Active Parly keeps boards in check Mr Kuwaza

KUWAZALloyd Gumbo Mr Speaker Sir
Members of Parliament have for a long time been considered toothless bulldogs who are wasting taxpayers’ money going to the august House to bootlick their masters instead of providing checks and balances to the Executive.

Polarisation has been one of the major drivers behind failure by legislators to carry out their constitutional obligations as MPs have tended to let their political jackets define them instead of what was and is good for the country.

MPs from both Zanu-PF and MDC-T are guilty as charged on this one as they have failed the electorate by allowing their political affiliations to define how they go about their business.

As a result, ministers and officials from Government, parastatals and enterprises have taken advantage by politicising inquiries.

What is clear is that some of the issues on which the officials have sought to shield their failures have nothing to do with political party ideologies.

MPs’ major mandate is to hold the Executive to account as well as ensuring that State institutions are not abused.

As such, State parastatals and enterprises become accountable to the generality of Zimbabweans through their representatives.

At law, everyone is subject to the law, which makes the role of parliamentarians critical since they are there to protect the Constitution. The business that MPs carry out is on behalf of the electorate since Zimbabwe is a representative democracy.

It was therefore gratifying to see the Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy flexing its muscles when State Procurement Board chairperson Charles Kuwaza appeared before it last week.

The committee wanted information on tenders involving the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company.

The media have been awash with stories exposing poor corporate governance at the SPB in the management of tenders, as such Parliament has every right to establish facts on the ground by summoning Kuwaza to give evidence before the committee.

For reasons best known to himself, on two occasions Kuwaza did not respond to the specific questions that legislators asked him. This obviously infuriated the whole committee as they demanded that he be sent back as they also indicated that they would recommend to authorities that he be charged with contempt for deliberately refusing to answer the questions.

It is understood that the committee has since preferred contempt charges against Kuwaza, which could set a precedent for other officials who disregard or undermine the work of Parliament.

The lesson here is that Parliament has a constitutional mandate to flex its muscles when it feels that officials are not taking its business seriously.

This is what Parliament should be about without fear or favour if they are to justify their existence.

With this kind of attitude, officials at State enterprises and parastatals will know that it’s no longer business as usual as they will be held accountable by the people through their representatives.

There is no justification for parastatals to fail to deliver with some of them operating in profitable sectors of the economy. Some of them have even failed to utilise their monopoly in their respective sectors. This calls for parliamentary action if mediocrity is to be nipped in the bud.

While ministers have the mandate of appointing board members of parastatals, the onus is on Parliament to check if the appointed authorities are doing their duties diligently. The appointment of board members and management is one other major issue at the moment.

Some members of the executive at various parastatals have stayed there for too long with no sign of transformation of the same companies in the near future.

There is therefore no reason for them to continue as place holders without delivering on their mandate. This is another area that Parliament must investigate without fear or favour if the country is to develop.

Some people have become career board members in parastatals in spite of their failure in the past.

Parliamentarians must summon ministers to explain how some of these board members have continued to be appointed without due regard to their qualifications or expertise in respective sectors.

The reason some of our parastatals have failed to contribute to economic development is because of lack of accountability. If Parliament can continue on the path that it has embarked on we are likely to see a paradigm shift in terms of how parastatals operate.

Zim-Asset will not achieve its objectives if parastatals continue to be steered by people who have no new ideas. The success of this economic blueprint is anchored on the performance of parastatals and State enterprises contributing to revenue generation in the country.

This means failure by the same institutions to deliver frustrates any prospects of economic recovery in Zimbabwe.

It is for this reason that Parliament must play an active role in ensuring that parastatals and other State enterprises are held to account.

Where they are failing, Parliament must make the necessary noise to ensure that heads roll.

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