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Cde Irene Zindi

Herald Reporter
Police will soon be required to declare money collected from motorists as spot fines on a weekly basis if a request by Parliament is complied with.The request was made by Mutasa South National Assembly member Cde Irene Zindi in the House Wednesday during a question and answer session.

Her request got an affirmative response from legislators across the political divide.
“I need to find out from the (Home Affairs) minister why don’t they (police) declare the sums of money, province by province, that is collected as spot fines because that is public funds (sic)?

“Posing this question as House of Assembly, we are kindly requesting the minister to make declarations of such spot fines province by province, on a weekly basis because the money is being picked from bins by (children) as young as 10-year-olds along the highways. We are saying this is public funds. Could the minister take note that we are kindly requesting his ministry to declare such funds on a weekly basis province by province?” said Cde Zindi.

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi said they would comply if so requested.
“If we have such a request, we will comply. But as of now, the requirement we have been following is that we are required to declare it to Treasury and to have our accounts audited.

“But if such a time comes that we are required to declare it province by province, we will comply,” he said.
National Assembly Speaker Cde Jacob Mudenda ruled: “Since there is no legal framework at the moment to effect the request, may I say a written question would enable the minister to respond in detail accordingly.”

Legislators asked why some police stations did not have vehicles while cars were “parked in Harare”.
Deputy minister Ziyambi said limited financial resources made it difficult for them to equip the police.

He said the money being collected through fines was inadequate to cater for the ministry’s needs. Meanwhile, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Obert Mpofu said Air Zimbabwe had been properly insured following recent revelations of an insurance scam by management.

He was responding to a question by Kambuzuma MP Mr Willias Madzimure (MDC-T) who claimed travellers were shunning Air Zimbabwe because it was uninsured.

MDC-T legislator for Mabvuku Mr James Maridadi questioned Energy and Power Development Deputy Minister Munacho Mutezo on why the ministry breached tenets of good corporate governance by extending Zesa chief executive officer Engineer Josh Chifamba’s contract.

He said the ministry should have appointed a board to scout for a CEO. Deputy Minister Mutezo said the Zesa board’s tenure lapsed on December 31, 2013 while Eng Chifamba’s contract expired on January 31, 2014.

He said the ministry had to extend Eng Chifamba’s contract for six months on a caretaker basis until a new board was appointed.
Buhera South MP Cde Joseph Chinotimba (Zanu-PF) asked what Government policy was on pothole patching.

He directed the question to Leader of Government Business in Parliament and Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Emerson Mnangagwa in the absence of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Ignatius Chombo.

Cde Chinotimba said the programme was biased towards low-density suburbs. Minister Mnangagwa implored Cde Chinotimba to address his question to Harare City Council.

Cde Chinotimba responded saying Minister Mnangagwa was supposed to simply say he was ignorant of the process.
“In his wisdom, he knows that I can’t answer the question but still he goes ahead to ask me the question,” Minister Mnangagwa then said.