Namugala curtails Tutwa’s debate

Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

By Oscar Malipenga and Annie Zulu

DEPUTY Speaker of the National Assembly Catherine Namugala yesterday curtailed Patriotic Front (PF) Kabwe Central Member of Parliament Tutwa Ngulube when he accused the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) of attempting to control President Edgar Lungu’s speeches. In his debate yesterday, Mr Ngulube allayed fears that the PF was fighting LAZ and its president Linda Kasonde. But Mr Ngulube declared that the PF would not allow the LAZ to control the President’s speeches. He said this during a policy statement to unanimously approve the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) 2017 expenditure budget allocation of K74, 336, 606. “I want to speak on behalf of the PF that the PF is not fighting with the Law Association of Zambia. “It is the Law Association of Zambia which wants to supervise the President in his speeches and we are saying ‘no’ to that,” Mr Ngulube said. Mr. Ngulube was responding to claims by Mazabuka Central UPND Member of Parliament Garry Nkombo who accused the PF of tormenting LAZ. He said the Law Association of Zambia is not a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) but an institution established by an Act of Parliament. But Mr Ngulube was immediately stopped from exposing LAZ by the chairman of the expanded committees Catherine Namugala. Siavonga UPND Member of Parliament Douglas Siakalima accused ECZ of failing to conduct credible elections on August 11, 2016. He also accused the commission of being responsible for everything that happened after the general elections (violence and election petitions). But Mr Ngulube said the Electoral Commission of Zambia is a credible institution and must be supported by all the Members of Parliament. “People who have lost an election will always never say anything good about ECZ,” Mr Ngulube said. He said it was wrong for people to say the mistakes made by ECZ only affected their party when in some places the votes counted were more than the number of registered voters. “We are aware that certain places produced more results than the number of registered voters,” Mr Ngulube said. And winding up debate, leader of government business Richard Musukwa encouraged the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) to emulate the PF who were in the opposition for 10 years. He further told them to continue working hard and mobilizing themselves for future general elections probably after 100 years because the PF was in government to stay. Mr Musukwa also boasted that the PF had already started preparing to scoop the 2021 general elections.

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