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Speaker orders MP to apologize over competence remarks
2006-11-07 10:12:11
By Pascal Shao, Dodoma
Speaker of Parliament Samuel Sitta yesterday issued a five-day ultimatum to CHADEMA Kigoma North MP, Zito Kabwe to apologize for putting in disrepute the institution of parliament.
Sitta wants the apology to be carried in the media.
The Speaker’s demand for an apology from Kabwe follows the legislator’s remarks last Thursday, in which he was quoted by the media as saying the Speaker was ignorant of Parliamentary Standing Orders.
During the elections of East African Legislative Assembly representatives, some CHADEMA MPs walked out of the House claiming the election procedure had been flawed.
The Speaker’s ultimatum was contained in a report read to the House, yesterday, by Kongwa Member of Parliament, Job Yustino Ndugai.
Through the report, Sitta was categorical that questioning the Speaker’s competence was an act of indiscipline and that Kabwe, should not have done so.
He said if a member was not pleased by the way the Speaker handles House matters, there is a clearly laid down procedure to channel such grievances and not outside the House.
”Claiming that the Speaker does not understand the procedures is tantamount to disregarding the Parliament and it is a shameful act for an MP to do so,” he said.
Subsequently, he said, Zitto Kabwe should apologise through the media before November 11, this year. Failure to do so, the Speaker warned, would attract disciplinary measures.
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