Speaker Mutti, deputies don’t understand roles for whips, says Mundubile
THE confusion that has continued to characterise the National Assembly is as a result of Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti and his second Deputy Speaker Moses Moyo as presiding officers do not understand the important role the Chief Whips play in the House, Brian Mundubile has said.
And some UPND legislators have confirmed that there is a big revolt against the appointment of a first-term lawmaker, Gregory Ngowani, the Mpongwe Member of Parliament as deputy government Chief Whip.
The ruling party Members of Parliament who sought anonymity, fearing unknown reprisals from the UPND leadership have charged that while Starfford Mulusa, the government Chief Whip had been in Parliament for some time, he had never been the best performing MP in the House as he had failed to work in coordination with both the opposition and government Chief Whips.
The ruling party law makers have complained that the appointment of Mr Ngowani, who was in Parliament for the first time had completely divided the UPND MPs with the senior and experienced legislators strongly objecting the appointment.
They said the UPND had more versatile, experienced and seasoned MPs who could have been considered for the position of deputy government Chief Whip who could have done a perfect job in assisting Mr Mulusa in the management of the business of the House.
The UPND MPs said Mr Ngowani was not only unknown but was also new who did not understand the decorum of Parliament and that they were wondering whether it was the desire of the government party to have an idle House which lacked vibrancy.
“Let us not pretend that as UPND MPs, we have accepted the appointment of Mr Ngowani as our deputy Chief Whip. Look, we have a lot of senior and experienced MPs in the House but they have all been ignored and bypassed for the position. We do not know what criteria was used to appoint someone who is in Parliament for the first time. We think we must admit that there is a problem…yes there is a big revolt and we are underplaying it at our own peril and that of the National Assembly. Yes, Mr Mulusa has been in Parliament before but he needed to be deputised with a senior, experienced and outgoing MP who understood the decorum of the House,” the MPs said.
And Mr Mundubile, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament said the presiding officers in Parliament did not understand or seemed to know the roles of the Chief Whips, hence the continued confusion in the House.