By Chinoyi Chipulu
Opposition members of Parliament yesterday walked out of the house after First deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Malungo Chisangano refused to extend time for debate on the corruption allegations against Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA).
Members of Parliament were asking Vice-President Mutale Nalumango questions, after she made a ministerial statement on the alleged corruption at Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Chisangano said the house had to make progress as they spent so much time on asking questions on the matter.
“Honourable members, we have to make progress, the 30 minutes is over and we have got a lot of work to do,” she said.
This did not sit well with the opposition party members who wanted to ask questions more on the matter.
Speaking outside Parliament, former leader of the opposition Brain Mundubile wondered why the speaker refused to allow more time as the house was discussing an important matter.
“Ifwe efyo twafulwa fyakutila pakulanda pafyachabe chabe ba Speaker balabikako inshita, (the Speaker adds more time when we are discussing irrelevant matters) lelo ilyashi lyachalo, we expected the Speaker to add an extra hour because all of us had questions. There are so many things happening in the country that we needed to talk about. The ACC board has been dissolved, the 61 containers which were diverted ,” he said.
The Vice-President was delivering a ministerial statement after Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti directed her to issue one, on Tuesday, on the alleged corruption at the ACC following an urgent matter without notice that was raised by Lumezi member of parliament Munir Zulu.
And in her statement, Nalumango assured the nation that any corruption at ACC, would be dealt with within the confines of the law.
She said the government was committed to upholding the tenets of good governance in all state institutions.
“Government regrets the current developments at the ACC. The new dawn administration is fully committed to the fight against corruption. I have no doubt in my mind that the current perceived challenges the institution may be facing will be resolved by following good corporate governance practices, the Constitution and other laws of Zambia,” said Nalumango.
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