New Parliament Building: MPs Were Never Invited For A Tour
Norton legislator Temba Mliswa has accused Parliament of Zimbabwe of disrespecting legislators by not taking them on a tour of the new Parliament building.
Parliament is moving to the new building in Mount Hampden that was built courtesy of a Chinese government grant.
This came to light following a memo from Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda who announced that the State of the Nation Address (SONA) and 2023 Budget will be presented from the Mount Hampden site.
However, Mliswa is not happy about the move, arguing that everyone else was taken for a tour of the building except the legislators who are supposed to use it.
“Unfortunately, the new Parliament building in Mt Hampden is set to start being used when the Fifth session of the Ninth Parliament begins without the MPs having visited it. It’s a very queer arrangement to me.
“The President visited, some Ministers and so did the Speaker of Parliament also. However, us, the legislators who shall be utilising the facility were never taken there to see and proffer our thoughts. The level of disrespect for the office of the MP is gross,” he said.
Mliswa is known to be outspoken and has spoken a lot about Parliamentarians welfare issues.
MPs are like cattle herded for the dip blindly
He said going into the new Parliament building was like cattle being herded into the dip blindly.
“Now we are like cattle being herded into the dip, ignorant and blind about its state. Chero imba yawavakirwa you don’t just start using it before assessing it.
“I suspected that this would happen and even thought of raising a point of order about it. We cannot even respect our own institutions and national offices. This country is strange at times,” he said.
The new Parliament building offers better sitting space for the legislators as compared to the current building.
There is also a large parking space for legislators, which had become a topical issue in the past year.
New Parliament Building: MPs Were Never Invited For A Tour
