According to the March 19 edition of Hansard, the speaker, Jacob Mudenda, announced the adjournment of parliament to May 5. But several MPs said the break was likely to be longer than this due to a biting liquidity crunch that was making it difficult to fund parliamentary business.
The speaker did not give a reason for the adjournment of business after parliament resumed work on January 27 after the Christmas holiday.
“This does not augur well. Government and parliament were struggling to fund our trips and normal parliamentary business, but there is uncertainty around this closure. There is talk that it could be extended due to the poor financial position,” said an MP who declined to be named.
MPs and senators routinely claim money to cover fuel, accommodation, food and allowance expenses. Government already owes the legislators hundreds of thousands of dollars, with some former MPs still battling to get what is owing to them since their term of office.
Hotels turn MPs away
Some hotels are now turning away MPs who needed accommodation owing to the accumulation of huge bills that government is failing to honour.
Currently, parliament does not even have a substantive clerk after the mysterious departure of Austin Zvoma last year. Zvoma was reported to have been forced out owing to his alleged links to the faction led by Joice Mujuru, who has since been fired from the ruling party.
Another MP said that most MPs were using their personal resources to attend parliamentary business, and had been doing so for some time.
“We keep getting promises that we will be reimbursed soon, but it seems there is no money to do that. After battling for some time, quite a number of MPs have now resolved not to attend parliament and their grievances have been made known to the acting clerk and the speaker.
“As it stands, treasury is struggling to raise money and it might take months before we are back in the House,” said another MP. She added that ad hoc adjournments would worsen the backlog of bills and other parliamentary processes.
Little progress
Currently, the national assembly and senate are supposed to be deliberating on hundreds of laws that need to be aligned to the constitution adopted in 2013. Little progress has been made since the elections that took place the same year and ushered in the eighth parliament.
“At this rate, the year will end without any progress being made to align the laws with the new constitution. That would mean we would have gone for two years without doing anything on the laws and the new constitution. This has negative implications on reforms relating to elections, the media and other key issues,” she added.
Don’t cause trouble
The main opposition party, the MDC-T, insists that it will not take place in any by-elections or major polls without electoral reforms. The MP added that the adjournment of parliament could be used to serve Zanu (PF) political interests.
“Given our current political and economic problems, it seems government is of the view that MPs are likely to worsen the situation through parliamentary committee actions and general motions that would whip up people’s emotions. The government would rather have the MPs out of the picture so that they don’t cause unnecessary trouble,” she added.
Administrative staff is also said to be facing operational problems as the secretariat is reportedly struggling to purchase small items like stationery.
The government is struggling to pay civil servants and soldiers have been forced to go on lengthy breaks to cut down on operational costs.
Most key government programmes have been put on hold while referral hospitals are fast running out of essential drugs, with health ministry officials saying only 40 percent remains. Currently, government is relying on the donor community for more than 90 percent of its drug stocks.
Unemployment has risen to more than 80 percent, according to independent researchers, as companies continue to close down. Mudenda, who is a senior Zanu (PF) member sitting in the party’s politburo, could not be reached for comment.
Post published in: News