President Mnangagwa yesterday made an unannounced attendance at Parliament during the National Assembly’s Question and Answer session.
The President
usually attends Parliament’s sittings at official engagements, such as when he
delivers the State of the Nation Address and the official opening of
Parliament.
However,
yesterday he made a surprise attendance of the National Assembly sitting.
Posting on his
official X handle last night, President Mnangagwa said: “Today, I joined
proceedings in the National Assembly to follow the Wednesday Question and
Answer session. I found the deliberations insightful and affirming of our
democratic processes.”
The Speaker of
Parliament, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, told the House that there was nothing amiss
in the President’s attendance.
“Thank you very
much for indulging us, Your Excellency, the President, Dr ED Mnangagwa. Members
of the House, in terms of our Constitution, His Excellency the President is
part of the legislature.
“So, it is
within his rights to come in and sit and follow proceedings accordingly, and he
has done that today (yesterday).
“There is also
another reason why he was around today (yesterday). He was looking at certain
aspects of our Parliament building vis-à-vis future developments, so he decided
to come in and we welcomed him,” said Advocate Mudenda.
The President
is part of the legislature due to the authority vested in his office to assent
to or decline to sign Bills into law.
Yesterday’s
unannounced attendance follows similar visits to Parirenyatwa and Sally Mugabe
hospitals recently, where he interacted with patients and staff to hear
first-hand the challenges they are facing.
The unannounced
visits have been praised for allowing the President to appreciate the situation
as it is, considering that top officials have no time to spruce up their
environments.
It has been
argued by analysts in the past that dusting up environments and patching
potholes each time the President is visiting prevents opportunities for
Government support, as a good impression would have been staged. Herald
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