MPs' Role Is To Oversee Government Policy, Not Drill Wells And Boreholes - Mahere
The former MP for Mt Pleasant, Fadzayi Mahere, has said it is not the duty of members of parliament to focus on building wells and boreholes for their cholera-ridden constituencies, calling it a failure rather than a success.
Mahere argues that it is the role of the Central Government, not Parliamentarians, to provide clean water to communities.
She said the primary role of MPs is to make laws and oversee government conduct and policy.
According to Mahere, MPs should address specific policy concerns of their community and use their influence to drive progress, rather than taking on the responsibilities of the government. Mahere wrote on X:
If you’re an MP of a party that’s meant to be governing and your PR is that you build wells and boreholes for your cholera-ridden constituency, I want you to know that that is failure and not success.
It’s not the role of a Parliamentarian to deliver water to communities. It’s the role of Central Govt which your party controls. (Read s6 of the Water Act.)
When you have to patch up the incompetency of Govt in this way, what you’re actually telling us is that your party has failed to govern. People don’t want wells built by MPs, they want clean tap water delivered in the proper manner.
The role of an MP is to make law and exercise oversight over Govt conduct and policy. They bring to the fore the specific policy concerns of their community and use their convening power to drive progress but they can’t usurp the function of Govt.
A ZANU PF MP who says he or she is doing well should tell us what motions they brought forward, what debates they made to the enactment of legislation, how their committees are holding the Executive to account, their policy position on the Budget and other policies proposed by Govt.
When an individual MP is now trying to do what a whole executive has failed to do, it’s an indictment on the competence of that Govt and its ultimately unsustainable.
On 26 January 2024, Mahere announced her resignation from Parliament, saying she could not continue representing a party whose leadership was unknown to her and whose motives and values were unclear.
Her resignation came after Nelson Chamisa, who played a significant role in forming the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), announced his departure from the party.
Mahere stressed her commitment to honesty, transparency, and accountability. She felt that the party was no longer aligned with these principles.
She cited the jarring electoral fraud witnessed in August 2023 as a factor in her decision.
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