Today's letters

Thu, 23 Mar 2017 13:01:37 +0000

Banning UPND MPs by the Speaker

 Dear Editor,

While I fully support PF’s Julius Komaki’s sentiments and suggestions that Speaker of National Assembly Patrick Matibini should consider suspending UPND members of parliament from attending parliamentary sittings and participate in the daily business of the House for truancy and absconding Parliament for the second time in the same session, I wonder if picketing the National Assembly and blocking the UPND lawmakers from entering Parliament building by PF youths would really serve as the appropriate platform to do so.

However, the suspension period of the UPND members of parliament ought to be concomitant with  UPND President Hakainde Hichilema’s pronouncement that he would not give up on his presidential petition no matter how many times the courts adjourn the matter (“Ban UPND MPs, Komaki urges Speaker”, Daily Nation, March 20, 2017).

Since the UPND president praised his Members of Parliament for boycotting the State of the Nation address by President Edgar Lungu, it is therefore, fair and proper that the ban of UPND MPs from Parliament must be connected to his not letting go of the presidential petition and court processes.

He claimed that the recent court adjournments on the right to be heard matter was aimed at frustrating him but that he would not give up when it is common knowledge that there was massive age-cheating by UPND first-time voters in Southern Province.

But it’s what the UPND leader doesn’t say that’s

interesting. He doesn’t say that a significant portion of his election votes in Southern Province was based on the vote-basket of underage child voters.

There is much information in the public domain, generally, about the age-cheating through which the UPND die-hard supporters would take seemingly 16-year old adolescents to mobile registration centres to obtain their National Registration Cards (NRCs).

And how the underage teenagers were then transported across to the voter registration centres in truckloads and busloads, with many not even attaining  the first-time voting age of 18-years.

There is much to be found at National Registration and Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) offices about how the underage first-time voters were put to vote en masse for the UPND presidential and parliamentary aspirants in Southern, Western and North-Western provinces, and the 2016 election results in these regions speak for themselves.

These are the people who claim to be setting a precedence that Zambia must begin holding free, fair and credible elections. But as more people obtain information about the UPND age-cheating in the 2016 polls, Hakainde Hichilema and his ilk in the National Assembly would be systematically unmasked and presented in their true colours.

Ultimately, Zambians and more especially first-time voters have very good precedents to follow in terms of the country holding free, fair and credible elections all along.

Mubanga Luchembe,

LUSAKA

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Kudos government on constitution lacunas 

Dear Editor

I write to commend Government for being steadfast in addressing lucunas realized in our Constitution prior to August 2016 elections.

It is good that Government through various stakeholders and legal technocrats have gone flat out to address the lacunas that brought about unending debates in our society.

That means the government is alive to the cries of its people.

As the Minister of Justice Honorable Given Lubinda has rightly put it, the Constitution should be easy to interpret all the time to avoid misinterpretation.

It means the Government realizes that Constitution being the upper law of the land should not leave undue influence on the executive alone.

I therefore appeal to all well meaning Zambians and stakeholders to support Government on this cause.

We know how some people are still crying on simple interpretation of the 14 days for Presidential petition just because they were not accorded an opportunity to be heard as enshrined in other clauses of the Constitution.

WM

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President Lungu spot on

Dear Editor

I write to commend President Lungu for assuring the nation that Zambia and the general populous come first as he and his Government embarks on various developmental projects to improve the lives of Zambians.

His address to Parliament and the nation was spot on and should be supported by all well-meaning Zambians.

His assertion to value the welfare of all of us Zambians fisrt against politicking is therefore very soothing and encouraging.

It is actually good to note that he did not actually feel any impact by the boycott by UPND MPs and hence his vision to carry the Country forward should be supported.

Most interesting to note is that they were actually also among the Zambians he addressed despite them being absent in Parliament because they followed his address within the confines of their television sets and radios where ever they were!

Otherwise, they would not be issuing statements on the same.

All they did was to save the Country from colossal expenditure by fore going their sitting allowances on the material day, the money that should be diverted to other very important need areas.

Concerned citizen

CHINGOLA

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Opposition political parties failing Zambians

Dear Editor

I write with a sad heart how most opposition political parties have slowly become irrelevant to the political discourse of this nation.

The opposition political parties’ role is to offer checks and balances to the governing party with hope and assurance of being the government in waiting.

However, their continued unwarranted attacks on the ruling party without giving alternatives leaves much to be desired and is therefore a shame.

It is like they are many a time just embroiled in fighting for political office at the expense of their social, economical and political existence of offering checks and balances.

Except for a few political parties who have shown total resilience, the rest should actually up their efforts if Zambians have to take them seriously.

It is however interesting how a few have lived to help government in its day to day way of doing business with offering much needed counsel and advise to the Government of the day.

These are ZRP, NAREP and MMD, to mention but a few who through their leaders Wright Musoma, Elias Chipimo and Felix Mutati and their members respectively who have inspired some Zambians despite their numbers.

They do not only criticize Government when they feel it is not doing things right but have even gone above board to commend and congratulate Government when they score positive marks in their governance exploits.

That is actually the role of the opposition political parties to make the governing party not go to sleep but deliver on its campaign promises.

Wisdom Muyunda

CHINGOLA