Zanu PF has gagged its members of parliament from questioning government ministers in parliament.
The embargo was announced by the party’s secretary for administration and Zvimba North MP Ignatius Chombo at a provincial coordinating meeting which was held in Chinhoyi on Saturday.
Newsday reports that Chombo pin pointed  Chegutu West MP Dexter Nduna and his Makonde counterpart Kindness Paradza who he said were  getting “too excited” in Parliament by asking tough questions to expose the ruling party’s Cabinet ministers.
At the meeting Chombo said Nduna’s “too many questions” directed at Mines minister Walter Chidakwa last week had unsettled the latter.
According to Parliament’s Order Paper for last week, Nduna had asked 59 of the recorded 98 questions posed to Chidakwa over the mystery surrounding the $15 billion worth of diamonds, which went missing in Chiadzwa.
Although both Nduna and Chombo could not be reached for comment yesterday, a Zanu PF MP, who declined to be named, accused the Executive of seeking to stifle the legislature’s oversight role.
“We are now in a dilemma. How can a member of the Executive curtail us from doing what we were voted to do, to act as an oversight of the Executive? Besides, we agreed that we should not be overshadowed by MDC-T MPs,” a Zanu PF Mashonaland West MP, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
Paradza, who chairs the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, reportedly angered Cabinet ministers when he played a slide show, which painted a sorry picture of the state of affairs at the country’s Botswana and Ethiopia embassies.
The Makonde MP said he had attended the PCC meeting, but denied Chombo had ordered him to tone down his questions in Parliament.
“I know you are there to tarnish my name. I was never mentioned by name . . . Chombo named Nduna and not me. As for the report, yes, it was factual. That is the reason Cabinet acted on it,” he said.
But businessman, Philip Chiyangwa appeared to be backing Chombo.
Chiyangwa, who sits in the PCC courtesy of being a central committee member, said the MPs were embarrasing ministers by not sticking to caucus rules.
“My friend, we are veterans. I have been a Member of Parliament for Chinhoyi and accordingly, MPs should put their ministers to task during caucuses, not to embarrass our ministers like what they are doing at the moment. They (MPs) are seeking unnecessary publicity by embarrassing their party ministers, something that should be expected from the opposition. We are watching them,” he said.