In an interview Ncube said he is now planning to meet his counterpart to discuss the move he believed will help stem underdevelopment in Bulawayo.
In April last year, the state-owned Herald reported that plans to construct a new parliament building near Harare's kopje area were on course. A Chinese delegation was expected in the country to start preparations for the construction of a new building for Parliament.
The newspaper reported that the new parliamentary complex will eventually also include flats for Parliamentarians representing non-Harare constituencies.
But Ncube said it made sense to build a new parliament in Bulawayo.
“There was a proposal by us to the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs to say now that parliament is mooting building a new parliamentary building … it does not make sense to put it in Harare We thought if you are going to spend money to put a new building you might as well put it in Bulawayo.
“We submitted our documents to the minister of constitutional affairs and l said l will also make time to meet him (Minister of Constitutional Affairs),” he said.
“If you live in a country such as ours, where you have challenges in terms of economic activities in some parts of the country and de-industrialisation in Bulawayo, bringing one strong arm of government to Bulawayo will help solve the problems. That way, we will make Bulawayo the City of Parliament, just as in South Africa, Cape Town is the city of Parliament and Pretoria, the City of Government.
“It will mean elected officials will have an appreciation of issues and challenges in Bulawayo, which is not the case at the moment. Some of them have never been to Bulawayo. If we genuinely believe in equity, it is appropriate that different sectors of government are located at different regions,” he said.
Post published in: News