November 20, 2024
BRING BACK HONOURABLE EMMANUEL JJ BANDA, SPEAKER OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, MUST DESIST ON ILLEGAL ULTIMATUMS TO DECLARE PETAUKE CENTRAL CONSTITUENCY SEAT VACANT.
KUM’MAWA DEVELOPMENT COALITION, known as UMODZI KUM’MAWA, is deeply concerned with the pronouncements by the Speaker of the National Assembly, suggesting a Seven (7) days ultimatum for Honourable Emmanuel J J Banda to be available in the House or his Petauke Central parliamentary seat will be declared vacant, and substantially, a by-election.
Firstly, this shocking, disappointing, and an undemocratic action must be reconsidered. It is very political and is not supported by Law. The National Assembly, either by vote or whatever means, has no power to expel a member of parliament from the house. The matter of an MP vacating the House is constitutional, and the Speaker should and must refer the issue to the Constitutional Court for determination. Suggesting to declare the seat vacant is constitutionally wrong, and the Speaker should not become the law in herself.
Secondly, in the case of absence from Parliament, we are very much aware that Hon Emmanuel Banda, MP, was abducted on the 24th of May 2024, agitated by persons that he mentioned and are representatives of the State, particularly those operating at State House. He never saw any freedom and was re-arrested at the agitation of the Republican President, as was witnessed during a presidential address to the nation. There is no doubt that following that presidential decree, he remained in the custody of the state in Remand at Chipata’s Namseche Correctional, with ill health, requiring him to get medical attention at Chipata’s Central Hospital, where he was alleged to have escaped.
As far as we are concerned, and is the view of many people in his constituency, region, and nation at large, rather than expect ultimatums from the Speaker of the National Assembly, we expect proper explanations from the Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, regards the progress they have made in investigating the whereabouts of Honourable Emmanuel JJ Banda, and bring him to his family, which they continue to torture mentally and physically.
We remain extremely concerned about the whereabouts of Honourable Emmanuel JJ Banda, and the very fact that the Speaker makes this 7-day ultimatum, it is a blatant disregard for the welfare of his constituency, Petauke Central. If anything, it is an affront to the country’s democratic principles as this has continued to deny the people of Petauke Central representation in national affairs.
It is also clear that it is part of a continued machination of political expediency and the UPND’s appetite to increase parliamentary representation using illegal means, as has been the case in other parts of the country.
Again, we call upon the Speaker of the National Assembly to desist from this action. Also it is a call on the Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security to instead furnish the nation on the where abouts of Honourable Emmanuel JJ Banda, who was in custody of the State at the time of his purported disappearance.
We also call upon the Inspector General of Police to arrest the trio of officials that were mentioned in the abduction ordeal of Honourable Emmanuel J J Banda. The law should not have eyes of discrimination.
Issued for and on behalf of KUM’MAWA DEVELOPMENT COALITION aka UMODZI KUM’MAWA
Chanoda Ngwira F
SPOKESPERSON