The Clerk of Parliament, Mr. Kennedy Shokoda, said yesterday that Parliament was not responsible for summoning lawmakers because their withdrawal is the preserve of the political parties that sponsored their nominations, and all Parliament does is announce what the sponsoring party has written in a letter. .
Delivering a lecture to 36 students from the National Defense University of Zimbabwe after they toured the new Parliament House in Mount Hampden, Mr Chukwuda spoke about the role of Parliament in national security.
The students were drawn from the country’s security services and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries Botswana, Zambia, Eswatini, Tanzania, Malawi, Namibia and South Africa.
His statements come in the wake of lawmakers being summoned by the CCC as a result of a power struggle within the opposition party.
“Some members of the public believe that it is Parliament that summons MPs. this is not true. A member is summoned from Parliament under Article 129(k) of the Constitution. The moment their party writes to us, they are recalled from Parliament. What happens in Parliament when the Speaker of the National Assembly or the President of the Senate makes this announcement is just an announcement.
“A member is actually recalled the moment his party writes to Parliament. The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate will simply, in terms of the Constitution, inform the President and the Electoral Commission of Zimbabwe that the person has been recalled from Parliament. So Parliament does not recall anyone from Parliament It is their party in writing. Some of the members who have been recalled have tried to come to Parliament and say: “My party has written to you or will write to you, and wants to withdraw me, can you stop the process.”
“We cannot because this is a constitutional process, and it can only be stopped by the Constitutional Court itself. So, if members do not take the necessary measures to protect themselves, Parliament will simply do what the Constitution says, because that is what the Constitution says.”
Mr Chukwuda said that when the Speaker of the National Assembly or the President of the Senate writes to the President and ZEC notifying them of a vacancy in either House of Parliament, they will simply be exercising their constitutional mandate and would be in violation of the Constitution. If they act otherwise.
The Constitutional Court had already ruled, in the case between Tendai Biti v. Speaker of the House of Representatives, that the Speaker of the National Assembly and the President of the Senate had no role to play in adjudicating disputes within political parties.
Meanwhile, Commander and Deputy Adviser of ZNDU, Air Vice Marshal Michael Moyo, said the new Parliament building and developments implemented across the country demonstrated Zimbabwe’s resilience despite the challenges arising from the sanctions the country is facing.
“I think this is a classic. It’s hard to find words to describe it. It shows that despite the economic problems caused by the sanctions we are going through, Zimbabwe is still able to find its feet.” Your path on how to develop.
“Going forward, if you look at this Parliament House, the Gwai-Shangani Dam, the rehabilitation of the road from Beitbridge to Harare, I think we are still alive,” Deputy Marshal Moyo said. Announce
