PARLY TO SUMMON MUGABE AGAIN

Parliament will summon former President Robert Mugabe one last time before charging him with contempt. “We were expecting the former Presi...

Parliament will summon former President Robert Mugabe one last time before charging him with contempt.

“We were expecting the former President, Cde Robert Mugabe, to appear before us as a result of letters that had been written to him requesting his person to be here at 2PM today. He has not attended today’s session. As a result the committee resolved to write to him for the last time because Parliament writes to you twice and then they will summon you,” said Mines Committee chairman, Temba Mliswa.

He said the committee unanimously agreed to write to him to appear on June 1 at 2PM.
“In that notification to him, we will also state certain provisions of the Standing Order Rules that attendance before Parliament and Evidence is compulsory. Parliament or a committee by way of summons issued in Section 2 can order a person to appear before it. We will remind him of that.

“These are some of the tenets of the Parliamentary Standing Orders that we will include to remind him that failure to attend, we will have no choice but to summon him, something that we regret doing and we hope not to do. As the former President of Zimbabwe, his legacy needs to be protected and as a result it can only be protected if he follows the rules of the country,” said Mr Mliswa.

The committee chair said Mugabe was not being persecuted as all that was needed was his contribution.

“We still have utmost respect for him, that’s the reason why the committee has exercised this patience but ultimately there are laws and rules which Parliament has to follow which protect the citizens of this country and we hope and pray that we will not get to the stage of summoning the President to appear before us.

“As you know we had equally suggested as a committee in respect of the work that he has done for this country to go and appear at his Blue Roof residence but you must understand it is his choice to allow us to appear there or even be in camera. The options are open to him but he has not responded,” said Mr Mliswa.

“And of course you know that by not attending there is that schedule …he will be in contempt, there are many results. Let me remind you that the late Mr Roy Bennet was sent to prison by Parliament”.