Northern Province minister Lazarous Chungu has said politicians should make donations in areas that are in need and not use the gesture to gain political mileage.

Meanwhile, Zambezi East UPND member of parliament Brian Kambita says government should stop looking at checks and balances as insults but learn to take advice.

Debate President Edgar Lungu’s State of the Nation Address in Parliament, Tuesday, Chungu, who is also Lupososhi member of parliament, said donations need to go through the necessary institutions before they are made.

“Mr speaker, there are governance structures that are laid down. Even when you see that there is a certain portion of the country that is hit with hunger, you need to follow through the procedures, the institutions that are established. The DMMU and many other government institutions are supposed to be followed. You don’t just allow anybody to wake up and go and donate something in Bauleni simply because they want to gain…and the motives also must be looked at. If you have ill motive and you go into Bauleni to go and donate just to show that you are more caring than those that are governing, it’s not right. Let’s donate these things where they are supposed to be donated,. The honourable member, Mr Speaker, for Monze was lamenting that in Monze, they were eating roots. Those are the areas where you direct the donation,” Chungu said. “But if you go to an area where people are able to afford and that’s where you donate, people will misunderstand you. And that’s what happens, they will misunderstand you that you are not after donating but you are after making your name and you want to make yourself look like you are more caring, no!”

He further said the move by the UPND to reject the Constitution Amendment Bill Number 10 would deprive women and youths of the much-needed proportional representation.

“The proposals that have been made in the Constitution Amendment Bill No. 10 calls for a lot of reflection on the part of all of us…are the women of this country…the UPND do not want them to be in this house? The bill brings out a lot of issues that would be able to favour the youths in this country and some of them are the fact that there is a proposal of the mixed number proportional representation. Within that framework, Mr Speaker, we hope and trust that the women of this country will find their way into the governance of this country. And the speech of the President spoke about governance and governance is not by chance, it can only come by providing for it in the primary law of the land and that is the constitution and all that others are saying is that they will not support the constitution. And the proposal that has been made is that we want to bring in the mixed member proportional representation so that the interest groups, including the disabled, can find their way in the governance of this country,” said Chungu.

And Kambita the role of the opposition is to offer checks and balances to the government and the party in ppower.

“Mr Speaker, blaming climate change for the numerous failures of the government will not change things because it’s not like we don’t have brains for us to analyze situations on our own and to take stock of activities that have led to where we are now and I will recount that in order to demonstrate the failures of this PF government which the people of Zambia in 2021 will say…they are going…Mr Speaker, our role as opposition is to offer checks and balances and that is very well known. We offer checks and balances to this executive in order for them to do correct things but unfortunately, Mr Speaker, most of our advice has fallen on seemingly deaf ears because instead of the executive listening to our advice, they have actually cuddled our advice to insults. For now, that speech is hollow and there is nothing there for us as the people of Zambezi East and many other rural constituencies who are like my constituency. In our attempt to offer checks and balances, we will always flag matters involving corruption,” said Kambita. “Many times, we have mentioned even on the floor of this house, even media briefings, the corrupt activities that are ongoing in this PF. However, our challenge, our offering checks and balances has now become a tradition where PF call us as people insulting them. It is not an act of God that we should be tightening our belts now, it’s our own making. We have failed this economy because of putting in a wrong government, the PF. The President’s speech does not inspire anyone, including those from Zambezi East.”