MPs plan boycott

Members of Parliament from both the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and the Movement for Democratic Change are planning to boycott debate in the house in protest against the Speaker’s ruling that they must not make unsubstantiated allegations. The MPs have described Speaker Jacob Mudenda’s ruling as a gag but Mudenda said it was not a gag. He was merely invoking the country’s constitution. Mudenda made the ruling after several MPs named ministers for receiving perks from parastatals under their ministers. The MPs are united in condemning corruption and want an oversight role in the appointment of board members and chief executives of state enterprises. The government has set an agency under the President’s Office but MPs insist they want to set up a committee because the executive cannot police itself since some of the people that have been fingered in corrupt activities are cabinet ministers. The MPs also argue that it is their constitutional right to oversee all government operations because the constitution says “…all institutions and agencies of the State at every level are accountable to Parliament”‘. Parliament adjourned on Tuesday last week to make room for a seminar on the government’s economic blue print ZimAsset. Debate is due to resume tomorrow.

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