Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda has ruled that parliament will not pay MDC parliamentarians for Thursday’s seating after they boycotted the presentation of the complementary budget which was attended by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Ruling on a submission by ZANU PF parliamentarian Joseph Chinotimba, Mudenda condemned the opposition parliamentarians for continuously resisting Mnangagwa.

Chinotimba’s said:

“My point of privilege is that every time and then when the Zimbabwe President who resoundingly won the election in 2018 is coming into this august House, Members of the opposition walk out or abscond and yet the next day they will come here demanding cars from Parliament of which the money is being availed by the President of the country.”

“So, my point of  privilege is that there is supposed to be an order that says that if a Member of Parliament engages in a mass demonstration which is what they have done right now, it is a mass demonstration not coming into Parliament.  They should not absent themselves when the President is coming.  It does not pay for us to say we have a country and yet we are taking this country for granted.” 

“If they have a problem with the President, they should go to the courts.  When we are in Parliament, we should do our Parliamentary duties.”

Below is Mudenda’s full ruling on the matter:

“It is unfortunate that the Hon. Members of the main opposition party here in Parliament have decided to boycott this session in which His Excellency the President will be in attendance.  There are two issues that we need to put on record.  The first one is that His Excellency the President is Head of State and Government and Commander-In-Chief of the Defence Forces.

Now, there is some lack of understanding when we say the President is Head of State.  The President is Head of State because he is an embodiment of the sovereignty of the people of Zimbabwe without any exclusion or discrimination.  His uncontested position as Head of State has been recognised by the United Nations and the International Community, let alone the African Union.  We have not heard of any country under the sun that has not recognised His Excellency President Mnangagwa.  So therefore, there is misdirection in terms of the opposition in their unwarranted behaviour.

Secondly, in terms of section 116 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe which I shall quote, the Legislature of Zimbabwe consists of Parliament and the President acting in accordance with the Constitution, which means His Excellency the President institutionally is part of this august House and that position has got to be respected and cannot be contested. 

Accordingly, as head of this institution, I rule that the Hon. Members from the opposition shall not be allowed to attend Parliament today, including after his Excellency has gone. Relatedly, their allowances for today shall not be paid accordingly, so I have ruled.