SHISHA TRIUMPHS OVER PARLEY AXING AS MOTION MOVER TAKES A BOW

By Onishias Maamba

PARLIAMENT on Wednesday, rejected a private members motion bill for government to ban the smoking of Shisha in the country.

Shisha smoking also called hookah, narghile, waterpipe, or hubble bubble smoking is a way of smoking tobacco, sometimes mixed with fruits or molasses sugar, through a bowl and hose tube.

In moving the motion, Kasenengwa Member of Parliament, Sensio Banda urged government to ban the smoking of Shisha in the country due to the numerous dangers it poses on human life such as cancer among others.

Mr. Banda also expressed worry that most teenagers were abusing the substance due to peer pressure.

In seconding the motion, UPND Itezhi-Tezhi MP, Hebert Shabula said it had to be banned in Zambia because its effects were grave on society.

“Shisha affects the lungs, the heart and everything that a human being uses to breath. And when we become sick as Zambians, the following will happen, we shall not report for work because we are sick, production will go down because we are sick. The income of the nation will go down, many companies will close down and many people will be thrown in the streets, then what happens, there will be more malnutrition, more deaths, crime will go up, reason, we have allowed shisha to be smoked in all these places. Madam Speaker, I am urging this government to take an action now not tomorrow, to ban Shisha smoking in the country including ‘Insuko,’ madam I submit,” he said.

And Keembe MP, Princesses Kasune who also contributed to the debate felt the need to ban Shisha smoking which had become a common trend in the nation.

“It is worrying that Zambia sits among the countries where tobacco increase is on the rise and this is because such products as shisha which are a disguise of smoking are also on the increase. Madam speaker, if shisha continues on the increase in this country, in terms of usage, the damage to the country and in particular the contribution to non-communicable diseases (NCD’s) is very great. We do know already that as a country our cases of NDC’s has increased and we have seen a lot of premature deaths and I would argue that products such as shisha are a factor to the increase of NCD’s. Madam Speaker, I also want to add that because of allowing of such products as shisha, we are also allowing our young people to be introduced to smoking at a very early age,” she said.

Shisha can

But in a sharp counter contribution, Mitete MP, Misheck Mutelo argued that government didn’t need to ban shisha because the mover of the motion failed to present facts that would warrant such a move by the government.

Mr. Mutelo further contended that it was going to be unreasonable to ban shisha based on the believe that it was a contributing factor to NCD’s, while junk foods which had the same properties are left to trade on the market.

“I have really heard the motion, the mover and the seconder debating. I may likely take a few minutes not to urge government to ban the use smoking of shisha, because listening to the debaters, they have been saying this is a practice that has been going on, they have not stated as to when it started. Now today they are saying because of A,B,C,D let it be banned, here madam speaker are the junk foods, are we also saying they should be banned? They are also a genesis, they cause a lot of diseases, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, is the mover also going to urge government to ban all these foods? Where are we just concerned about disadvantages of Shisha, where are the advantages so that we balance, he questioned?

And Kalomo UPND Central MP, Harry Kaboni held that the mover of the motion should have instead urged government on a number of issues and not singling out shisha.

“For example HIV which has killed many people comes in from sex, so my question is are we going to ban sex? So what am suggesting to the mover of the motion is that he should have urged the government on a number of issues. People must take responsibility, because even cars we drive, people die in large numbers because of accidents, so are we going to ban all the cars because we have road accidents that kill people? The bottom line here is to take responsibility, and so before we can come to the issue of banning, the research on banning shisha has not been properly done. If we ban shisha, then we should ban the whole smoking all together because the disadvantages that we are talking about are very similar. May view is that, it is not appropriate to bring such a motion when we have so many things that are health hazards,” he said.

Additionally, Kasama Central MP, Kelvin Sampa, felt it was not prudent to discuss the motion to ban the smoking of shisha when the nation had serious economic challenges to address, charging that the motion was misplaced.

“If we look at Shisha itself, it’s like any other ordinary cigarette and it’s even lighter. Now to bring this motion before the house to discuss shisha when we have got serious issues and economic challenges in the country, especially with the problem of codeine, were we are having our young children being admitted in hospitals every day, the statistics are even increasing and it’s even more dangerous than talking about shisha. And we have got by-laws that are being administered through the councils to regulate people that are smoking in public places. So with this motion I think it is misplaced madam speaker,” he added.

And to hit the final nail in the coffin, Health Minister, Chitalu Chilufya called for the needed to a comprehensive approach when dealing with health hazards and not cherry picking.

“Madam Speaker, it is a fact that shisha is harmful to health, shisha yes contain tar, carbon monoxide it does also contain and is part of the products that yet will predispose people to ill health in the long term. Madam speaker the best way however, to address matters to do with hazards to health, is not to cherry pick and pick out one thing and then ban this, the best is to take a comprehensive approach to the issues that pertain say tobacco. Madam speaker, I would urge the honourable member to engage the executive, that his contribution is part of a broader framework to address the issues of food or products that expose the population to ill health. So we will not agree to the approach of making bans of individual items through motions on the floor of the house. I urge the MP that while he is on terra fema on the ill effect of this substance [Shisha] let us engage and discuss broader policy approaches to ensuring that we protect the public from ill-health through discussing the effects of nicotine addiction and broader aspects many other hazards that will predispose people to NCD’s, we do not support this motion in its current version,” he said.

In winding debate, mover of the motion, Sensio Banda withdraw it, but pledged to come back to the house with a much more comprehensive approach.

“Firstly, I would like to thank members both who supposed the motion and those who objected to the motion. Obviously this has been an entry point as it relates to shisha and obviously like I did allude during my debate on the effects of shisha and am sure it’s very clear to this house.  However, it is in view of the advice the Ministry of Health has raised, as to how best this matter can be addressed, I would indict  that I withdraw the motion and come back to this house so that we can have a comprehensive approach to this motion,” said Mr. Banda.