By 
Patriotic Front (PF) Matero Member of Parliament, Miles Sampa, has accused President Hakainde Hichilema’s regime of planning to create a “banana republic” using Parliament.
Sampa said that Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Moyo, ignored pardon letters from him as the party president and Secretary-General, taking matters into his own hands regarding the case of the nine Members of Parliament.
Reacting to the declaration of the nine seats vacant by Moyo in Lusaka on Wednesday, Sampa stated on his Facebook post on Thursday that all nine Members of Parliament had been pardoned or had their issues resolved amicably within the PF.
He said that the Office of the Speaker was advised in writing about the status of the nine MPs on Wednesday morning before the ruling was made.
“Even if it’s insisting on becoming a banana republic, this is extreme and total dislike for the country and its ordinary people,” Sampa wrote.
He added that the letters were signed by the incumbent Secretary-General and president of the party, who had recently dismissed Secretary-General Morgan Ng’ona, whom he had appointed a few months back.
Sampa stated that according to the PF Constitution, only the president can appoint or remove the Secretary-General.
“The SG position is not electable. An SG acts as an assistant to the party president and therefore acts on his behalf as the appointing authority,” he insisted.
Sampa stated that the president, now also acting as Secretary-General, wrote valid letters to Parliament, and it was not for Parliament to ignore and get involved in party matters.
He cited a Constitutional Court ruling from the previous week, which stated that the Speaker cannot question correspondence from a party, whether it comes from the president or the SG, especially when one person holds both positions.
“The treasury is very, very broke and the Ministry of Finance does not have the money for these by-elections and other needs given the drought and other factors,” Sampa noted.
The lawmaker urged Moyo to follow his conscience and do the right thing, stating it was not too late to avoid these by-elections for the sake of good governance.
Additionally, Sampa said that the Registrar of Societies was alerted that the PF president had also assumed the role of SG and that Ng’ona was no longer in the position.
He stated that the Registrar of Societies ignored the correspondence, as per their printout of office bearers on Wednesday, July 3, 2024.
Speculating on what may have transpired, Samoa said, “Unless they were holding on to the change, linking it to the ruling that was due in Parliament eight hours later at 16:00.”
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