Choma Central MP risks losing seat

DEFIANT UPND Choma Central Member of Parliament Conelius Mweetwa risk losing his seat for gross misconduct, Kabwe Central MP, Tutwa Ngulube has said.

Mr Ngulube said the unrepentant Choma Central lawmaker deserved a stiffer punishment to deter would be offenders failure to which the house shall lose its credibility and decorum.

Mr Ngulube was reacting to Mr Mweetwa’s refusal to apologize to the vice President Inonge Wina for uttering disparaging remarks against her, as well as storming out of Parliament when the Speaker ordered him to render an apology.

Mr Ngulube who is a lawyer by profession explained that according to Article 70 ((2) (h) of the constitution, an MP may be ejected from Parliament on grounds of gross misconduct.

“Mr Mweetwa deserves a stiffest punishment ever because if we don’t control the UPND misconduct in Parliament, that will be the end. We will be like South Africa where when the Speaker is talking anyone can tell him anything.

“In fact, in the constitution, one of the grounds upon which an MP can vacate his seat is gross misconduct. An MP who behaves in a manner that is so gross in misconduct can be expelled in Parliament and lose his seat,” Mr Ngulube said.

Mr Ngulube said Mr Mweetwa deserved a stiffer punishment because he was an unrepentant wrong doer who has continued disrespecting the decorum of the house with impunity despite being warned before.

“He is not a first offender, he has been warned before, so he needs a much stiffer punishment to deter would be offenders because Mweetwa has demonstrated that he does not respect the Speaker. And the rules of the House which belong to all Zambians demands that all MPs respect the Speaker.

“And remember, this is not the first time that Mweetwa is doing that. He has been doing that several times, he would go to the media to insult the house, insult the vice President, and insult the Speaker himself.

“There was an exchange of words with the Speaker, followed by his refusal to apologize, followed by him walking away, that is the greatest disrespect we can ever have in the highest law making organ of the land and in other jurisdiction, a person can even lose his seat as an MP, expelled from Parliament and a by- election declared. Because that kind of misconduct is gross,” he said.

Mr Ngulube further charged that it was unfortunate that Mr Mweetwa who had been rejected in his constituency was trying to prove his relevance and secure an adoption in 2021 using the wrong method.

“I don’t know if he is trying to prove his relevance or trying to fight for a party adoption where the people in Choma don’t want him,” he said.