HON. T. MLISWA: Thank you for giving me this
opportunity. The welfare of Members of
Parliament seems to be an ongoing agenda.
I have never known of any agenda which continues and never stops. On fuel, considering that this institution is
one of the three pillars of the State; we do everything, we pass budgets and so
forth.
We are not asking for anything
extra but for the office of the Members of Parliament to be respected. We have
no respect in the public. We are seen in
the queues with drums. We do not sell that fuel but we use it so that it
enables us to get here. This issue has
come to you so many times but still we are dealing with it now. CMED, which service station do we go to? Other Members of Parliament are not here
because there is no fuel, that is the truth of the matter. They are standing in the queues and all
that. So when will you as our leaders
take us seriously and take this institution seriously that we have a mandate to
deliver. How can we deliver when we
have no resources to get here?
Fortunately
for you VIPs and that is why we end up starting to now look at your offices,
you are well taken care of, murikudya anababa asi vana havasi kudya. So what
kind of a country is this? You do not
have to queue for fuel because there are arrangements for you to go and get
fuel. We must also be given fuel where
you get fuel because one day you will come to find there is no single Member of
Parliament who will be here. What do you
think you will be doing? We are asking
that you take this matter seriously. We
are given fuel coupons but there is no fuel so, why are we being given those
coupons?
We are not
paid in foreign currency and if we are to convert our salaries to US dollars,
it is now US$50, this money is not enough to sustain us and you are failing as
our leaders to review this. You go and
sleep comfortably knowing that your Members of Parliament are getting US$50 but
I assure you God will hear us. These are
issues that are troubling us, we have not yet been allocated stands and some
Members of Parliament do not have cars but Ministers have been allocated two
cars. How do you honestly expect us to
discharge our duties? We asked that
Parliament disburse Constituency Development Fund during this COVID-19
era. Now people are saying that Members
of Parliament do not have a heart for the people they represent because it is
not all of us who own businesses. Some
can survive from proceeds from their businesses but what about those Members of
Parliament who do not have businesses.
People will then say they are neglecting them.
What I am
to say also is that we must not go to the extent of taking each other to court
and it is not a threat. I am prepared to
go to court when Members of Parliament are not tested because I must safeguard
myself and my family. What are you doing
as Parliament to ensure that each Member of Parliament is safe here? We do not want this issue of using
thermometers, this does not work, we want the actual tests. We are the ones that reach people. If we are found positive, then we stop
spreading this disease to people, we isolate ourselves. What are you doing as Parliament to make sure
that all Parliament Members are tested?
We are 350 and it is only 350 kits needed so that we know where we stand
because we cannot continue like this. I
want to know the action that you will take from tomorrow. If you do not do
that, I am going to make an urgent High Court application so that Parliament
will stop sitting until everyone has been tested because the cases are
increasing.
On
information centres, when will funds be released? A lot of money is being channeled to corrupt
people. The money is not coming to
Members of Parliament to execute their duties.
Money for people to do corruption is there but money for Members of
Parliament to execute their duties is not there. We cannot be a Parliament that approves money
that will be stolen. We want the
Executive to look into this. I as an independent candidate will say what I want
because no one will chase me away but I will be speaking also on behalf of
everyone so that they will not be chased away.
I will take the responsibility.
This is unbecoming because it is now like a crime to be a Member of
Parliament in Zimbabwe, we are not respected.
I also
want to talk about the issue of the opposition.
On the side of the MDC-T, there is no Chief Whip and this Parliament has
become a ridicule out there. These Hon.
Members who are here, why are they not being given the portfolio? Why are Hon. Sen. Mwonzora and Madame Khupe
not giving them the job? What are they
failing to do that has not warranted them to be given the job? We need an Opposition Chief Whip in order for
this Parliament to be known to be a Parliament or else we are a laughing stock
out there.
We also need a Leader of Government Business from the
Opposition. I brought it up because this
Parliament cannot function without a Chief Whip and Leader of Government
Business from the Opposition. So why are
they taking time to appoint? I do not
know because all these Hon. Members are experienced. Hon. Vincent Tsvangirai is coming and he
knows what he is doing. So when is that
going to happen so that they Parliament is known as Parliament at the end of
the day?
These are my points of privileges that I had and I need
answers because last week the Hon. Speaker promised that he was going to engage
the Opposition so that appoint a Chief Whip.
We cannot continue like this, thank you.
*THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER:
Thank you Hon. Mliswa. I will
start with the last issue that you raised.
I think the Hon. Speaker responded and said that the appointment of the
Opposition Chief Whip does not involve the Hon. Speaker. It is within their purview.
0 comments:
Post a Comment