Paul Nyathi|Independent Norton Constituency member of parliament Temba Mliswa has emotionally called on parliament to give isolated National Patriotic Front only parliamentarian Masango “The Blackman” Matambanadzo an opportunity to also fly out of the country on parliament business.

Speaking on a point of privilege in the House of Assembly on Tuesday, Mliswa called on the Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda, to exercise inclusiveness by giving Matambanadzo an opportunity to also represent parliament outside the country as the opportunities appear to be for ZANU PF and MDC members only.

“Mr. Speaker, I also want to raise the issue of inclusivity in this Parliament.   I see that there are a lot of people who go on trips – MDC and ZANU PF.  I am an Independent and do not really need to go on trips but I think there is Hon. Matambanadzo, who belongs to a certain party.  I think it is important for Parliament to show inclusivity whenever they are doing anything according to the Constitution,” said Mliswa.

“I am not trying to lobby for me to travel – I travel enough but the aspect of inclusivity is very important.  I hear of many trips – internationally and regionally that happen and I asked Hon. Matambanadzo if he had been there and he said that he had not been informed.  So I think inclusivity is quite important.”

Mudenda told Mliswa that unfortunately ” The Blackman” might not get a chance to fly out as the regional and international meetings are standing committees and only those seconded to those committees attend the meetings not on a rotational basis.

“Those are standing Committees and once you are in, there is no room for rotation.  You have to be there until you complete your five years in Parliament.  So it is not as if this time it is IPU and you choose members – there is consistency because at those regional meetings, these Members of Parliament are assigned to various committees which they must attend consistently and this is according to the statutes of the concerned organizations – regional, continental as well as international,” said Mudenda.