'Mugabe does not order arrests'

Zvamaida Murwira
The Executive does not have the power or right to direct the Zimbabwe Republic Police whom to arrest on suspicion of being the Internet character Baba Jukwa, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Emerson Mnangagwa has said.

Minister Mnangagwa said when President Mugabe said there were weevils within Zanu-PF, he meant it and that appropriate action would be taken.

He said this during a question and answer session in the National Assembly after Kuwadzana MP Mr Nelson Chamisa (MDC-T), asked if there were high profile Government officials who would be arrested in connection with Baba Jukwa saga.

Baba Jukwa was a character using the Facebook platform to discredit Zanu-PF under the guise of a disgruntled senior Zanu-PF official.

Mr Chamisa had asked what had been done since the Head of State and Government President Mugabe made the remarks at the burial of national hero Nathan Shamuyarira last month.

"We cannot as the Executive influence the police to arrest people. It's up to them to determine whether there is a prima facie case, said Minister Mnangagwa.

He said when President Mugabe made the statement, he meant what he said and Minister Mnangagwa wondered whether Mr Chamisa was questioning the integrity of the statement.

"The Honourable Member, as a former minister, should remember how the Executive works. He is asking the Minister of Justice whether some people will be arrested.

"There are three arms of the state and the Executive arm that deals with that is the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"We do not instruct the police to arrest people. It is up to the police to take action when they believe it has to be taken and when they do so they take the matter to the judiciary and not to the Executive, he said.

During the session, Speaker of the National Assembly, Jacob Mudenda, expressed concern at the failure by some ministers to respond to written questions within a reasonable time.

This was after several MPs raised concern at the continued deferment of questions on the Order Paper, some of which had raised been about three months ago.

Local Government, National Housing and Public Works Deputy Minister Biggie Matiza, was one of those who requested for deferment of questions.

When asked to comment by Mudenda, Minister Mnangagwa, who is the leader of the House, said ministers should respond to questions within a reasonable time but that the word "reasonable could be relative.

Mudenda reprimanded Deputy Minister Matiza for failing to respond to questions despite the fact that they had been on the Order Paper since April.

Mudenda, however, dismissed complaints from legislators who queried why some Cabinet Ministers delegated the duty of fielding questions to their deputies.

Glen View North MP, Mr Fani Munengami and Ms Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga were some of the legislators who had complained about Ministers who delegated their deputies who do not sit in Cabinet.

Earlier, Minister Mnangagwa had defended the use of deputy ministers, raising the principle of collective responsibility.

Minister Mnangagwa undertook to implore his counterparts to respond to questions timeously.