By Kamuti Muyambela
Iwe as long as you are getting what I’m saying, was the response from Petauke-Central independent member of parliament Emmanuel Banda after he struggled to articulate himself in parliament this morning.
And Pambashe member of parliament Ronald Chitotela put Vice-President Mutale Nalumango on the spot after she suggested that the UPND administration will continue with the direct support of fertilizer to the farmers, against her own government’s policy position in the 2022 national budget that the FISP programme was unsustainable to the treasury.
In asking his question, Banda struggled heavily to articulate himself when asking his question, prompting some members of parliament to laugh at him.
Trying to interpret what he was trying to put across, Banda was saying that most children in his constituency struggled to access formal education as the schools were too far apart, leading some to utilise adult education, but wondered how the government could support the same adult education if teachers above the age of 45 will be left out in the enrollment of teachers.
However, Banda heavily struggled to put the same question across, leading to some of his colleagues to throw potshots at him.
“Iwe as long as you are getting (what I am saying),” was the response from Banda, as he struggled his way towards concluding his question.
This was not lost on Vice-President Nalumango also, who in responding to Banda said she took long to understand what the Petauke-Central lawmaker wanted to talk about, saying she was open to correction in case she did not respond to him correctly.
She said according to civil service regulations, one could not be employed on pensionable rate after the age of 45, saying there was nothing the government could do unless the law were to be changed.
The Vice-President further said the distribution of fertilizer to the farmers will continue, and that in doing positive discrimination, 50,000 tonnes of fertilizer would be procured through the Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ).
But rising on a point of order, Chitotela said what the Vice-President said about the distribution of six bags each to farmers was at variance with what is contained in the national budget, which sets the policy directive of the government on such matters.
But the Speaker reserved ruling on the matter to another day.
And opposition Whip Stephen Kampyongo, started his contribution by saying that “those who carry calendars when we have calendars in parliament must be followed”, in apparent reference to the incident involving Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister Stanley Kakubo, and in reaction to one ruling party member of parliament who wondered why those in the previous administration feel offended when they are called criminals.
Kampyongo asked Vice-President Nalumango what the status of the TAZAMA pipeline would be including the over 300 workers at Indeni “since your government has now started doing what people feared with regards to privatising parastatal companies.”
He said the government has decided to privatize Indeni Oil Refinery in Ndola.
But Vice-President Nalumango said Indeni had not been operational for a long time under the PF administration and the UPND has therefore put it under care and maintenance and they will tell the house on the next course of action when that time came.
