United States ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray Wednesday castigated parliamentarians for protesting against the presence of the embassy’s first secretary James Garry in the House of Assembly, saying Parliament should be open to the public.
He said there was no need to hide Parliamentary business.
“It is said if you want to eat a sausage you should never go to the sausage factory and if you want to respect the law you should never go to parliament. I disagree with that. I think that for legislation to be truly effective because it impacts on the lives of people, both the people and the government have a responsibility to make that process as open as possible,” said Ray.
A committee meeting by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development on Monday was aborted after some members of the committee allegedly protested over the presence of Garry in the gallery.
On the day in question Transport and Infrastructural Development minister Nicholas Goche was due to be quizzed over a litany of issues in his ministry.
Ray said input from the public would help to make better legislation as the public would only make the legislators come up with better laws for the country.
He added: “I am always a bit suspicious of legislators who want to work in locked rooms, behind closed doors.”
Ray was speaking at the sidelines of a ceremony which was held at the Nurses Council of Zimbabwe where he was handing over a generator and information technology equipment.
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The donation is part of a national electronic health workforce database designed to provide more reliable information on workforce demographics, training needs, migration patterns and workforce capacity.
Health and Child Welfare minister Henry Madzorera commended the donation and said it came at a time when it was needed most.
