VACATE YOUR SEATS OR ELSE…
…Defector MPs will refund govt if they stay – Zimba
By Ludia Ngwadzai
MEMBERS of Parliament (MPs) who defect to the ruling party must leave their seats because a future government will prosecute them and recover all the money they are enjoying from the national treasury, a constitutional lawyer has warned.
A number of opposition MPs have defected to the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) and have continued attending Parliament business instead of vacating their seats in defiance of the Constitution.
Constitutional lawyer Jonas Zimba has warned that the failure by the defectors to vacate their seats and stop attending the business of the House set a dangerous precedent where those in power could break the law with impunity.
“We may have a situation like that. People have to make a conscious decision. They have crossed the floor. The Chishimba Kambwili case is instructive. They have moved to another political party. Therefore they must vacate the seats or their seats must be vacated,” Zimba said.
Commenting on the opposition MPs who have publicly crossed to the ruling UPND but remain in Parliament drawing taxpayers’ money, he said the situation mirrored the case of Ngosa Simbyakula and other ministers who stayed in office illegally and were later ordered to pay back the money they had received from government.
Speaking to The Mast in an exclusive interview, Zimba criticised what he called “selective enforcement” by presiding officers (Speaker and deputy speakers of the National Assembly) who he said acted with speed when matters involved the opposition.
“What shocks me is the speed at which presiding officers will act when it’s some opposition in the corner. But when it is the ruling party they do nothing and pay a blind eye to it,” he said.
“You have to balance the scale, and in balancing the scale it is important that people must look at things from an objective angle.”
Zimba said the issue was about national precedent, not individuals.
“This is not about any person but it is about a nation. What kind of precedent are we setting, that people can commit atrocities as long as they have [State] power and no one will do anything about it?” he said.
“That people can do whatever they want, abrogate the law, abrogate procedure simply because they are in power and no one will do anything about it? Well, one day the chickens will come to roost,” Zimba warned.
“What we are seeing now is going to one day turn out to have been a wrong thing to do and people would have been powerless. But when you have power, do the right thing.”
Zimba joins other legal experts, opposition political party leaders and civil society organisations (CSOs) who have warned the defectors of grave consequences, including refunding government, if they continue sitting in the House illegally and receiving salaries and allowances.
Nkana independent MP Binwell Mpundu raised a point of order questioning the legality of Patriotic Front (PF) MPs who have publicly aligned themselves with the UPND but continue to hold their parliamentary seats.
Mpundu argued that the PF “renegade MPs” who have openly campaigned for the ruling party should have their seats declared vacant for constitutionally “crossing the floor”.
He specifically cited cases involving the Petauke by-election where opposition MPs campaigned for the UPND candidate.
Mpundu demanded accountability from Mpundull the MPs who have switched allegiance while keeping their seats and drawing taxpayers’ money.
He accused the UPND government of enabling the conduct, saying the MPs in were violated the Constitution with “impunity”.
