The Financial Gazette
By Clemence Manyukwe
4 July 2013
AS the chapter closed on the Seventh Parliament last week, it was clear that there were heroes and villains among Members of Parliament representing the people from across the political divide.
Sworn in on August 25, 2008 before its June 29 dissolution, expectations were that the Legislative Assembly would be hostile to President Robert Mugabe’s rule as it started its tenure when the nation was heavily polarised by a sham presidential run-off poll. At the time of its commencement, ZANU-PF had lost its legislative majority to both formations of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for the first time since independence in 1980.
The signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) on September 15 — two months after the resumption of Parliament — saved the day for President Mugabe as it cleared the way for some form of collaboration between the governing parties through the consummation of the inclusive government in February 2009.
But as MPs performed their representative and oversight role, some left impressive and lasting footprints on Zimbabwe’s political terrain while the performance of others was a disservice to their constituencies and country.
Among the heroes of the Seventh Parliament was obviously the late chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy Edward Chindori-Chininga who blew the whistle on the rot in the mining sector and how funds that should have been used to improve the quality of life of ordinary people were being stolen, especially in the diamond mining industry.
Following his death, Parliament released a statement which in part said:
“The late Hon Chindori-Chininga’s guidance and wisdom, incisive contributions, attention to detail, analytical skills and above all candidness will solely be missed in both the House of Assembly and the Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy.â€
Three MDC-T MPs also qualify to have their names on the hall of fame for legislators for devoting their time and talents in crafting Private Members’ Bills even though the powers-that-be blocked them.
MDC-T chief whip, Innocent Gonese (Mutare Central) proposed the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) Amendment Bill while Settlement Chikwinya (Mbizo) proposed a Media Freedom and Transparency Bill.
Tangwara Matimba (Buhera Central) also came up with the Urban Councils Amendment Bill in a failed bid to curtail powers granted to the principal minister.
Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa also deserves special mention for doing away with an entrenched culture within ZANU-PF of bunking Parliament’s Question and Answer sessions whenever issues that unsettle them are tabled.
Education Minister, David Coltart, the Senator for Khumalo in Bulawayo also did outstanding work to resuscitate the education sector that had crumbled before the formation of the inclusive government in February 2009.
His marshalling of donors saw the printing of millions of school textbooks for children. Coltart also brought some changes to the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council, one of the most notorious State firms cited for the loss of credibility in the country’s national examinations.
Kudos also goes to Coltart’s party colleague, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga as the only female GPA negotiator, proving to the world that women can also do it.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti completes the list of bureaucrats who brought a breath of fresh air to Parliament as he sponsored the highest number of Bills and had some rejected such as the Diamond Control Revenue Bill of 2011.
If all the Ministers had worked hard to revise some of the country’s archaic and repressive laws, the cry by Zimbabweans for greater liberties could have long been extinguished.
Co-Home Affairs Minister Theresa Makone of the MDC-T missed a golden opportunity to rein in on the police for some of their transgressions.
While in Parliament, Makone defended the police with so much vigour; overshadowing even her ZANU-PF co-Minister Ke-mbo Mohadi in praise-singing.
Among Makone’s infamous actions was her defence of the smashing of windscreens of public transport vehicles by police, a practice condemned by human rights lawyers.
It remains ironic that when she was busy defending the police, members of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) were meeting the top brass of the force to remind them of the need to observe human rights and work on a possible revision of their curriculum.
Still in Parliament, Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa was among the legislative assembly’s villains as he chose to sit on the wrong side of history by blocking a number of reforms that were meant to give people greater freedoms.
Even though ZANU-PF lawmakers praised and passed the POSA Amendment Bill in the House of Assembly, the Minister blocked it in the Senate, while a Referendum Amendment Bill suffered stillbirth when he opposed the granting of Zimbabweans abroad the right to vote.
His Electoral Amendment Bill remains a piecemeal legislation as he also rejected calls to sideline the Registrar General’s Office from all electoral matters with a view to ceding the responsibility to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
Only two weeks ago, ZHRC expressed misgivings over some aspects of the ZHR Bill after Chinamasa shot down a number of proposals during debate.
In the same league with Chinamasa is Webster Shamu, the Minister of Media, Information and Publicity who branded the need for media reforms in a country with only one television station as illegal.
Shamu and Chinamasa became victims of a political disease suffered by so many who wield power in Africa – failure to grasp that oppressive laws sometimes come back to haunt their authors and that in the fullness of time, the will of the people always prevails.
Youth Minister Saviour Kasukuwere also occupies the Parliamentary villain bench after the majority of his regulations to do with the youth and indigenisation were deemed to be unconstitutional by the Parliamentary Legal Committee.
Sitting with him on the bench is Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo. Instead of coming to the rescue of residents who are not getting value for their money from mostly MDC-T-ed municipalities where corruption is rampant, Chombo made a number of questionable decisions that exacerbated the situation.
 For example, when the MDC-T fired 23 Chitungwiza councillors on grounds of milking the municipality, he refused to relieve them of their duties, only to do so much later in a classic case of shutting the stable door when the horse has already bolted.
The Comptroller and Auditor General also recommended that an investigation be conducted on obscene allowances Chombo’s appointed commissions were receiving.
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu, his deputy Gift Chimanikire and the latter’s predecessor Murisi Zwizwai remain all time villains for failing to ensure that diamond revenues are used for the greater good of Zimbabwe. They also failed to rein in some of the diamond mining firms in Chiadzwa operating like modern day imperialists, displaying gross insensitivity towards the people of Manicaland.
One such firm is Anjin which wants to take over Meikles Park to build a hotel despite the fact that the place has so much sentimental value to the people of Manicaland in as much as Tiananmen Square is to the Chinese or Madison Square is to the Americans.