MEMBERS of Parliament from across the political divide yesterday refused to be cowed into silence by Speaker Jacob Mudenda’s “gag” order which sought to bar them from exposing corrupt government officials, saying they were mandated by their constituents to keep all arms of government under check.
BY VENERANDA LANGA SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER
Mudenda issued the gag order on Wednesday.
Zanu PF MPs Irene Zindi (Mutasa South) and Joseph Chinotimba (Buhera South), together with their MDC-T counterparts Settlement Chikwinya (Mbizo) and Willias Madzimure (Kambuzuma), demanded that the motion on corruption should not be put to rest until investigations were made and the culprits brought to book.
The MPs said although they were going to respect Mudenda’s ruling that they should not abuse Parliamentary Immunities and Privileges by making unsubstantiated claims, the individuals named should still be investigated and their salaries and perks made public to Zimbabweans if they had nothing to hide.
Zindi proposed amendments to the original motion by Madzimure which was adopted and proposed that an ad hoc parliamentary committee should be set up to investigate perks given to chief executive officers of parastatals, local authorities and other public institutions.
She said the government should have implemented measures recommended by former State Enterprises and Parastatals minister Gorden Moyo that CEOs should be paid at most $6 000 per month, among other recommendations.
“We have a Unit on Economic Intelligence in the Ministry of Finance which was supposed to unearth unethical salaries and what are they doing?” Zindi queried. “The Corporate Governance Code should be reviewed so that we cannot have one person sitting on more than 20 boards because we are not short of manpower in this country which has the highest literacy levels in Africa.”
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Zindi had a tiff with the temporary Speaker Rueben Marumahoko when she expressed her unhappiness over Mudenda’s ruling and when she was asked to withdraw the use of the word “gag”, which she did.
Chikwinya questioned the rationale behind the order.
“I become afraid when the relationship between the chair and MPs does not augur well for operations or execution of the mandate of Parliament,” Chikwinya said.
“We MPs do not want to be witnesses of the fall of our own country. What we are doing is taking the air out of the mouth of the whistleblower. A statement was said — I will not say where — which took out the air from the mouths of whistleblowers. MPs are struggling to say what they have been sent by their constituents to say, but we shall continue to grow in the dark like mushrooms.”
Chikwinya also alleged he smelt a rat over the way allocation of fuel coupons was being handled by staff at Parliament.
“What surprises me is that in the event an MP attends Parliament for some days and their name is in the register of attendance — but in the event something transpires and they have to go back to their constituency without collecting their fuel coupon, they are not given back the fuel. It either means there are MPs getting above their normal litres of fuel or some staff members are taking their fuel coupons,” he said.
Chikwinya also demanded that former Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation boss Godwills Masimirembwa should be investigated for the $6 million diamond money that has not been accounted for.
“In his response, Masimirembwa told President Robert Mugabe that he will name the real beneficiaries of the money concerned and, therefore, it means there is still a case of corruption to answer,” Chikwinya said.
Madzimure said the ministers responsible for the parastatals fingered in corruption should appear in Parliament to explain, adding that a Whistleblower’s Act was now necessary as well as the declaration of assets by ministers, MPs and top government officials.
Chinotimba said people should be given the freedom to question corrupt individuals, and MPs should deal with the issue of corruption until the perpetrators are jailed.
Meanwhile, the Lovemore Madhuku-led NCA party yesterday described Mudenda’s order as “wrong, undemocratic and unconstitutional” and urged MPs to ignore it.
NCA spokesperson Madock Chivasa in a statement said: “The Speaker’s ruling exhibits a very disturbing trend showing highest levels of intolerance and undermining the role of Parliament in a democracy. The NCA wishes to put it on record that the future of our country requires absolute freedom of expression by MPs in Parliament.”
He added: “It is interesting to note that this ruling is coming at a time when Zanu PF was exposed as the most corrupt regime in this part of the world. The Speaker’s desperation is a clear indication that Zanu PF lacks capacity to fight corruption. It is very clear to us as NCA that this ruling was not going to be made had Zanu PF ministers not been mentioned in Parliament.”
