SITTINGS in the National Assembly and Senate in 2015 were mostly hilarious and characterised by MPs plotting and counter-plotting against each other, firings of legislators who crossed floors and several by-elections.
BY VENERANDA LANGA
Presidential addresses
President Robert Mugabe at the end of August re-introduced the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament for the first time in seven years. However, opposition MPs booed him while reading his speech, accusing him of mismanaging the economy.
A fortnight later, Mugabe made an embarrassing boob when he mistakenly read the same SONA speech to MPs during the official opening of the Third Session of the Eighth Parliament.
The blunder made international headlines and Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa had to re-table the correct speech the following day. Death threats to MPs
Before Mugabe read the wrong speech, a number of opposition MPs received death threat massages on their phones. They were warned against heckling Mugabe during the official opening of the Third Session of the Eighth Parliament.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
MDC-T chief whip Innocent Gonese raised the issue as a point of order a few minutes before Mugabe entered the House to deliver his speech. Gonese claimed seven MPs had received death-threatening messages from an anonymous number.
Female MPs
Female MPs can be adjudged to have been the most hilarious in 2015. They introduced new skills of putting across their arguments in both Houses. Leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Thokozani Khupe introduced the use of video images to stress a point on cancer awareness issues, which was later practiced by more MPs.
The most hilarious theatrics by female MPs were use of panty-pads and undergarments to stress points across to the Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa.
MDC legislator Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga performed most of the “stunts”, which included bringing used pads to the National Assembly and using underwear to nail a point to Chinamasa on women’s health and how women had been degraded to resort to buying second-hand underwear due to economic hardships.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga “smuggled” her four-month-old baby named King into the National Assembly in mid-December to convince Mudenda to introduce facilities where female MPs can breastfeed their children while attending sittings, as well as a playroom with toys for MPs’ lactating children to be looked after.
MDC-T MP (Proportional Representation) Ronia Bunjira also displayed sanitary pads to Mnangagwa to prove a point that female prisoners need to be provided for during their menstrual cycles.
Through motions introduced in the National Assembly by Goromonzi West MP Biata Nyamupinga (Zanu PF) and Harare West MP Jessie Majome (MDC-T) and in Senate by Midlands Senator Lillian Timveos (MDC-T), female MPs managed to convince the House to adopt motions to fight gender-based violence, rape of girls and stiff sentences for rapists, as well as to end early child marriages.
In Senate, Matabeleland South Senator Sithembile Mlotshwa ensured lively debate through introducing controversial motions such as banning of male circumcision of infants and that prisoners should be provided with sex toys to quench their carnal thirst and prevent homosexuality and HIV in prisons.
The Ruth Labode-chaired Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care also won the ZimRights Parliamentary Committee of the Year (Human Rights Defender) award.
Mujuru purges
Almost 30 MPs were fired from Parliament in 2015 with the biggest casualty being the opposition where a total of 21 MPs were shown the exit door on March 17 after crossing the floor from MDC-T to former Finance minister Tendai Biti’s party MDC Renewal.
Zanu PF also fired quite a number of MPs in what was perceived as purges of former Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s supporters. Those fired included Ray Kaukonde (Marondera Central), Kudakwashe Bhasikiti (Mwenezi East), David Butau (Mbire), Dzikamai Mavhaire (Masvingo Senator), Olivia Muchena (Mashonaland East Senator) and Sylvester Nguni (Mhondoro-Mubaira MP).
Several by-elections were held.
New Clerk of Parliament appointed
After long-serving Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma was forced into retirement, Kennedy Chokuda was in May appointed as substantive Clerk. This was followed by another appointment of Deputy Clerk of Parliament Helen Dingani who had previously served under Zvoma as Deputy Clerk, as well as in the Pan-African Parliament in South Africa as Deputy Clerk for legislative business.
Contempt of Parliament charges
A number of MPs were threatened with contempt of Parliament charges although none were charged.
Chipinge South MP Enock Porusingazi (Zanu PF) was almost charged over his remarks discrediting the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Youth, Indigenisation and Employment Creation chaired by Justice Mayor Wadyajena over its report on Green Fuel in Chisumbanje. Mudenda ruled there was no prima facie case to charge Porusingazi.
The same committee has a pending case where they want Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere to be charged for allegedly threatening Wadyajena when the minister made an appearance before the committee.
Bulawayo South MP Eddie Cross
(MDC-T) was almost charged with contempt of Parliament after Meikles chairman John Moxon wrote to the Finance Portfolio Committee chaired by David Chapfika accusing Cross of using privileged information obtained from the committee of which Cross is a member to influence other stakeholders during the Meikles annual general meeting. The issue was dismissed as not warranting contempt of Parliament charges.
Ban of singing, interjections and unnecessary points of order
After the National Assembly was disrupted on several occasions by rowdy MPs who sang revolutionary songs and songs to denigrate other parties, Mudenda banned singing in Parliament. He later read the riot act on noisy MPs who made childish interjections and raised points of order that were unnecessary and not supported by Parliament Standing Rules and Orders saying they would be chucked out of the House or punished.
Controversial Bills
The Reserve Bank Debt Assumption Bill ($1,35 billion) was passed despite opposition demands that taking over the debt would burden Zimbabweans.
They demanded names of beneficiaries of schemes such as the RBZ farm mechanisation programme to be published and the beneficiaries made to pay back.
Government took over the debt despite the protests. Some of the Bills that were crafted during 2015 included the Banking Amendment Bill, General Laws Amendment Bill, Criminal Procedure and Evidence Amendment Bill, Zimbabwe Gender Commission Bill, Finance No 2 Bill, Public Debt Management Bill and the Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences Bill.
