Today alone, I received three messages: one is for a young girl who obtained 15 points at Tafara 1 High and wants to go to the School of Medicine but does not even know where to start in terms of fees. They are saying Hon. Member, please help us to be able to get her results, we owe $300 at Tafara I High School.
As I was coming into Parliament, I got another call saying Hon. Member, my mother was doing her laundry and something happened, so there is a needle lodged in her finger and needs $400 to undergo an operation. That is the life of a Member of Parliament on a daily basis, whether ZANU PF or MDC – [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.] – The perception which is created out there is that the Member of Parliament has so much money. He must repair roads, construct clinics, provide water and energy and bury people. There is not a Member of Parliament with the capacity to do that. Maybe Ministers would be in a better position to do that because they drive Government vehicles which are fueled, serviced by Government. Ministers get a huge fuel allocation but some of the Ministers do not even have constituencies so nobody will phone them. The only people who will call them are probably his wife and small house.
In conclusion Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga’s motion. We would respectfully want His Excellency the President of Zimbabwe, Cde. R.G. Mugabe to come and meet with us Members of Parliament, without the Executive and I will tell you Mr. Speaker, we are going to be very respectful. If we do not respect him as a person, we respect his office. He is going to come to this House and we will tell him like it is. After we have spoken to His Excellency the President, I am telling you half the Cabinet Ministers will be without jobs. Vice President Mphoko, I think they were in Cabinet and the President and Ministers were there in attendance. Somebody spoke about kubiwa kwemari Hon. Mphoko said in response imbavha dzese idzi referring to the Ministers. The President did not disagree. I am told he just smiled and chuckled. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank you for this time.
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