Movement for Democratic Change vice-president Nelson Chamisa says Zimbabwe’s legislators can help turnaround the country’s economy in minutes if they unite and bring government ministers to book and they can start with Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha.
Chamisa says under Parliament Standing rules government ministers are required to respond to issues raised in the House within 10 days but they have not been doing so.
He was contributing to the debate on the Pubic Account Committee report on the Ministry of Industry and Commerce which showed that ministry officials were abusing government funds with impunity.
“Hon. Speaker Sir, with speed, I would recommend that let us show a difference, starting with this report. Within 10 days, let the minister come to us and respond to this report. After responding, let us have all the culprits, including the Permanent Secretary, who has been implicated, they have to be arrested,” Chamisa said.
“Why are they supposed to be arrested? To send a signal that we do not tolerate nonsense. However, we should not end with the Permanent Secretary, let us also approach the Minister and if possible invite the Minister to visit the police and account why he/she allowed such things to happen.
“It is important, this is Hon. Minister Bimha. We want Ministers to account for what they are doing. They must explain to the police why they have allowed such a thing to happen. Once we start doing that, our country is going to turn around within a fortnight. I can assure you that a turnaround is just a minute away, it is just an effort away but it is our actions as Government. “
Chamisa said if legislators from both ZANU-PF and the MDC-T united, they could make government ministers accountable, but right now legislators had become lapdogs of the government.
“We do not want this report to just go down the drain. This report must be given the seriousness it deserves. Why, because there is violation of the law. Why, because there is corruption in the corridors of Government. Why? Because we have people who are violating the statutes of our country and we need to just look at Section 84 of the Public Finance Management Act. We are supposed to have audit committees in all these Ministries but not even a single Ministry has an audit committee. Why? It is because they do not take the laws seriously,” Chamisa said.
“Hon. Speaker, we have seen that there is not even any proper documentation in terms of just tracking of debts that have been incurred by the Ministry. This tells you about the general attitude or character in Government. There is no accountability; it is almost like wapusa wapusa because there is darkness. You know that all bacteria do not want accountability. No bacteria will ever switch on lights. Why? Because they know that they are simply creating a difficult environment for them to thrive and this is what we must be able to deal with.”
When reminded that he was a minister once, Chamisa said he was indeed. He had heard some of his colleagues bragging about the deals they made.
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