Fri, 22 Sep 2017 13:24:53 +0000
By Mukosela Kasalwe
FDD secretary-general Antonio Mwanza yesterday apologised to parliament for the irresponsible, false, misleading and unsubstantiated statements he made and reported in the Daily Nation Newspaper, issue No.1696, dated Thursday, June 22.
Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini admonished Mr Mwanza for causing the publication of false and misleading information regarding the emoluments paid to Members of Parliament.
Dr Matibini said the House was displeased with the conduct of Mr Mwanza which not only portrayed MPs in a poor light but created public debate which brought members in ridicule.
Dr Matibini ordered Mr Mwanza to unreservedly apologise to the House and cautioned the Daily Nation and all media houses to verify information they obtained regarding the House before publication.
” I now order you, Mr Mwanza, to unreservedly apologise to the House, for the irresponsible, false, misleading and unsubstantiated statements made by you that were reported in the Daily Nation Newspaper, issue No.1696, dated Thursday, June 22, 2017,” Dr Matibini said.
In his apology Mr Mwanza said he had reflected on the article and found that it went against the provisions of Section 25(B) of the National Assembly.
He said he sincerely regretted and apologised to the members for the embarrassment and ridicule caused by the publication.
” Mr Speaker, I Antonio Mwanza, in my personal capacity do unreservedly apologise to this August House, in general and non members of Parliament, in particular for the article that appeared in the Daily Nation Newspaper issue No 1696 published on Thursday, June 22, 2017 containing misleading information regarding emoluments paid to Members of Parliament,” Mr Mwanza said.
Dr Matibini was ruling on a point of order which was raised by Serenje MP Maxwell Kabanda against Mr Mwanza regarding remarks attributed to him on the emoluments paid to MPs in an article under the headline “Suspended MPs challenge Speaker” which appeared in the Daily Nation on June 22, 2017. Dr Matibini said in response the Daily Nation confirmed that the article had been correctly attributed to Mr Mwanza and explained that the story was obtained from his Facebook page.
He said members of the committee on Privileges, Absences and Support Services met to consider the matter and that Mr Kabanda, Mr Mwanza, and Ms Mary Mbewe, Executive Editor of the Daily Nation appeared before it.
Dr Matibini said the committee found that it was a breach of parliamentary privilege and contempt of the House for a person to publish false or scandalous libel on the House or its MPs.
