Speaker of the National Assembly, Amusaa Mwanamwambwa, has threatened a one-day closure of the parliamentary
Chambers if the Members of Parliament (MPs) continue coming in late for deliberations.
Mr Mwanamwamba said it is unfair for the parliamentarians not to observe time but instead opt to come late to the chamber at the expense of national development and tax-payers’ money.
He noted that in the last sitting, five and half hours were lost, hours that were supposed to be utilized for deliberations.
The Speaker sounded the warning in the Parliament Chambers today when the law-makers entered late by three minutes after a 15-minutes break.
Parliament breaks off from 14:30hrs to 16:15 from Tuesday to Thursday, and on Fridays it resumes sittings in the mornings from 09:00hours to 13:00 hours.
The Speaker observed that it is unacceptable for the MPs to be coming late in the Chambers instead of being punctual for deliberations.
Mr Mwanamwamba reminded the House that in its previous sitting, the MPs were late by two minutes which translated in five hours and 30 minutes.
“It’s very unfair for MPs to continue with the same habit of late coming at the expense of tax-payers’ money. Last time I counted and two minutes by 158 MPs was lost and in total it translates into five hours and half. And today you have even added by another minute to make it three minutes. One day I will shut down this Chamber if you continue behaving like this,” the Speaker told parliamentarians.
The Speaker told the MPs that this was the last warning he would give them and his next action would be to simply shut the chambers down.
ZANIS