FOR boycotting the official opening of the 10th Parliament by President Mnangagwa in Mount Hampden yesterday, CCC legislators will have their travel allowances forfeited and their accommodation costs deducted from their salaries after the Speaker of the National Assembly, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, invoked Parliament’s Standing Orders to bring the errant parliamentarians to order.
During the official opening of the 10th Parliament,
President Mnangagwa laid out the legislative agenda for the next five years and
also delivered a State of the Nation Address (SONA) in front of legislators
from the ruling Zanu PF party, who are the majority, and also diplomats accredited
to Zimbabwe.
Addressing legislators in the Chamber soon after the
official opening, Adv Mudenda said CCC legislators were in violation of
Parliament’s Standing Orders of both the National Assembly and Senate.
“It is therefore clear that there have been some violations
of those Standing Orders. Members of the CCC have come to Harare after
Parliament was summoned by His Excellency, the President and have stayed in
hotels and have been given and facilitated their travel to Harare.
“Therefore, there have been violations of these Standing
Orders and in terms of powers invested in me as Speaker, I instruct the Clerk
of Parliament to ensure that CCC members will not receive their coupons to go
back home,” said Adv Mudenda.
“Secondly, their stay in hotels at the taxpayers’
generosity and commitment will be deducted from their salaries. I further
request the Leader of Government Business to look into the Political Parties
Finance Act to find out whether further sanctions cannot be applied.”
In an interview, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, who is Leader of Government Business in Parliament,
said CCC legislators had no legitimate reasons for boycotting Parliament.
“If they continue boycotting they will cease to be
Honourable Members of Parliament, so it is up to them. The elections are done
and dusted, they were sworn in which means it was an admission that the process
(harmonised elections) was correct. So we are not aware why they did not turn
up. We feel that their absence is not significant, we are now moving forward
with setting up relevant committees,” said Minister Ziyambi.
Commenting on the speech delivered by President Mnangagwa,
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Dr Jenfan Muswere,
said the Head of State and Government was spot on when he urged legislators to
expedite Bills.
“The President emphasised that legislators have to expedite
Bills which also include amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act. It is
very important that we have an informed society,” said Minister Muswere.
He said the Second Republic had registered several
achievements in different sectors.
“There has been legislative reforms that have been done by
the Second Republic, they include the repeal of the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act, we have also passed the Cyber and Data Protection
Act, we have a new ICT Policy, there has been utilisation and convergence of
ICT and broadcasting services and the whole of Government approach,” said Minister
Muswere.
Botswana Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mrs Sarah Sithabile
Molosiwa, said she was excited by President Mnangagwa’s pronouncement that the
Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Act will be amended to include Botswana as
one of the countries that had transit camps during the country’s liberation
struggle.
“We want to thank the Government of the Republic of
Zimbabwe for considering Botswana after so many years, probably four decades,
to be among the list of countries that participated in the liberation of
Zimbabwe. If you remember in the history of Botswana, we have soldiers who died
at the borders during the war of liberation in Zimbabwe. We might not have been
able to fight physically but we contributed in some way, we accommodated
freedom fighters on their way to Mozambique and Zambia, so we appreciate what
His Excellency the President has done,” said Mrs Molosiwa.
Zanu PF spokesperson, Cde Chris Mutsvangwa, who is also the
Minister of War Veterans, said Zimbabweans now want food on the table and that
is what the Second Republic will deliver.
“They (CCC) are like wolves howling to the moon. We
couldn’t care less if they want to be in Parliament or not, we will carry on
with our duties to ensure there is prosperity in Zimbabwe. Long gone are the days
of politics of boycotting, people want food on their table, people want jobs,
people want all the services so that Government can deliver prosperity which so
many people sacrificed for, that is what we are focused on,” said Cde Mutsvangwa. Herald
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