Garry Nkombo says Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Patrick Matibini failed to perform his duties by allowing PF members of parliament to sing “political campaign songs” on the floor of the house.

And Nkombo says he was shocked to see his Chilanga counterpart in the House because he had been part of a meeting which resolved to shun the address.

Speaking when he featured on Muvi TV’s “Breakfast with the Boys” live programme, Nkombo who is Mazabuka member of parliament and UPND Whip, said it shocked him to see Speaker Matibini watch PF MPs singing in the house and do nothing.

“The Constitution of Zambia allows citizens to comment on the proceedings in Parliament. I am now speaking as a Zambian citizen and not as a member of parliament. If you recall, I have stood before the Speaker before and said in his face that he is failing in his duties by allowing such conduct in the house,” Nkombo said.

“The Speaker made a ruling that singing is not allowed in the House, but the PF MPs were there singing ‘Lungu nga talipo, abashala nibangwele…’ and the Speaker was there watching and he could not stop it. You can play the tape from Parliament and see that the President even raised the PF symbol in the House, that is unacceptable.”

He said PF members of parliament used unparliamentary language while praise singing for the Head of State.

“They were singing ‘Lungu nga talipo, abashala nibangwele…’ now do you know what ‘ngwele’ means in English? It means a jerk. I have taken time to look at the definition of that word in the dictionary. A jerk is a dull or stupid person, a person with obnoxious qualities. So when you say when Lungu is not in the House then everyone else is a jerk, what are you saying about the decorum and Institution of National Assembly? I am happy that we were not in the House when they were calling themselves that,” Nkombo said.

He added that his party was forced to apologise by the Speaker when they first walked out on President Lungu when he last addressed Parliament.

“We did not write that apology which the Speaker forced me to read in the House. That’s why we have taken the matter to court. And I told the Speaker that ‘my spirit is willing but my body is not. I was making that apology painstakingly because that was not our apology. It was written by the legal team of Parliament,” said Nkombo, while observing that it was the right procedure for erring MPs to read a prepared apology.

Nkombo further said the UPND would worship President Lungu if the court ruled that he genuinely got re-elected.

“If the courts can look at the evidence in the petition and still declare that he won the elections genuinely, then we will ‘kunkula’, we will roll over on the ground in respect for him like the Bemba’s do,” said Nkombo.

And Nkombo confessed that he was shocked to see Mukata in the House.

“In fairness to Keith Mukata, I would have loved if he was here to defend himself but I must confess that I was shocked when I saw that he was in the House because he was part of the meeting where we resolved that we would stay away from the assembly. I don’t know what happened because I haven’t spoken to him yesterday. As UPND we sat and came up with an 11th commandment that we shall stay away from all PF events,” said Nkombo.

“Allow us in the UPND to sit down and decide on what decision to make regarding him. I am only the Whip for UPND in the House but the party has structures and they will sit down and see if there is need for them to appear before the disciplinary committee. They will decide.”