We Are One Zambia 4th Republic alliance (WOZA) chairperson Sakwiba Sikota says Second Deputy Speaker and Luangeni independent member of parliament ( MP) Moses Moyo is obtaining money by false pretenses because he is no longer an MP after he defected to the ruling UPND.
In an interview yesterday, Sikota, who is a State Counsel said it was also “ridiculous” for Mafinga MP Robert Chabinga to continue getting privileges of the leader of the opposition in parliament when he had forfeited those privileges upon his announcement of defection to the UPND.
”He is obtaining money by false pretenses in my view. That is my opinion, that is obtaining money by false pretenses. You have crossed the floor. You say you got this position in parliament that you are an MP. Chabinga, he says that he is the leader of the opposition, as you know the leader of the opposition gets pecks as well, gets certain salaries, gets a vehicle and so fourth. And yet he has clearly gone over to UPND,” Sikota said. “But he is still getting the pecks of the leader of the opposition. How can a leader of the opposition be a UPND candidate? It is ridiculous, it is totally ridiculous. And l am surprised it is taking the Speaker so long to make a ruling on something which is so straight forward. It is a bad look on her, that she is falling to make a ruling on something as straight forward, as important as this.”
Sikota said Moyo had no integrity whatsoever to hold the office of deputy speaker. He reminded him of what happened to ministers under PF who stayed in their positions after parliament was dissolved. He said the ministers were made to pay back all the money they had obtained during that period.
“Because he doesn’t have the integrity for that office. Immediately he decided that he was no longer going to be an independent, if he was a moral person, if he had an ounce of integrity in him, he would have stepped aside and said, ‘l am no longer deputy speaker, and no longer member of parliament’,” Sikota said. “But he is sticking in there, getting funds from the government and having a car driven, driven in a car. I think what he should look at is what happened to ministers, some two sessions of parliament ago, who stayed on and they were receiving salaries. They were made to pay back. So he should keep in mind that he will probably have to pay back all the things that he is now getting.”
However, Sikota commended Chanda Katotobwe for resigning as PF MP for Luapula constituency after he accepted to stand as Patriots for Economic Progress (PEP) presidential candidate for the August 13, general elections.
“It is not a suggestion, that is the law. It is clearly the law. And if any of them had any semblance of decency, they wouldn’t even be waiting for the speaker to make a ruling. They would immediately just move out from the seat. I must commend honorable Katotobwe. In his letter to the speaker, actually pointed out that he took an oath to defend the constitution,” Sikota said. “And it would not be right for him to stay on in parliament, when clearly he has crossed the floor. That is what we expect of those people who are in parliament. I think that is … those who in fact presiding officers have even bigger duty to do so. What the certain deputy speaker has done shows it was even wrong to have been made deputy speaker.”
Meanwhile, Sikota described the introduction of different bills in parliament during the last sessions, as a “mockery” of democracy.
He said the UPND wanted to push through bills without enough scrutiny and consideration.
“It is a total mockery of democracy. It is a sure sign that we do not have any democratic credentials in Zambia. You cannot rush through bills through parliament at the rate which they are doing. They are saying that they are extremely incompetent for them to have scheduled such a backlog to be coming in. But, also it is probably more an indicator that they are trying to push through these bills without them having adequate scrutiny and consideration,” said Sikota. “That is not what happens in a democracy. They have failed the democracy rating. And l think that that is one of the reasons why the rights conference which was supposed to be going on here in Zambia, has been abandoned. It is because all these people coming in would have seen such a perverted democracy, where you are just basically passing through a number of bills and the number of days, it is ridiculous. That is simply ridiculous. To be running though at that rate.”
