Zimbabwe’s Members of Parliament (MPs) have reported going nine months without receiving fuel and other allowances from the government, leading to frequent absences from the House, reported ZimLive.
This issue was raised in the National Assembly by Rushinga MP Tendai Nyabani (ZANU PF) on Thursday, who said parliamentarians have been reduced to a state of begging as they struggle to receive their rightful dues. Said Nyabani:
We must not be begging as Members of Parliament. If we were promised to be given something, then it must come right on time.
For example, if we are getting travelling allowances, and fuel, I cannot remember when we last received those allowances.
We are talking about allowances which allow us to go to our constituencies to reach out to our people. Should we continue begging?
Nyabani also disclosed that MPs have not received their Constituency Development Funds (CDF), which are essential for advancing various programmes in their communities. He said:
We want the whole country to know that the CDF amounting to US$50,000 that we were told and which we were supposed to be given has not yet been received.
Marondera Central MP Caston Matewu (CCC) said legislators have begun to abscond from Parliament due to not receiving any payments since January of this year. Said Matewu:
I want to stress that it has been nine months since we got our allowances. I am not sure about you (deputy speaker) but the Members of Parliament in this House have had nine months without any allowance.
That is why you see this House is half empty. It is half empty because sometimes most of us are now going into business, which is really killing the work of this parliament because we need to survive and our families also need to survive.
Deputy Speaker Tsitsi Gezi opted to postpone her response to allow for consultation with the appropriate offices. She said:
Your points have been noted but for today, I have no comment on that. We are going to consult so that we bring comprehensive information and adequate responses explaining the different points that you mentioned. I will not lie to you, but I want to consult and bring a concrete response next week but one.
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