Parliament Meets To Decide Temba Mliswa’s Fate
18 February 2019
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Parliament’s Committee of Standing Rules and Orders is expected to meet today and constitute a Privileges Committee to investigate allegations against Norton legislator Temba Mliswa and three others that they demanded a $400 000 bribe from a local businessman.

The SROC, chaired by Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudend, is also expected to appoint an interim chairperson for the Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy which Mliswa was chairing.

The setting up of a Privileges Committee followed a motion moved by Makoni South lawmaker Misheck Mataranyika (Zanu-PF), who submitted that allegations against Mliswa were of a serious nature requiring investigations by Parliament in order to safeguard the integrity of the august House.

Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda confirmed today’s meeting during an interview yesterday.

“Yes, we now have a date for the meeting of Committee of Standing Rules and Orders. We are convening our meeting tomorrow to deliberate on a number of issues,” said Chokuda.

Mliswa, who chairs Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development, was implicated with three other members — Leonard Chikomba (Gokwe Kabuyuni, Zanu-PF), Anele Ndebele (Magwegwe, MDC-Alliance) and Prince Sibanda (Binga North, MDC-Alliance).

In his ruling to a motion by Mataranyika a fortnight ago, Mudenda said Section 194 (1) (a) of the Constitution required that Members of Parliament demonstrate high standards of professional ethics.

It read as follows: “Public administration in all tiers of Government including institutions and agencies of the State and Government-controlled entities and other public enterprises must be governed by the democratic values and principles enshrined in the Constitution, including the following principles, (a) a high standard of professional ethics must be promoted and maintained”.

Mudenda said Parliament had to act.

Mataranyika’s motion followed allegations by local businessman, Mr James Ross Goddard of JRG Contracting (Pvt) Ltd, that Mliswa and his colleagues demanded $400 000 as “facilitation fee” to enable the latter’s company secure a mining contract at Hwange.

State Media