Zanu PF MP for Mbire, Paul Mazikana, on Tuesday came under fire from MDC-T legislators when he alleged in the House of Assembly that the late Minister of Public Service, Eliphas Mukonoweshuro (MDC-T), died because he smoked too much.
Mazikana said this while debating a motion on condolences on the death of Mukonoweshuro in the House of Assembly.
Although Mazikana described Mukonoweshuro as a down-to-earth and gifted person, he continuously castigated smoking amid interjections from MDC-T MPs who felt his utterances were getting out of order.
“Mukonoweshuro was a man gifted with wisdom, he had a very high IQ, but the only weakness that he had was his addiction to cigarettes,” said Mazikana.
“The lesson that we can get from this is that we must make an effort to throw away such addiction to cigarettes because he could be with us today,” he said.
The statements irked MDC-T MP for Magwegwe, Felix Magalela Sibanda, who quickly raised a point of order with Speaker of the House of Assembly Lovemore Moyo to say the allegations were spurious as Mazikana had no access to Mukonoweshuro’s post-mortem results.
Moyo ruled this was not out of order, but agreed the statement was in bad taste.
“There is no point of order. However, it is un-African to say things that you are not 100% sure of about someone who has departed.
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“You should make sure you bring humanity as you debate this motion,” Moyo said.
MDC-T MP for Warren Park, Ellias Mudzuri, chipped in: “It is unfortunate that people can debate whether he smoked or not. It was his choice to smoke and he was not infecting others.”
