Serve country not your parties, Kadaga urges Zambian MPs

The Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, has tipped Zambian legislators to choose national interest over their political parties while discharging their parliamentary mandate.
Ms Kadaga is in Lusaka at the invitation of her counterpart, Mr Patrick Matibini, to induct MPs on formulating their rules of procedure known as standing orders.
She said the choice is always clear as the people’s interests reign supreme.
“You should ask yourself; what is in the public interest? Between what your party is asking you to do and what the public interest is and take a choice,” she said.
Making reference to the famous case of the ‘rebel MPs’ in Uganda parliament who were expelled from the ruling National Resistance Movement party for criticising government, Ms Kadaga said the law had to prevail above party interests, a practice she urged the Southern African nation to emulate.

Uganda way
“…in our Constitution, the reasons for withdrawing a member are clearly stipulated; these members were being recalled because they went to the radios to complain about the inadequacy of the health budget,” she said.
“When they wrote to me, I refused to expel them, so they took me to court and I defeated them because the Constitution is clear,” she added.
The Speaker of the Zimbabwe National Assembly, Mr Jacob Mudenda, agreed that MPs must advance the agenda of the electorate.
“…the discussions are that now, the issue of protecting the MPs to speak from their passions must be embedded in the privileges and immunities…so that when a member disagrees with their political party, they don’t suffer from recall by their political party; they are free to speak from the conviction of their conscience,” he said.
Ms Kadaga said Parliaments ought to be strong so that the system of governance is balanced and strengthened.