Mwonzora says Parliament’s Privileges Committee was lazy- did not do its job properly

Madam President, this country and especially this Parliament has been subjected to some of the worst behaviours ever.  The reason was we had a leadership that did not listen to us and had its own orientation.  We have gotten rid of that leadership.  We have taken a positive stance towards removing the yoke that was on our necks and we have replaced it with another leadership.

Mr. President Sir, Chief Justice Malaba was subjected to ridicule in the National Assembly when he came to swear in the Speaker.  At that point in time, the leader of the opposition in Parliament was Senator Eng. Mudzuri and he was also the Vice President of the MDC.  I was the Secretary General of the MDC at that point in time.  Hon. Sen. Mudzuri and myself went to the Chief Justice and met him together with his Deputy Justice Gwaunza and we apologised for the wrong that had been done.  The Chief Justice forgave us but the example of people who take on responsibility for the bad behaviour of their subordinates and apologise must be encouraged.  It is the whole mark of civilisation.

Now, we want this country to go forward.  We want this country to go forward.  We want this Parliament to start servicing the people of Zimbabwe.  We want the Parliamentarians to start doing those things that they were elected to do and that is to make sure that we improve the lives of the Zimbabwean people.  We the accused here have started the ball rolling.  This persecution now brings us miles back.  We have moved forward and this Parliament must take judicial notice that we have moved forward and that this Samukange report, incompetently done, puts us back to the iron age of the Zimbabwean politics.  I submit with respect that we must be seen as this Parliament to take notice that we have developed and that things have changed as well as to encourage those things.  Therefore we call upon leaders from the other side to take judicial notice of what has happened and let by-gones be by gones unless if of course, as a leader of my party, I was accused and found guilty of insulting the President of Zimbabwe.

Three weeks ago, the same President invited me to accompany him to Victoria Falls for a vaccination programme and I did.  So, there is movement, there is convergence, there is a meeting place between myself as a leader of my group and the President as a leader of his party.  The two are talking together and the effect of this report is to drive us apart.  So, in my respectful view, there is no longer any need for this.

I have already said that the verdict is omnibus.  It also punishes people who were not there. It finds everybody guilty and it comes to – and this one I am addressing it because this will be read by lawyers.  Hon. Samukange and his Committee in coming up with this verdict used what is called the Doctrine of Common Purpose.  This is the doctrine upon which everybody was found guilty and Hon. Samukange said because there was a standing committee that sat and said we are not going to recognise the President, every member of the MDC therefore is guilty.  That is not how the doctrine of common purpose works. The doctrine of common purpose works on people who were part of that meeting and just as in ZANU PF, not every member is a member of the politburo. In the MDC, not every member is a member of the National Standing Committee. So, what this verdict does is that it punished even those people who did not sit in that meeting. That is not how the doctrine of common purpose works and at any rate, the doctrine of common purpose works only in criminal cases. There was no crime and it does not work in misconduct.

This, at most will be a misconduct. This, at most is a discourtesy and therefore, the doctrine of common purpose was incompetently applied. In my respectful view, and I am glad that we have traditional leaders led by Hon. Sen. Chief Charumbira and I take notice of things that he said on two occasions in this House. The encouragement he felt at the change of the politics of Zimbabwe. The encouragement he felt at the sense of responsibility displayed by MDC T legislators. What this report does is that it ignores all that.

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