National Assembly Motel: a den of prostitution

National Assembly Motel: a den of prostitution
By Editor
Saturday March 22, 2008 [12:00]

Leaders lead. They show the way, they lead the way. Those who take up leadership positions, especially in politics, are assuming a very important leadership role. They are supposed to, individually and collectively, set the standards and live by them. Of course, it is said ‘do as I say and not as I do’.

This is not the type of leadership any serious community should expect and accept. Of course, this takes into account the fact that there are failings in human beings. But those who fail, in a serious community, are excluded from the leadership.

And during Easter, we should reflect deeply on what type of leadership we want in our families, in our communities, in our church congregations and indeed in the nation. Doing is the best way of saying. And living is the best way of believing. Our way of life is a result of what we believe.

Followers are supposed to live and act like their leaders. For those who have chosen to be followers of Christ, they should live and act like Him.

When we were young and in junior primary school, we used to have a play called “Follow the Leader”. In this play, we used to queue in a single file and were instructed to do everything that the one who was at the head of the queue, the one who led the queue did. And we would be singing or shouting: “… follow, follow, follow, follow… follow the leader! … I jump, you jump; I run, you run…” and so on and so forth.

This was a simple exercise or play but it had a lot of meaning in it for those who lead and for those who follow others. If you are a follower of Christ, you have to try to live and act as Christ did. It also means that if you are in a position of leadership, you should expect your example to be followed by those you lead. So, a leader has got a duty to perform his responsibility with sufficient honour and integrity.

This too applies to our political leaders – our members of parliament. It is not a lie that the National Assembly Motel has been turned into a brothel. It has actually been a brothel for a very long time. And it is surprising that it’s only now that a member of parliament – Munji Habeenzu – is talking about it.

Who in Lusaka doesn’t know that the National Assembly Motel is a slaughterhouse for women, to borrow from Jonas Shakafuswa’s vocabulary. And we were surprised that Mukondo Lungu, as chairman of the debate, interrupted Habeenzu’s contribution. It is no wonder AIDS has claimed so many of our members of parliament over the years.

We value the lives of our members of parliament and whatever can be done to save them should be done. Moreover, the by-elections that result from these deaths are very costly and everything possible should be done to save the lives of our politicians and avoid these by-elections.

But there is another element to this whole issue that also deserves serious consideration. The National Assembly Motel was built with taxpayers’ money to reduce the costs of running Parliament. Before this motel was built, our members of parliament used to stay in hotels and this was very costly to the treasury.

Our members of parliament’s stay at the National Assembly Motel is free of charge or highly subsidised by the taxpayer. It is immoral to ask the taxpayer to pay for our members of parliament’s prostitution activities. It is not fair to ask our taxpayer to subsidise any member of parliament’s illicit sex.

We shouldn’t forget that this amounts to corruption because corruption is not only the direct stealing of public funds but also the abuse of public facilities. What is happening at the National Assembly Motel is a gross abuse of public facilities by our members of parliament .

What example are our members of parliament, our political leaders setting for the nation? Is this the way to behave in a country that is seriously facing an HIV/AIDS pandemic? Is this the behaviour that is expected of politicians who unilaterally declared this country a Christian nation? What Christian values are being projected by this type of conduct?

What type of a Christian nation are these lawmakers of ours trying to build in this country?

These are supposed to be honourable men and this is why they are called “Honourable so and so”. But is this behaviour honourable? They have turned a noble place built with taxes from a humble population into a Sodom or Gomorrah! In the biblical days, that place would be burnt.

We can’t burn it today but we surely can do something to ensure that it is used for the noble purposes it was built. And prostitution by members of parliament is nowhere near the list of reasons for which that motel was built.

The immorality of our political leaders is truly embarrassing. And as if this is not enough, the childishness and arrogance of some of them is truly frightening. We expect our leaders to behave in a certain way if we are expected to follow them. It is impossible for us to follow our leaders given the way they conduct themselves, unless we want to destroy ourselves and die of AIDS.

We therefore call on the Speaker to do something about this National Assembly Motel that has been turned into a Sodom or Gomorrah and where so many of our members of parliament have met their death after contracting HIV.

There has to be some rules in the use of this motel. And those who don’t want to abide by the rules should find alternative accommodation where they can have their prostitution activities in unlimited ways. Public institutions have to always be governed by certain rules and standards.

Shakafuswa has said a lot of things in defence of the current order at the National Assembly Motel but we will not single him out for a personalised harangue because this issue is far bigger than him.

It has been there long before Shakafuswa even thought of entering politics. All that we can say is that his behaviour is childish, foolish and irresponsible of such an important political leader of our country.

We also urge Habeenzu to carry on to higher heights this very important issue he has started. We commend him for breaking what appeared to be a taboo. And we urge all other members of parliament to join and push this issue further and ensure that the Speaker acts on it.