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Lloyd Gumbo Harare Bureau
Zanu-PF Members of Parliament want ministers who abscond from Wednesday’s Question Time in the National Assembly and in the Senate on Thursday to be charged with contempt of Parliament. National Assembly Speaker, Advocate Jacob Mudenda on Wednesday warned that from this week, ministers who did not show up for Question Time would be charged with contempt of Parliament.
He said this as only two ministers attended Wednesday’s Question Time from the start while the majority were deputy ministers.
Some of the ministers started trickling in when the Session was already half-way through.

In an interview with our Harare Bureau, Zanu-PF chief whip Cde Lovemore Matuke said it was unacceptable for ministers to disregard Parliament.
He said they had tried on several occasions to get ministers to attend Parliament but they had been ignored.

“We support the ruling of the Speaker because this is Ministers’ Question Time. We want all ministers to attend without fail otherwise the ruling by the Speaker should be implemented without hesitation,” said Cde Matuke.

“They must take Parliament business seriously. We want them to attend Parliament especially on Wednesdays. They can abscond on any other day but not Wednesday because it’s in the national interest for them to respond to questions raised by MPs.”

MPs have on several occasions complained that Cabinet ministers send their deputies to Parliament to answer questions, some of whom have struggled to respond.

He said due to ministers’ absence, most of the questions are directed to Leader of Government business in Parliament, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, instead of line ministers.

Cde Matuke said: “The deputy ministers may not be in a position to answer most of the questions because they don’t sit in Cabinet. Some of the questions which are asked relate to Cabinet business. Ministers themselves are required to attend Question Time.

“The Vice President is laboured with questions which are supposed to be directed to line ministers. The Leader of the House should attend to issues that are above ministers. Only when a minister is out on government business should the Leader of Government business in Parliament be asked to respond on their behalf. He is doing a huge service to cover for them but it shouldn’t be a habit.

“Some of them don’t even have the courtesy to send their apologies that they wouldn’t be able to attend Question Time.”
VP Mnangagwa told the National Assembly that it was mandatory for ministers to sit throughout the Question Time.

He was responding to complaints by MPs that ministers walked out of the House during Question Time.