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Legislators should respect Parliamentary sessions and not short-change the electorate

Lloyd Gumbo
CARE for a little stand-up comedy? Or a talk show of senior citizens (served as some monotonous and soporific)? Well it all depends on your age and taste, doesn’t it?Only you will be surprised that the venues for these shows are the otherwise august houses of Parliament and the actors are the people that you have elected and sustain through your tax money.

That no longer becomes funny. As a Parliamentary reporter, I have discovered that if you want to see some adult clowns, attend one Parliamentary session, specifically the Lower House and if you want to catch a nap with others then the Upper House is the place to be.

Will we ever live to see our Parliamentarians bring and debate bread and butter issues in that August House? Do they know the mandate we gave them on July 31?

Do they think being an MP is about getting things for free, driving fuel guzzlers, sleeping in hotels and getting US$75 “sitting” (literally, it would seem) allowances regardless of the duration of their “sitting” per meeting or session?

Some of them just get into a committee meeting to mark themselves present before walking out within minutes, if not seconds, into the meeting.

All they want is to ensure they get the US$75 sitting allowances without justifying why. We should be glad that Speaker of the National Assembly, Cde Jacob Mudenda, has vowed to bring all this to an end. But until we see it happen, we will keep hoping.

Sometimes I wonder if these people think we owe them for electing them. Are they not the ones who were begging us day and night promising to dig rivers in our communities if we elected them ahead of others?

Are they not the ones who said they had answers to all our problems, once they set their feet in Parliament? We voted for those MPs, across the divide, on their promises but what do we get in return, unnecessary interjections, booing each other, laughing carelessly and sleeping during sessions (it won’t be long before one of them carelessly breathes from the wrong end).

Parliamentary representatives must know that they are in that House to make laws and push the development agenda of the country in general and their communities in particular.

Chapter Six (Part Six) (130) of the new Constitution on legislative and other powers of Parliament says;
“(1) Except as provided in the Fifth Schedule, in the exercise of their legislative authority both the Senate and the National Assembly have power to initiate, prepare, consider or reject any legislation.

“(2) In addition to their functions under this Constitution, the Senate and the National Assembly may exercise any further functions conferred or imposed on them under any law.”

We all know our Parliamentarians have not initiated any legislation nor have they understood some of the legislations they pass.
For instance, some legislators embarrass themselves when they invite ministry officials to give oral evidence before portfolio or thematic committees.

MPs are stunned every time ministry officials say they exercise their particular mandates as approved by Parliament. It looks like these legislators just rubber stamp Bills without considering them.

They ratify protocols which provide for the opposite of what they want. It is common cause that if any employee fails to perform according to their mandate, they will be fired.

Surely, our MPs know that 2018 is not too far. If their errant behaviour continues, then they will be falling by the wayside whether during their parties’ primary elections or national elections.

Political dynamics have changed. The electorate no longer votes for a donkey because it has a Zanu-PF or MDC-T sticker, as one senior politician once urged voters to.

They now know the mandate they give to their MPs and if their evaluation during the five-year term concludes that the MP has failed to meet expectations, they fire them during the elections.

Full of energy and excitement, some of our MPs in the Lower House shout, bicker and sometimes say unprintable words that are “un-Parliamentary”.

Instead of concentrating on issues that will dramatically improve the lives of the electorate, our legislators find it convenient to spend time debating about trivial issues like urine and sex.

How can someone be paid US$75 per sitting when they talk about such things? In fact, some of them hibernate during debates, only to come back to life when a motion to adjourn the House is moved.

No wonder why some MPs when necessary avoid attending Parliament because they do not want to be part of the madness. Remember the State is spending about US$200 000 per week on our legislators in hotel bills, sitting allowances, fuel coupons among other expenses minus salaries.