Nkana Independent Member of Parliament Binwell Mpundu on November 3rd 2023 notified the office of the Clerk of the National Assembly of a motion to impeach the speaker of the National Assembly, Nelly Mutti, citing several parliamentary standing order breaches.
The motion which was seconded by Lunte Member of Parliament Mutotwe Kafwaya was backed and signed by 39 lawmakers mainly from the Patriotic Front (PF) and a few independent members.
Before this move by Mr Mpundu, there had been public concerns from different stakeholders over the conduct of the Speakers of the National Assembly while conducting parliamentary business.
Most people had cited that the speaker of the National Assembly had been partial in her conduct of parliamentary proceedings, siding with the ruling UPND Members of Parliament and making parliamentary business difficult for opposition and independent members of parliament.
Looking at this background, governance expert Isaac Mwanza has called for a new system of ascending into office as the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Mr Mwanza suggested that the Speaker of the National Assembly, just like Members of Parliament and the President, should be voted into office by the people.
He said electing the Speaker into office will help the country to have in office a professional person running parliamentary business.
“So what we really need is to also have people campaigning to be voted into office for that position, they can be included on the ballot paper just the way the MPs and the President are put on the ballot,” said Mr Mwanza
Mr Mwanza said it would be a good thing to put in place mechanisms that will ensure that despite the elected person’s political affiliation, they must be independent.
Lusaka Prominent Lawyer Lenny Banda has seconded the proposition by governance expert Isaac Mwanza.
Ms Banda said it would not cost much for the speaker of the National Assembly because the names of the candidates will be added to the same ballot paper as the Presidential candidates, MPs, Councillors and Mayors.
“It would not be a bad idea for citizens to vote for the speaker of the National Assembly, all that has to be done is to ensure that the names of the people who want to get into office as Speake of the National Assembly are also added on the Ballot paper,” said Ms Banda
Meanwhile, Green Party President Peter Sinkamba says it is important for every Speaker of the National Assembly, just like the President, to leave a good legacy after he or she leaves office.
Mr Sinkamba said it would be a good idea to have a system where the speaker of the National Assembly is elected into power.
He however said doing so would first of all require to have amendments made to the country’s constitution because the laws that the country has so far do not allow for that.
“Just the way the constitution was amended to allow for mayors to be elected into office, because before then mayors were appointed, changes can also be made to allow for the people who get into office as Speakers of the National Assembly to do so via the electorate,” said Mr Sinkamba
Mr Sinkamba said it is not proper that a person who was just appointed by one person can remove an MP who was elected into office by many Zambians out of the floor of the House. It would be proper for the person who holds office as the speaker of the National Assembly to be put into office by the majority of Zambians so that they represent the interests of the people who elected them into power.
