I have decided to self impose myself as the chairman of the Welfare Committee of this Parliament because I do not belong to any party. These...
I have decided to self impose myself as the chairman of the
Welfare Committee of this Parliament because I do not belong to any party.
These Members are constantly whipped. At times when they are whipped, they
forget that they have responsibilities which require money and not whipping.
You hear leaders from both sides telling them you cannot take two cars, what
will the public say. I faced the public attack on my own when I raised the $80
000 and I defended you.I was not doing it because I needed a car. I myself am comfortable and I have always driven Land Cruisers and I can afford any car but it was the office of the Member of Parliament I was fighting for and not the individual. The office of the Member of Parliament must be given the dignity and integrity it deserves for tomorrow and not for today. This Parliament must make it clear that if you are to be said to be Member of Parliament that should change the office of Parliament. Let us not be in a career where no one wants to be there and say these are fools. We are seen as fools in this country yet we are there to deal with national issues.
It is
important that the office of the Member of Parliament is respected. You are
hearing in this House – Hon P. D. Sibanda contributed to the fact that Members
of Parliament cannot even access accommodation. They are seen having to loiter
around in town. The reason why I equally move that the Land Cruisers V8 must be
the car, it is the only car which is comfortable if you want to sleep in if
they decide to sleep in there because there is no accommodation out there. You have a situation where Members of
Parliament are constantly travelling and there must be a time where they rest.
I remember
with my dear brother and colleague Hon. Nduna when he was the Chairman of the
Committee on Mines and we decided to drive in his car, a Land Cruiser; it was a
smooth ride. We drove for 12 hours nonstop. He had no driver because the car
itself was comfortable. We arrived on time and did things on time. When we had
to rest, we would rest. It is the comfort that makes you discharge your duties
professionally, not the discomfort.
We had
Members of Parliament addressing their constituency coming to Parliament, no
wonder why most of them are asleep half of the time because of the cars which
are not comfortable. We are told that we are sleeping. We are not sleeping on
duty. They are sleeping because the car which they are driving is not a
comfortable car. You have never seen a Minister asleep in this Parliament.
Today we are talking about a situation where the Ministers are being given L200
series yet we are supposed to have oversight. How can you catch a thief when
you are on a bicycle and a thief is in a Mercedes Benz? We are the ones who are
supposed to be in the Mercedes Benz to catch the thief on the bike but it is
the reverse.
We must
understand that the allowances which are given to us and the Budget is passed
are sacrosanct because you cannot reverse that. It is important that the
Executive respects any ruling and Budget passed in this Parliament. In terms of
allowances which Members of Parliament are supposed to get, if you calculate
what it means today, it is nothing. We
are always paid when there is inflation. I have never known since I have been
in Parliament where we were paid when there was no inflation. In the last
session, our allowances came when there was inflation. It is as if that the
Government pushes for inflation to reward Members of Parliament. We cannot
allow a situation like that because Hon Gumbwanda and others who are late were
borrowing money based on the allowances and what they have been promised by the
Budget. We go and borrow because we know
that we will be getting so much money because the Budget has been passed. And
now they leave so much debt.
There are
people who went and borrowed money because they were told that they would get a
car worth $80000 and suddenly one makes a decision that the cars have gone to
$50000. What does it make of the National Budget? What does it make of
everything that we do here? If we did not realise that we are pawns, we are
just being used to rubber stamp things for a few people who are benefiting and
yet we are told that we are not working. How can you send a soldier to war without
ammunition? We absolutely do not have ammunition. No wonder why you see that
every election, 80% of Members of Parliament are out because one guy who was a
korokoza makes money and starts to campaign and they lose and not because they
cannot perform to war without ammunition.
We absolutely have no ammunition,
no wonder why you see that in every election, 80% of the Members of
Parliament are out because one guy who was a korokoza makes money and starts to
campaign with the money and they lose, not because they cannot perform. It is because they do not have the money to
get there.
On a sad note, I hear and applaud the Members of Parliament
who are going to bury others but the reason why others cannot go is because
they cannot afford, not because they do not want. They have no fuel and they have no
money. Hon. Shamu must be commended, but
you know that he is also a businessman and not many Members of Parliament are
business people. He can afford a
thousand but none of the Members of Parliament with their salaries and
allowances can donate a thousand. They
would love to Mr. Speaker Sir, but it is because of the way that we are being
treated and now because of that, we are divided and others who do not attend
are probably said to not have a heart.
However, let me speak on their behalf, it is because of the welfare of
the Members of Parliament.
Now you
will see ten are going to be buried and soon you will see two and you will see
none, and there will be no Member of Parliament. I want to stand before you Mr. Speaker Sir
and defend these men and women in here who are for this country and for
national interest but they are just not respected and acknowledged because we
have a system in this country that thinks that when you are a Member of Parliament,
you are going to milk. What can they
milk when they have no resources and no budget to even manage? It is those who are in control of budgets
that are able to milk. Zimbabwe for a
long time has been known to have Members of Parliament who are paupers. Why honestly in this day and era in the
Second Republic are we still having that?
The reason
why no one wants to be a Member of Parliament is that they look at the way we
survive. You look at a Member of
Parliament and there is no Member of Parliament who has ever been known to be
successful after being a Member of Parliament.
Hon. Mavenyengwa spoke about how in South Africa you are given R5
million after a term, it is not because of anything but it is to appreciate the
role and the work that you did in representing the nation. This is something that we must learn. Members of Parliament here if you recall in
the Eighth Parliament, went to Kenya to go and study how Members of
Parliaments’ welfare was taken care of.
We were told that they were given Land Cruisers, they have ten staff
members and they are given $13 000 a month but why did they go there and come
back yet we are not even there? It was a
waste of money again. So, there is no
point of even having a case study, of going to countries learning about the
best practices for Members of Parliament.
Members of Parliament are not even supposed to be staying
in hotels but they are supposed to be having their own apartments, because a
Member of Parliament is somebody who must be respected and has their own
private life too. Our lives are exposed
at these hotels and we no longer have any dignity. We are seen as people who do all sorts of bad
things but we are human beings. Have you
ever seen judges living in hotels? They
have security. The job of an MP needs
security and we are not being respected.
We are said to be doing a lot of things, that we misbehave
and do various things of an illicit nature, but we are human beings. We need security because no one is safe here
but we are not given security and the judges are give security at their
homes. We have not even asked for
security. They are given drivers and
they are given allowances. Why can
Members of Parliament not be given an allowance to look for a house or a flat
to reside in?
Not only that, Members of Parliament are not being given
and this is a serious issue, and Members of Parliament you must hear this. We are said to be doing all sorts of
things. It is important to respect the
institution of marriage and because of that, we must be given our own
accommodation where the wife is there but you are going on duty, and you are
going back to see your families. How
many people have time to see their families and yet we are told that we do illicit
things? We must from today, Members of
Parliament, push for us to have decent accommodation where you come with your
wife and with your husband. You come
and discharge your duties here and you go back.
The working conditions are terrible.
For a very long time this has been happening and nothing is being said.
Mr. Speaker Sir, we were in the bar having a drink with
Hon. Murambiwa when he was discussing with other colleagues that we went there
and so forth. They even said that maybe
it is not good for Members of Parliament to keep going there because they are
forcing him to talk and he is supposed to rest, but Members of Parliament had a
heart. They went to see a person and so
forth, and from nowhere a phone call comes, we were in there and we were told
that he is no more. I had just spoken to
them as if I had prophesied to say when are we getting our cars? The reason why I talk about cars is that this
is the only thing that a Member of Parliament has. The cars that they are driving from the party
are not their cars and it is important that we are able to do that.
Mr. Speaker Sir, let me say that it is important and that
the Welfare Committee introspects, self reflects to say that what is their
role. If constitutionally we are meeting
everything, we have the Constitution that we follow and you have the budget
passed by this House and Parliament being number two but you still have the
Minister of Finance and Economic Development single handedly making a decision
to say that it will be $50 000. I want
to ask this august House and the people who represent this august House – did
that decision come from the Standing Rules and Orders Committee of this
Parliament from the Welfare Committee?
If it did not come from the Welfare Committee, why then are we allowing
the Chief Whips to agree to what Government has said?
Who are the Chief Whips serving? If there was a vote of no confidence given in
the Chief Whips, most of them would not survive this kind of behaviour. We expect the Chief Whips - and I am speaking
on behalf of those who are quiet and cannot clap, because the walls and the
corridors talk. The Chief Whip is
sitting there and it is about time that he knows that as a Politburo Member of
the ruling party, he has benefits which Members of Parliament do not have. They are given V8s and these Members do not
have V8s. As such, can he allow and can
he have mercy on them to enjoy a V8, just like he does. It is the only proper thing to do because a
leader is one that carries his people so that they can be like him. A leader is not one that wants to be on the
top and allow the others to be cycling whilst he is in a Mercedes Benz. People are watching and they will talk one
day. These Members are disgruntled.
When you see them quiet, they are appreciating and they are
not heckling. When they are against
something, they heckle. This must be a
lesson to the Chief Whip that they are talking silently. Silence is speaking. They might clap and go on the groups and say
thank you chef tatenda but inside, they are saying something else. Allow us to be free and to be independent,
especially on our welfare. I close Mr.
Speaker by saying that the Chief Whips must go back in understanding that they
are Members of Parliament and they must serve the interests of the Members of
Parliament because they are sitting on a time bomb. Things are accumulating every day.
I was part of seeing how Members of ZANU PF decided to go
against the former President, Robert Mugabe yet they are the very same people
who said Mugabe chetechete. Let it be
known to the leaders and the ruling party that you are creating a situation
which will explode very soon. I share a
lot with these Members. I was part of
this party and I have never been in any party and I am saying that the time
bomb is coming. May you respect them and
may you give them what belongs to them.
They spent a lot of money to be MPs.
They campaigned with their money.
As such, allow them to enjoy the five years with what is entitled to
them. Thank you very much.
COMMENTS