Independent Member of Parliament Temba Mliswa has paid tribute to former registrar-general Tobaiwa Mudede who was one of the senior civil servants sent on retirement on Wednesday saying he will at least have a good rest as he knows that no one will be chasing after him.
Mudede was registrar-general from 1980 and reports said he had exceeded the retirement age by 11 years.
Mliswa tweeted: “One thing about Mudede is that he was loyal & incorruptible. He was a true seasoned civil servant who didn’t react to public attack or opinion. May he enjoy a well earned retirement.
“At least Mudede will retire & enjoy his hobby of hunting in peace. He’ll not have to worry about ZACC or any other law enforcement agents knocking on his door. It’s a good attribute that many are unable to equal.”
Some reports have, however, linked him to the fake diesel from rock scandal of 2007 in which diesel was reportedly oozing from some rocks in Chinhoyi.
The independent legislator who beat President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s former advisor Chris Mutsvangwa to win the Norton seat, however, lamented the decision by new Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube to suspend the purchasing of vehicles for parliamentarians.
Ncube said the money was diverted to fight cholera which has so far claimed 32 lives.
“Whilst it may seem a good move to suspend MPs & Ministers vehicles, in general Parliamentarians are underpaid &for as long as this remains the status quo, the checks & balances in terms of oversight will be compromised. Kenyan Parliamentarians are paid +/-$10k,” Mliswa said.
The government had set aside $20 million for the vehicles but contributed $15 million to the fight against cholera.
Last year Mliswa said MPs were getting just over $2 000 a month which is quite high by Zimbabwean standards.
“MPs here don’t have constituency offices or information centres. They are heavily under resourced @MthuliNcube when we talk of Govt expenditure we should focus on the areas that are over funded& not under,” Mliswa went on.
“I’m the last person to be extravagant, I’ve never taken a car&believe that Govt should use locally assembled cars&advocate that they be manufactured here to boost local industry. Besides meagre salaries&fuel&accomodation allowances MPs don’t get much else in the way of benefits
“Yes I’m very well aware that the economy is struggling & I’m in no way saying that MPs must be over catered for whilst the majority is struggling but I’m saying there are other areas that will make a bigger impact if targeted.”
Zimbabwe introduced a Constituency Development Fund in 2010 to help legislators implement projects to alleviate poverty in their constituencies but most of this money, $50 000 per constituency, was pillaged by the legislators.
At one time four legislators were arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission for misusing the funds but they were released because “there was no proper legal framework to successfully prosecute them”.
Government auditors could not carry out a full audit as they were threatened by the legislators.
The programme was abandoned only to be resuscitated last year. An audit is still to be carried out on how the funds were used this time.
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Anybody who goes to parliament and doesn’t have his own car is a liability. Being an MP should be to serve the people not to be served by the people. Mps should be people of substance not street men and women who take it as a full time job on a 5 yr contract. They should not even get even a Vitz becsuse they get $2000 per month which is way above the PDL So Mliswa go work on your farm and buy yourself a car. That’s why Smith had minimum qualifications for one to be an MP. I now know why and I think he was her right