Let’s keep Parley clean – Mutti

By NATION REPORTER

SPEAKER of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti has challenged Members of Parliament and staff to take collective responsibility for keeping Parliament Buildings and constituency offices clean, safe and orderly.

Ms Mutti said cleanliness should not be treated as a one-day exercise but as a continuous responsibility requiring MPs to mobilise their constituents and promote responsible environmental practices.

She was speaking on Monday when she officially launched the Keep Parliament Clean Campaign at Kanyama Constituency Office in Lusaka, where participants cleaned the surroundings and planted trees.

Ms Mutti said the initiative was an important milestone in strengthening the National Assembly’s commitment to maintaining clean, healthy and environmentally sustainable working environments across the country.

“The National Assembly of Zambia is a constitutional institution entrusted with the important responsibilities of legislation, representation, approving the national budget and oversight,” she said.

“In discharging these responsibilities, our institution must demonstrate high standards of professionalism, accountability, discipline and responsible stewardship of public resources.”

Ms Mutti said those standards should extend beyond parliamentary business to the management of institutional facilities and the environments in which MPs and staff work.

“We want every Member of Parliament, every member of staff, every visitor and every constituency office to understand that a clean environment is a productive environment. A clean Parliament is a Parliament that respects the people it serves,” she said.

To encourage healthy competition among constituencies, Ms Mutti announced the introduction of the Nelly Mutti Trophy for the Best Performing Constituency in Cleanliness.

The annual award will be contested by all 226 constituencies and will recognise outstanding performance in maintaining clean constituency offices, organising community clean-ups, introducing innovative waste management and recycling initiatives and involving young people, women, traditional leaders and other community members.

The winning constituency will retain the trophy and be formally recognised in Parliament, while also being showcased as a model of good environmental practices.

National Assembly Clerk Loveness Mayaka said Kanyama was deliberately chosen because it was a densely populated constituency whose environmental challenges reflected those experienced in many communities.

“If we succeed here today, we set a benchmark for every constituency in the country,” Ms Mayaka said.

Rwandan High Commissioner to Zambia Emmanuel Bugingo cited Rwanda’s Umuganda community cleaning programme as an example of collective action, saying it brought people together regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds to improve their communities.

Ends.