MDC-Alliance legislators must be charged with contempt of
court for their failure to respect President Mnangagwa during Parliamentary
proceedings after the Constitutional Court ruled that he was duly elected as
Head of State and Government, Speaker of the National Assembly, Advocate Jacob
Mudenda has said.
He said the MDC-Alliance lawmakers were also in violation
of the Constitution which they swore to uphold as Members of Parliament.
Advocate Mudenda said this in his affidavit filed at the
High Court where he was defending his decision to dock five months sitting
allowances for opposition lawmakers for constantly walking out each time
President Mnangagwa comes to Parliament.
The legislators have approached the High Court challenging
Adv Mudenda’s ruling directing that they forfeit five months allowances.
“The applicants must be charged with contempt of court , in
particular the highest court of the land, the Constitutional Court. Their
walking out on the President and refusal to rise in respect of the President is
contemptuous not only of the Office of the President, but also the Constitutional
Court which ruled that the President was duly elected,” said Adv Mudenda in his
court papers.
This followed a ruling by the Constitutional Court which
dismissed an election petition filed by MDC-Alliance leader Mr Nelson Chamisa
challenging the 2018 harmonised election result won by President Mnangagwa.
Adv Mudenda said there was need for the opposition
lawmakers to uphold the law.
“The applicants are in violation of the provisions of the
Constitution and the oath of office they took before assumption of office as
Members of Parliament. In terms of the Constitution, Members of Parliament are
required to take the oath of an MP before he or she sits in Parliament. The
need to agree under oath, to uphold the Constitution is an unequivocal
requirement to holding public office as a Member of Parliament. In simple
terms, if you uphold something such as the law, a principle, or a decision you
must support and uphold it,” he said.
Adv Mudenda said the opposition legislators remained seated
when they should have stood up and walked out when they should have remained in
the Chamber in utter contempt of the Head of State.
“The applicants are aware of the procedures that need to be
followed in regard to demonstrations and the House was not such a platform,” he
said.
Adv Mudenda said at one point the MDC Alliance sent some
emissaries led by Ms Tabitha Khumalo, Mr Prosper Mutseyami, Mr Amos Chibaya and
Ms Lilian Timveous to apologise for their conduct.
Adv Mudenda said he acted within his powers in terms of
Standing Rules and Orders when he stopped payment of their allowances.
“I invoked the provisions of Standing Order 206 in my
capacity as the only authority who could do so in the circumstances. The
Members of the MDC-Alliance tested my patience beyond reasonable measure and
yet I had previously let their actions slide without any immediate censure,” he
said. Herald
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