SPEAKER REFUSES MP TO ASK QUESTIONS ON BANK OF ZAMBIA RAISING OF STATUTORY RESERVE
Speaker of the National Assembly, Nelly Mutti has refused Chitambo MP, Remember Mutale from asking questions about Bank of Zambia raising of statutory reserves ratio from 11.5 to 14.5 points.
Mutale had raised the matter on the floor as a matter of public urgent but was advised to put it in writing.
He comolied with the directive by the Speaker and did so but his written request has been refused.
Below is the Speakers Response;
29th November, 2023
Mr Remember Mutale, MP
National Assembly
P O Box 31299
LUSAKA
Dear Sir,
QUESTION UNDER STANDING ORDER 76
I am directed to inform you that your request to ask the following Question under
Standing Order 76 has not been approved because its subject matter, though
important, does not fall within the contemplation of the Standing Order:
“To ask the Minister of Finance and National Planning what the impact of the Bank of Zambia’s raising of the Statutory Reserve Ratio from 11.5 percent to 14.5
percent is, on:
(a)
availability of money to micro, small and medium enterprises to boost
their businesses;
people servicing loans from various lending institutions; and
general outlook of the economy.
b)
You may wish to know, Sir, that for a Question to be considered as `urgent” under
Standing Order 76, it must be such that if the Executive does not act immediately,
either the security of the state would be compromised or some catastrophe would
befall the nation.
Your Question, therefore, does not fall within these parameters.
In this regard, the Question will be processed as an ordinary Question under
Standing Order 74 and will be included in the next issue of the Notice of Questions.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Haambote
for/CLERK OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
What sort of reporting is this? Is there no way of taking this useless reporter to court for misinformation? The MP was told by deputy Speaker, not Speaker Mutti. I watched the live presentation of that question on parliament tv, the 1st Deputy Speaker told him that the question did not qualify to be raised as a matter of urgebt public importance or urgent question but can be presented in the ordinary order of business. How come this MP does not understand the standing orders that guide business in the house. This reporter’s efforts to portray Hon. Nellie Mutti as biased or unreasonable is outrageous and must be condemned. These are people who did not pass their journalism exams clean but back door and are denting this very noble profession. Its sad mwe.
He’s probably from the Emmanuel Mwamba ‘s school of propaganda. Indeed hon madam speaker Nelly multi was not the presiding officer on the material date. It’s very frustrating for presiding officers to continue to guiding Mps to understand guidelines on matters of urgent public importance. It’s foolhardy for this mp to even circulate a letter addressed to him to the public. This is however not surprising as confusion and arrogance is in the PF DNA.