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MPs, senators face expulsion

Politics
THE MDC has written to the President of the Senate Edna Madzongwe and Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo, asking them to expel three MPs and two senators

THE MDC has written to the President of the Senate Edna Madzongwe and Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo, asking them to expel three MPs and two senators elected on its ticket after they formally joined the MDC-T last week.

Report by Nduduzo Tshuma

Zimbabwe’s Constitution outlaws floor-crossing and the legislators risk losing their seats.

Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Umzingwane legislator Nomalanga Khumalo, Tsholotsho South MP Maxwell Dube and his Gwanda North counterpart Zinti Mkandla as well as senators Dalumuzi Khumalo (Lupane) and Kembo Dube (Umzingwane) have in the past claimed to belong to a faction led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

Mutambara lost the leadership of the MDC in 2011 to Welshman Ncube, but is challenging his ouster in the courts.

MDC secretary-general Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga in separate letters dated April 10 said the five seats should be declared vacant.

The letters were written after the five applied to stand on MDC-T tickets in the forthcoming harmonised elections. Misihairabwi-Mushonga said in terms of section 41(1) (e) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the three MPs had ceased being MPs. She said the MDC constitution “provides that a member who joins another party automatically ceases to be a member of the MDC”.

“We previously refrained from writing this letter to you because the said (Mkandla) was still pretending to be a member of the MDC supposedly led by Prof Mutambara, a party which in fact does not exist,” Misihairabwi-Mushonga wrote.

She said now that the three had openly joined the MDC-T, they could no longer “hide behind the fictitious Mutambara-led MDC”.

“Thus, it matters to note that Prof Mutambara purports to lead a party called MDC-M of which they were until now claiming to be members,” she continued.

“We place it on record that the constitutive act which renders a Member of Parliament’s seat vacant in terms of section 41(1) (e) of the Constitution is the giving of notice to you, Mr Speaker, that a Member of Parliament elected on a party ticket has ceased to represent the interests of that party in the House of Assembly.

“In case you are minded to shield the said Zinti Mkandla from the consequences of my letter, may I remind you of the legal consequences as set out in the letter to you by Prof W Ncube, the then secretary-general of the MDC, on August 12, 2009 in relation to the matters of Abednigo Bhebhe, Njabuliso Mguni and Norman Mpofu.

“For ease of reference, I attach hereto a copy of that letter. I also attach an extract from The Herald of April 9, 2013.”

Misihairabwi-Mushonga quoted the same sections in the MDC’s bid to have Dalumuzi Khumalo and Khembo Dube’s senatorial seats declared vacant.

The MDC in 2009 fired Bhebhe, Mguni and Mpofu for working with the MDC-T.

The MPs subsequently lost their seats, which are still vacant.