Anyway, the Future is SET ✌️✌️✌️
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SET 22.08.2024