Listen to people’s voices on Bill 10, Chief Kaputa prods MPs

ALL Members of Parliament should stand firm and perform their civic duties diligently by allowing Bill 10 to be tabled for the second reading during the forthcoming parliamentary session, says Chief Kaputa, chairperson of the House of Chiefs

Chief Kaputa has also appealed to MPs to debate the Bill so that they can bring out the merits and demerits of the contents as read together with the select committee report which has recommendations from the people. The traditional leader said this at a press briefing held at the House of Chiefs in Lusaka yesterday. Chief Kaputa indicated that it is regrettable that the country has witnessed lack of debate on Bill 10 when the matter was tabled on the floor of parliament. “We are also aware that some Members of Parliament have deliberately not explained well the contents of Bill 10 to the citizenry in their constituencies thereby, leaving room for misinformation and speculation. We are aware that there has been a lot of effort to decampaign Bill 10, further misleading some unsuspecting citizens,” he said. Chief Kaputa noted that the amended constitution of 2016 has some lacunas that have negatively affected the country’s social development and governance system. He observed that there are a lot of problems affecting the office of chieftaincy, hindering chiefdom governance and puts it at risk of going into extinction. “In this regard we were optimistic and had hoped that when the government introduced the constitution amendment bill number 10 of 2019 that was seeking among other things to remove the lacuna in the amended constitution of 2016, it would be supported overwhelmingly,” the chief said. “It is incumbent upon the elected Members of Parliament to convincingly debate matters on the floor of the House. We believe that it is the most civilised way of dealing with governance matters and giving an opportunity to the citizenry to be enlightened about the intended benefits of the contents of Bill 10 to the governance of this country,” Chief Kaputa said. He also urged MPs to take interest in the general citizenry first as opposed to party or individual interests. Chief Kaputa said Zambia’s history has clear evidence that the Royal highnesses and other stakeholders have stood with the people on matters of national interest and therefore have a duty to voice out on such important matters.