News / National
Patrick Chinamasa cleared of contempt of parliament charges
05 Aug 2011 at 06:16hrs | Views
THE Speaker of House of Assembly, Mr Lovemore Moyo, yesterday cleared Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa of contempt of Parliament charges, but said there was a prima facie case against Shabani Mashava Mine State appointed administrator, Mr Afaras Gwaradzimba.
The ruling follows a request by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy that the Speaker makes a determination on Minister Chinamasa whether he was not in Contempt of Parliament arising from allegations that he might have lied under oath.
This was after Minister Chinamasa made a commitment during an inquiry by the committee of the state of affairs of SMM that he would furnish the committee with bearer share certificates of the mine as proof that Government owned the mine.
Minister Chinamasa and Mr Gwaradzimba who are representing Government are embroiled in an ownership dispute with former SMM shareholder, Mr Mutumwa Mawere.
On Mr Gwaradzimba, the Speaker said his perusal of the March 4th, 2011 NewsDay, which published the statements forming the basis of contempt of Parliament allegations, showed utterances that could reasonably be deemed to demean the proceedings and character of the committee. Examples of the utterances, said Mr Moyo, were that MPs involved in the investigation of the matter were not
Honourable, that they work for Mr Mawere, that they were alarmists with special interests in SMM and that they were shouting at Mr Gwaradzimba.
"These utterances establish a prima-facie case of contempt of Parliament. Accordingly, the chair rules that there is a prima-facie case against Mr Gwaradzimba warranting the appointment by the House of a Committee on Privileges to look into this matter," he said.
The committee had asked the Speaker last month to make a determination on whether or not the two were in contempt of Parliament as envisaged by the Select Committee rule Number Eleven of the Standing Orders.
This was during a presentation of the committee's report on SMM, which recommended that a lasting solution be found on the mining giant in order to save workers and help in the development of the economy.
The ruling follows a request by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy that the Speaker makes a determination on Minister Chinamasa whether he was not in Contempt of Parliament arising from allegations that he might have lied under oath.
This was after Minister Chinamasa made a commitment during an inquiry by the committee of the state of affairs of SMM that he would furnish the committee with bearer share certificates of the mine as proof that Government owned the mine.
Minister Chinamasa and Mr Gwaradzimba who are representing Government are embroiled in an ownership dispute with former SMM shareholder, Mr Mutumwa Mawere.
Honourable, that they work for Mr Mawere, that they were alarmists with special interests in SMM and that they were shouting at Mr Gwaradzimba.
"These utterances establish a prima-facie case of contempt of Parliament. Accordingly, the chair rules that there is a prima-facie case against Mr Gwaradzimba warranting the appointment by the House of a Committee on Privileges to look into this matter," he said.
The committee had asked the Speaker last month to make a determination on whether or not the two were in contempt of Parliament as envisaged by the Select Committee rule Number Eleven of the Standing Orders.
This was during a presentation of the committee's report on SMM, which recommended that a lasting solution be found on the mining giant in order to save workers and help in the development of the economy.
Source - Byo24News
