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Lloyd Gumbo Senior Reporter
Parliament is today expected to officially initiate proceedings to charge State Procurement Board chairperson Mr Charles Kuwaza with contempt for not taking the business of the Legislature seriously.

Mr Kuwaza refused to provide information requested by the House.

He appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy twice last month, but was booted out for failing to answer questions sent to him by the legislators.

The committee, chaired by zanu-pf MP for Gutu Central, Cde Lovemore Matuke, wrote to the Clerk of Parliament, Mr Kennedy Chokuda, advising him of their intention to charge Mr Kuwaza.

In an interview with The Herald last week, Mr Chokuda confirmed receiving the letter.

He said the process of charging Mr Kuwaza was expected to gather this week.

“We now wait for the chairperson of the committee to report to Parliament next week (this week). The Speaker will then determine if there is a prima facie case of contempt against Mr Kuwaza,” said Mr Chokuda.

“If the Speaker rules that there is a case, then the Standing Rules and Orders Committee will come up with an ad hoc committee to investigate the matter. The pace of the committee depends on the availability of witnesses, otherwise it shouldn’t take long.”

Mr Chokuda said if the committee found Mr Kuwaza guilty, he would be charged, with fines spelt out in the law.

But Parliament cannot send him to jail as that is unlawful under Section 148 of the new Constitution, that fundamentally reduced the powers of Parliament. The provision is also covered in the General Laws Amendment Bill gazetted in May this year. The Bill is currently before the Parliamentary Legal Committee.

In the past Parliament had powers to send a culprit to jail. That is what happened when then opposition MDC MP for Chimanimani, Mr Roy Bennett assaulted then Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa during a debate on land reform.

In the letter to Mr Chokuda, the committee noted that questions raised with Mr Kuwaza were of a serious nature as the success of programmes under Zim-Asset require transparency at the SPB.

The committee wanted Mr Kuwaza to answer questions regarding the tendering system on projects in the electricity sector, specifically under Zesa Holdings’ Zimbabwe Power Company and the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company.

“Given the gravity of this matter and the need for Parliament to stamp its authority, it is the view of the committee that formal proceedings against Mr Kuwaza be executed without delay,” read the letter written to Mr Chokuda by the committee’s clerk.

“The chairperson of the SPB acted in contempt of Parliament by failing to answer lawful questions posed to him as prescribed under the schedule to the Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act, it said.

“The committee recommends that the executive chairperson of the SPB be charged under Appendix B of the Standing Rules and Orders, on schedule in the Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act which prescribes the various offences.

“Mr Kuwaza’s contempt was aggravated by the following breaches as prescribed in the schedule. 1. Refusing to be examined before or to answer any lawful and relevant question put by Parliament or a committee. 2. Prevarication or other misconduct as a witness before Parliament or a committee.”