Refrain from drawing discussion taking place outside the house- Matibini

Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Matibini has urged Members of Parliament (MPs) to refrain from drawing the house into discussions taking place outside the house.

Dr Matibini warned MPs that he will not entertain any point of order which brings discussions from outside the house.

He said such matters should be concluded outside the house because presiding officers are not privy to such discussion.

The speaker said this when he made a ruling on the point of order raised by Minister of Youth and Sport Chishimba Kambwili.

Mr Kambwili was reacting to Cornelius Mweetwa’s Point of Order in which he was accused of saying that government would not do anything on the non-awarding of bursary to students at the University of Zambia (UNZA) during a call-in live programme on UNZA Radio.

Dr Matibini said the points of order raised by Mr Mweetwa and Mr Kambwili should not have been raised in the house at all as they relate to issues that arose outside the house and had no relation to the business of the house.

In his point of Order, Mr Kambwili denied uttering the statement suggesting that Mr Mweetwa was misleading the house and sought the speaker’s ruling on whether Mr Mweetwa was in order to mislead the house.

In his ruling today the Speaker told the house that his officer obtained the audio recording of the discussion programme on UNZA radio and listened to the recording.

Dr Matibini said the recording shows that Mr Mweetwa was not accurate to state that the sports Minister stated that government would do nothing on the current fiasco on bursaries at the University of Zambia.

The speaker disclosed that Mr Kambwili in his contribution to the discussion only suggested possible government’s solutions to the bursary problems which were sustainable contrary to Mr Mweetwa’s allegations.

“Honourable Members, it is clear that in his contribution to the discussion, honourable Kambwili, MP, suggested possible government solutions to the bursary problem which were sustainable. Therefore, Mr Mweetwa’s statement that honourable Kambwili said the government would do nothing on the current fiasco on bursary at the University of Zambia was not accurate,” Dr Matibini explained.

The Minister of Youth and Sport recently featured on UNZA radio where he suggested an introduction of a revolving fund noting that bursaries would not work because it is unsustainable.