KAMPYONGO SLAMS GOVERNMENT FOR ‘ CONFUSION’ OVER J.J BANDA’S EXTRADITION.
…..Criticizes Mobile Money Bill.
Lusaka – Friday, November 22, 2024 ( Smart Eagles)
Former Home Affairs Minister Hon Stephen Kampyongo has described the manner in which seemingly contradictory statements surrounding the status of Petauke Central Member of Parliament Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda are coming out as “Organized Confusion and Indiscipline”.
And Hon Kampyongo has charged that heads must roll if it turns out that the Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Hon Jack Mwiimbu misled the nation two days ago when he announced that Hon Jay Banda has been captured in Zimbabwe awaiting extradition.
Yesterday, Police Inspector General Graphel Musamba also disclosed that preparations to process the extradition of the Petauke lawmaker are ongoing.
And today, Zimbabwean Police have been quoted in one of the Zambian daily tabloids refuting that they have Hon Jay Banda in their custody as announced by both Hon Mwiimbu and Mr Musamba.
But Hon Kampyongo said during a weekly press briefing that should the minister discover that he has been misled, it is important that he deals with those who could have misled him because he depends on the support systems within the ministry.
“To see the Police IG also issue a statement when he should have an input in the statement that the minister issued, points to indiscipline of the highest order and the minister must put his house in order so that he should be the one accountable for the statements that are coming from the ministry,” he said.
And Hon Kampyongo says following further assurances he gave to Parliament over the issue, the nation is comforted that the earlier ruling by Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti where she gave Mr Jay Banda a 7-day ultimatum to attend Parliamentary business or lose his seat will be rendered as an academic exercise because the state will make the lawmaker available through the extradition processes.
He says should the matter be rendered an academic exercise, it will be helpful to the Speaker who has built a reputation for making decisions that need interpretation from the courts and has been found wanting not less than five times despite coming from a legal background.
“We shall be watching with keen interest to see how this drama plays out but the minister of Home Affairs should be interacting with colleagues at his level in the region to avoid the danger of giving information which is not accurate relating to another country has diplomatic implications as neighboring countries have platforms where we share matters of politics, defense and security with laid down communication procedures,” he said.
And in another matter, Hon Kampyongo says the proposed bill on Mobile Money Transfers which seeks to provide for keeping of records of operations among mobile money operators for inspection by Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) is going to cripple their operations.
The Shiwang’andu MP states that the same platforms that have been established by mobile telecommunication companies have helped the unbanked populations especially those in far flung areas not serviced by traditional banks.
“Where will ZRA even get the capacity to collect taxes from these mobile money operators if they are failing to collect taxes from the new mines that are coming up?” Hon Kampyongo wondered. “The FIC reports point to billions of dollars going untaxed by ZRA yet they want to target the poor and unemployed youths?”
He says Government must broaden the revenue base but it must done sensibly by getting the revenue from the natural capital in the mines where it matters most instead of targeting poor citizens through a misplaced bill.
Hon Kampyongo said the youths are now being fixed and has since challenged them to begin drawing lessons and emulate their colleague from other countries such as Ghana where a similar law was proposed but they rose against it and succeeded after standing their ground.
Meanwhile, Hon Kampyongo has expressed shock with the reaction of some senior government officials particularly housing and Infrastructure Minister Hon Charles Milupi to the recent Pastoral Letter by the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) who has accused some bishops of being partisan.
He says the Catholic Church has always been known to be non-partisan and on the side of the people hence the minister must be respectful to the collective wisdom of the bishops because everything they highlighted in their letter reflects the true state of affairs in the country.
SmartEagles
SLAMS GOVERNMENT FOR ‘ORGANIZED CONFUSION’ OVER J.J BANDA’S EXTRADITION.
…..Criticizes Mobile Money Bill.
Lusaka – Friday, November 22, 2024 ( Smart Eagles)
Former Home Affairs Minister Hon Stephen Kampyongo has described the manner in which seemingly contradictory statements surrounding the status of Petauke Central Member of Parliament Emmanuel Jay Jay Banda are coming out as “Organized Confusion and Indiscipline”.
And Hon Kampyongo has charged that heads must roll if it turns out that the Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Hon Jack Mwiimbu misled the nation two days ago when he announced that Hon Jay Banda has been captured in Zimbabwe awaiting extradition.
Yesterday, Police Inspector General Graphel Musamba also disclosed that preparations to process the extradition of the Petauke lawmaker are ongoing.
And today, Zimbabwean Police have been quoted in one of the Zambian daily tabloids refuting that they have Hon Jay Banda in their custody as announced by both Hon Mwiimbu and Mr Musamba.
But Hon Kampyongo said during a weekly press briefing that should the minister discover that he has been misled, it is important that he deals with those who could have misled him because he depends on the support systems within the ministry.
“To see the Police IG also issue a statement when he should have an input in the statement that the minister issued, points to indiscipline of the highest order and the minister must put his house in order so that he should be the one accountable for the statements that are coming from the ministry,” he said.
And Hon Kampyongo says following further assurances he gave to Parliament over the issue, the nation is comforted that the earlier ruling by Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti where she gave Mr Jay Banda a 7-day ultimatum to attend Parliamentary business or lose his seat will be rendered as an academic exercise because the state will make the lawmaker available through the extradition processes.
He says should the matter be rendered an academic exercise, it will be helpful to the Speaker who has built a reputation for making decisions that need interpretation from the courts and has been found wanting not less than five times despite coming from a legal background.
“We shall be watching with keen interest to see how this drama plays out but the minister of Home Affairs should be interacting with colleagues at his level in the region to avoid the danger of giving information which is not accurate relating to another country has diplomatic implications as neighboring countries have platforms where we share matters of politics, defense and security with laid down communication procedures,” he said.
And in another matter, Hon Kampyongo says the proposed bill on Mobile Money Transfers which seeks to provide for keeping of records of operations among mobile money operators for inspection by Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) is going to cripple their operations.
The Shiwang’andu MP states that the same platforms that have been established by mobile telecommunication companies have helped the unbanked populations especially those in far flung areas not serviced by traditional banks.
“Where will ZRA even get the capacity to collect taxes from these mobile money operators if they are failing to collect taxes from the new mines that are coming up?” Hon Kampyongo wondered. “The FIC reports point to billions of dollars going untaxed by ZRA yet they want to target the poor and unemployed youths?”
He says Government must broaden the revenue base but it must done sensibly by getting the revenue from the natural capital in the mines where it matters most instead of targeting poor citizens through a misplaced bill.
Hon Kampyongo said the youths are now being fixed and has since challenged them to begin drawing lessons and emulate their colleague from other countries such as Ghana where a similar law was proposed but they rose against it and succeeded after standing their ground.
Meanwhile, Hon Kampyongo has expressed shock with the reaction of some senior government officials particularly housing and Infrastructure Minister Hon Charles Milupi to the recent Pastoral Letter by the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) who has accused some bishops of being partisan.
He says the Catholic Church has always been known to be non-partisan and on the side of the people hence the minister must be respectful to the collective wisdom of the bishops because everything they highlighted in their letter reflects the true state of affairs in the country.