National Assembly Deputy Speaker Chides MPs For "Behaving Like Drunkards"
The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Tsitsi Gezi on Tuesday castigated Members of Parliament across the political divide for “behaving like drunkards”.
This was after she struggled to bring the House to order for about 15 minutes during a heated argument between ZANU PF and MDC MPs on one side and CCC MPs on the other side.
The chaos was triggered by Norton MP Temba Mliswa (Independent), who had accused CCC leader Nelson Chamisa of “hypocrisy” over the US$40 000 loans given to MPs and this angered CCC MPs.
Cabinet ministers were each offered US$500 000, deputy ministers US$350 000 and MPs US$40 000 as loans by the government.
Chamisa then criticised his own MPs for accepting the US$40 000 loans and also condemned the government for its seeming misplaced priorities.
Mliswa raised a matter of national interest on the welfare of legislators, saying MPs in Zimbabwe were the least paid in the region, and then went on to attack Chamisa. He said:
I would also want leaders of other political parties, especially Advocate Chamisa, to really understand — him being a lawyer — that MPs have a contract with Parliament; not with the party when they are here. I don’t know why he gets involved.
He must not whip them (MPs) on contractual issues. He was once an MP. I expected him to stand for other MPs because he knows how we have suffered.
We don’t want such hypocrisy from any leader. Let him deal with putting out his structures at CCC while here in Parliament, we get our money.
ZANU PF and MDC Alliance legislators cheered Mliswa, but CCC MPs were displeased.
Mbizo MP Settlement Chikwinya then raised a point of order and accused Mliswa of denigrating Chamisa. Said Chikwinya:
He cannot respond for himself as he (Chamisa) does not sit in this Parliament.
Some MPs jumped over seats to get to Chikwinya and threaten him, and the commotion lasted for about 15 minutes. | NewsDay
