Members of Parliament have bemoaned the allocation of $30,7 million to the legislature in the 2017 National Budget, saying they will not be able to meet their legislative and oversight functions with inadequate funding.
BY VENERANDA LANGA
Various MPs, who spoke to NewsDay, described the paltry allocation as a sign that President Robert Mugabe’s government did not see the importance of the Legislature.
MDC-T shadow Finance minister, Tapiwa Mashakada said the allocation was a mockery to the legislature and the separation of powers of the three arms of government.
“This is not good enough and I pray that MPs from both sides will find it prudent to persuade the minister to increase the vote for Parliament before we pass this budget because MPs represent the people,” he said.
Binga North MP, Prince Dubeko Sibanda (MDC-T) said he did not see the rationale behind Chinamasa allocating $175 million to the Office of the President and Cabinet compared to $30,7 million to Parliament.
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“This shows the attitude of Mugabe’s government towards Parliament, and that Mugabe does not respect the role of Parliament, otherwise he should disband it and run the country on his own. It means the executive is overriding the role of the Legislature,” Sibanda said.
The Binga North MP said while it was appreciated that the executive arm of the State has more operational responsibilities than the other two arms, the 400% difference between the allocation to Parliament and that of the Office of President and Cabinet was a clear indicator that the legislature was viewed as the “poorer cousin” of the executive.
“People think that Parliament is about salaries and allowances of MPs. But Parliament has a legislative role, which is anchored in the mandate coming from the people.
“It means Parliament must ensure it consults people in its legislative role, but now it means we have mortgaged our independence and democracy as an institution because over 75% of our budget to the legislative role is funded by development partners because the government is failing to provide resources to Parliament,” Sibanda said.
Norton MP, Temba Mliswa (Independent) said inadequate funding would impact negatively on MPs’ performance.
“MPs should be capacitated and not be put into the negative position of having to struggle to perform,” he said.