Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba writes:
He Needs 111 MPs, He Doesnt Have the Numbers
Call your Member of Parliament individually, ask how they are voting.
We need to find out who is betraying the people of Zambia to enable us name and shame them.
To pass Bill 7, President Hakainde Hichilema requires two-thirds majority votes of 165 MPs (111 MPs).
He doesn’t have those numbers.
He is however very confident that he has bought enough numbers from the Independents and renegade MPs from the Opposition Patriotic Front to meet the 111 threshold and pass the bill.
Below is the current composition of the National Assembly.
1. United Party for National Development (UPND): 97 (89+ 8 nominated),
2. Patriotic Front (PF): 55,
3. Independent: 10, and
4. Party for National Unity and Progress:
5.New Congress Party (NCP)-1
Mporokoso MP (Brian Mundubile) and Matero MP (Miles Sampa) have pledged to lead their colleagues in voting against the proposed amendments, while expelled Mafinga MP, Robert Chabinga has pledged to mobilise renegade MPs to vote for the Bill.
This Bill will be passed because our members of Parliament will support it as it is progressive. Only those members of Parliament that hate the Zambians will vote against the bill.
All the well meaning MPs including some from opposition PF will support it, they don’t even need to be paid by anyone. It’s logical for anyone to support the Bill if its benefits are outweighing its demerits. For example, by population, Mandevu is one on largest Constituencies in both Lusaka and Zambia while land area, Kasempa is one of them. So suppose you divide Mandevu and Kasempa into three each, it simply means that instead of receiving only 40 million, Mandevu and Kasempa will receive 120 million each next year. Which sane MP can fail to support such a bill because in terms of resources and money, it’s the Constituencies that will benefit and Hakainde. And for the first time in the history of this country, a number of youths, male and female, PLDs and a high percentage of women will be in Parliament as part of the decision making process at Parliamentary level. That will be a great achievement not only for HH and UPND but for our country Zambia as well.
I think it’s only confused people who hate Bill seven and the haters are in the minority. So the Bill will go through without any difficulty. Zambians want development not useless arguments.
It is good you guys now realize that what you were doing was not beneficial to us. To start with, what makes you think the clubs you are in to the exclusion of all of us mandate you to speak for us. We don’t even get the right to scrutinize you financial statements so we make sure our interest are fulfilled.
If the bond between us is as strong as you now make it, invite us to the annual general meetings and allow us to participate in decision making and voting.
We are not allowed to even attend your annual general meetings because we don’t qualify. How can it be that all of the sudden you now qualify to speak for all of us. You are responsible only for the members who qualify to be party to your legally constituted institutions. When did a marketeer or bus conductor become your members.
Our legally constituted institution which we participate in creating and putting our voices to be heard is Parliament. When you stop parliament from legally doing its function you overstep your grounds and step into a territory we stake our lives on.
These MPs represent our voices and should play their role diligently. If they don’t or fail us then it is high time we begin to sue them for breach of contract and for abandoning their obligations of debating on national issues.
I advise you don’t block what can only be legitimately and constitutionally handled by parliament.
Our vote can not be subjected to rules of exclusive clubs who don’t have any mandate to speak for us. You can advise us with facts , that is as far as you go. The rest should be left to parliament to decide objectively.
Well said Mate, as you have rightly put it, most of these organizations are just as good as clubs or cooperatives whose agenda or purpose we don’t know. You even wonder where they get those powers which they are exercising because no one elected them. You can not fight for people who never elected you to fight for them or represent them. Where do you get the mandate? Let’s have order in the country by allowing the mandated people to preside over governance issues. Yes, we have the right to air views but not to the extent of overriding the people we elected. By doing that we are eroding our institutions, we are eroding our own democracy which we are claiming to protect.