‘You must advice your aunty!’ – Chaos erupts as AR MPs dragged from parliament

“You must advise your aunty!”

This was what a fuming Affirmative Repositioning (AR) leader Job Amupanda told members of parliament concerning National Assembly speaker Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila after she summoned bouncers to drag him and fellow party members out of the chamber.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila described the chaos as “unparliamentary” and “disruptive” as she continuously called the house to “order”.

Tempers flared as security detail dragged three AR members of parliament (MPs) by their shirts out the door when the house descended into chaos yesterday afternoon.

Amupanda later said the scuffle left him with a torn shirt.

The pandemonium started when AR member Tuhafeni Kalola rose to make a point and defied the orders of the speaker to sit down, as he was not given the floor to speak.

“Honourable Kalola, sit down,” Kuugongelwa-Amadhila issued the first warning to an unrelenting Kalola. When Kalola refused to back down, the speaker exercised her right to apply parliamentary standing rules, ordering him to leave the chamber immediately.

AR leader Amupanda and chief whip Vaino Hangula became entangled in the exchange by trying to shield Kalola from being removed by what they claim were “intelligence officials”.

This was not the first time members of parliament have been dragged out of the chamber.

In 2021, former Landless People’s Movement deputy leader Henny Seibeb was carried out of the National Assembly by late president Hage Geingob’s head of security, Johan Ndjaronguru, during the president’s state of the nation address.

Seibeb was threatening the safety of the president by “acting violently and throwing papers around”, then-presidential spokesperson Alfredo Hengari said at the time.

HIP INJURY

Following a 15-minute adjournment of the session, the house reassembled.

Body of Christ Party president Festus Thomas claimed his foot was injured after being trampled during the scuffle.

Amupanda returned to the chamber without his companion and proceeded to list the number of transgressions allegedly committed by the speaker.

“Firstly, I want to tell you that honourable Kalola has been rushed to the hospital now because of what you did – assault. Number two, those guys [security officers] are not members of parliament. We know exactly what they want, yet you call them inside the house to . . .”

Before Amupanda could complete his sentence, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila interrupted him.

‘ENJOYING CHAOS’

“You must advise your aunty,” Amupanda is heard telling a fellow member of parliament as he and Kuugongelwa-Amadhila continued their verbal exchange.

The speaker reminded Amupanda that contributions must comply with parliamentary rules, such as not pointing directly at the speaker.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the rules must be respected.

“Honourable members, you can speak for as long as you comply with the rules,” she said.

Amupanda further accused the speaker of enjoying the disruption and ignoring the seriousness of the matter.

“I know you are enjoying it, because of people being injured,” he said.

Amupanda said he had been given the chance to speak and should be allowed to finish without interference.

He claimed he was pinned to the floor, which led to his shirt being torn and him being injured in the process.

Amupanda accused the speaker of turning the National Assembly into a degenerative institution.

The house was then adjourned.

‘PUNCHED IN THE FACE’

Kalola later yesterday spoke to The Namibian, saying he would not open any case as the incident is a petty matter that requires discussion.

He claimed he was punched in the face after he was manhandled outside the chamber by security officers.

“During the scuffle, the only thing I was worried about was my operated right hip side not to be injured, hence I kept that side from being touched, but I did nothing wrong, because I stood on a point of privilege and there was no one on the floor,” he said.

Kalola condemned his forceful removal from the parliament, describing the incident as unlawful and heavy handed.

He said the incident began when he attempted to raise a point of privilege, which he maintains is allowed under parliamentary rules.

“I insisted that I should be given that privilege to ask for a point of privilege. It is common, and every member of parliament ought to be given that right,” he said.

According to Kalola, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila refused to hear him and instead ordered his removal.

“She refused to listen. I did not even point out the specific rule I was raising. She just made a ruling outside the law,” he claimed.

Kalola said he initially resisted leaving the chamber, arguing his rights as an MP were being undermined.

He alleged that the individuals who removed him were not parliamentary security staff but members of national intelligence.

“They came to remove us and beat us, breaking many things,” he said.

Kalola said the speaker has not explained why he was ordered to leave, and denies violating any parliamentary rule.

“I asked her to explain why I was supposed to leave the chamber, but she has not explained anything,” he said.

CONDEMNATION

Popular Democratic Movement president McHenry Venaani yesterday described the chaos as unacceptable and condemned the manner in which an MP was manhandled out of the chamber.

He contended that the speaker is in the wrong and cautioned that she is allowing the parliament to degenerate into “something that has never been seen in the country, and it is unnecessary”.

“Obviously the speaker has powers she can always invoke, but invoking those powers excessively is very unfortunate where a MP stood on a point of privilege exercising his power,” Venaani said.

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