WILL THE 9 MPS ALLOWED GO BACK INTO THEIR CONSTITUENCIES AND OPERATE AS MP DURING THIS PARLIAMENTARY RECESSION?
PRESIDENT HAKAINDE HICHILEMA has asked ALL Members of Parliament (MPs) to go back to their respective areas to hear and work on the challenges that citizens are facing.
The call is timely and the first time a sitting head of state meets and caucuses with MPs at the end of a parliamentary session.
The trend has been only when the President is addressing Parliament, that is when he meets the MPs or State House issuing a dry statement urging MPs to visit their constituencies and share government programmes during the recession.
It is hoped that this presidential directive includes all ministers who are also elected MPs, as in the past, there was a tendency among Ministers to claim busy schedules for not visiting their constituencies.
Only nominated ministers and MPs have a luxury of relaxing during this festival period, the rest is work and hard work and regular interface with the constituents.
The trend where ministers who are elected MPs shunned constituencies on pretext of busy achedules must be bygones in new dawn government as people want to engage with their elected representative.
To cure this disease of absentee MPs, President HH must ensure creating a platform for the acquisition of citizens feedback on the performance of their elected MPs.
Relying on media reports alone from constituencies may be distorted as these media personnel may be invited, transported and fed by the MP which may consequently impair and compromise their reporting of issues and challenges affecting the constituents as reports may be customised to suit the MPs line of communication to his/her boss.
As much as the President’s call for the MPs to join hands with the media to disseminate their messages and also handlle challenges that the people may be facing daily in their constituencies, without proper feedback strategy, the media reports may just be full of falsehoods, tailor-made (customised) reports and praises to impress the concerned MPs without pointing out real issues affecting the people which may point to failed leadership of that particular MP who may be Minister also.
So a distinct balance must be created between joining hands with a compromised media/journalist and joining hands with a free media/journalist ready to report “as is basis”.
However, the concern is with those 9 constituencies declared vacant by the High Court whose MPs are not MPs as of now and were even suspended by the Speaker of the National Assembly pending the determination of their appeal by the Constitutional Court.
The suspension from participating in parliamentary proceedings or business by the Speaker obviously includes them not visiting their former constituencies and pose as MPs.
With Parliament adjourning with 9 vacant seats and without sitting MPs, the Presidential directive for ALL MPs to go back and visit their constituencies EXCLUDES these Members of parliament whose seats were declared vacant.
If these MPs dared to pose as MPs, that will be an illegality and impersonation, a prosecutable offence under the laws of Zambia, in the absence of a contrary court decision upsetting the High Court decision consequently restoring their status as duly elected Members of parliament for their respective former constituencies.
They will have to wait until all the court cases around their status as MPs are determined, then they can enter their constituencies, pomp and splendour and operate as MPs without which it will be an illegality.
Now, the question is, what happens between now and then when the Constitutional Court will decide their fate in terms of representation of the people?
Have the President and his government put up mechanisms for a stand in the gap to fill up this legal void in these constituencies without MPs?
Without that, the residents of these 9 constituencies and that of Kabwata whose MP died and by-election scheduled for next year, are likely be left behind in terms of updates on government projects especially progress on the Constituency Development Fund (CDF)
I submit
McDonald Chipenzi