Norton MP Temba Mliswa (indepedent) has threatened to drag
government to court to force it to improve the welfare of MPs by providing them
with vehicles and increase their salaries.
Raising a point of privilege in the National Assembly
yesterday, Mliswa said lawmakers had been neglected by the Executive and he was
now taking the matter to the Constitutional Court to force the state to act.
“The welfare of parliamentarians must be taken seriously
madam speaker. When the Executive makes an undertaking, they must fulfil it.
Madam Speaker, I am going to approach the Constitutional Court to ensure that
this matter is dealt with. The salaries of MPs have not changed and the cost of
living has gone up,” Mliswa said
Government has delayed availing vehicles to MPs due to
budgetary constraints. Finance minister Mthuli Ncube last week promised to
procure the vehicles for the MPs this week.
“The SROC (Standing Rules and Orders Committee) makes
decisions and they are ignored by the executive. We were given the ZW$50 000 as
CDF (Constituency Development Fund), but the money has been eroded. Something
has to be done,” Mliswa said.
In November last year, MPs arm-twisted Mthuli to allocate
money for their welfare after refusing to increase the budget.
The MPs want government to buy Land Cruisers, which they
said “is the only car good enough for MPs to do their work because the Mazdas
and Toyotas we get are not good enough”.
Meanwhile, Mliswa yesterday blocked MDC MPs from quizzing
government on claims that First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa was being threatened by
some military personnel, saying the audio circulating on social media should
not be taken seriously.
MDC MP Innocent Gonese had asked Home Affairs minister Cain
Mathema on what steps government was doing to protect its citizens who included
the First Lady.
Before Mathema could respond, Mliswa stood up saying
Parliament could not discuss social media issues and to this end, Mathema did
not respond to the question with regard to the first lady.
On Tuesday, the social media was awash with an audio
conversation allegedly between the First Lady and a top military commander,
believed to be Samson Murombo where she allegedly claimed that some army
officers were plotting to kill her and the President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The authenticity of the audio has remained questionable
with Zanu PF supporters alleging voice morphing. Newsday
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