Chinamasa must be charged with contempt for lying in parliament - Bhebhe

The MDC-T organising secretary Abednico Bhebhe has called for the Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa to be charged with contempt of Parliament after he lied to Senators recently blaming the MDC for causing the country to incur unnecessary costs through by-elections.

Chinamasa said $5million was lost funding the June 10 by-elections, adding this should have been avoided as government is broke.

Government is broke because of Zanu PF's cluelessness, and to then blame it on the MDC is utter bunkum, and garbage.

"Chinamasa argues that he funded the costly by-elections to fulfill a constitutional obligation. How quickly he forgets!! Talk of Zanu PF double standards when it so suits the party," said Bhebhe.

"One wonders why he did not raise the same arguments in 2010 when he rushed to Court as then Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister to block the holding of just 3 by-elections when the economy was stable."

He said Chinamasa, in an affidavit he filed on behalf of Mugabe then, pleaded sanctions made it totally impossible to hold the 3 by-elections in Nkayi South, Bulilima East and Lupane East.

"Why he did not plead for the holding of the election as a constitutional obligation in 2010, as he argued in Senate last week only goes to expose the lies, double standards, inconsistency and the kind of Zanu PF actors that we are dealing with," said Bhebhe.

"This is the same kind of inconsistency and double standards from these Zanu PF gangsters that is to blame for the country's sorry state of affairs. For starters, any investor is quickly put off by such uncalled for inconsistencies and lies."

He said the Senate is a respectable institution, and Chinamasa-like characters that insult it with lies should be charged with contempt and Chinamasa does not take Parliament business seriously.

"If they (Zanu PF) do not respect important state institutions like Parliament which make laws for Zimbabwe, you begin to wonder if they respect millions of ordinary of Zimbabweans who toil day in day-out trying to eke a living, some in the streets," said Bhebhe.

"We could not be wrong if we blame this kind of disrespect for the human rights violations that have visited ordinary Zimbabweans, planned by Zanu PF gangsters, dating back from the 1980 to entrench Mugabe's misrule."

He said it does not take a case study to understand that Zanu PF is causing Zimbabwe to incur unnecessary costs: with its leader Mugabe being the chief culprit with his endless trips abroad that have cost millions.

"It also does not take a political party to state that Mugabe and Zanu PF have failed Zimbabweans with their bankrupt policies that have knocked the economy, and resulted in the country not having its own currency," Bhebhe said.

"This is unparalleled failure and Zimbabweans should entrust their future on other players that have not been tested, than Zanu PF that has failed for the past 35 years."

"Chinamasa should not insult the intelligence of Zimbabweans."

He said maybe, he took a cue from the 91 year old Mugabe who has also shown contempt of the new constitution, after he ironically questioned term limits when the country's charter imposes two term limits.

"This is a President who is in his 7th term, and could be dreaming about tinkering with the new constitution to extend his misrule, should he be blessed with many more years," he said.

"That Mugabe could utter courage, as an AU and SADC chairman, to state that two term limits are a "rope around our necks" shows disrespect to the millions of Zimbabweans who overwhelmingly voted for two-term limits during the March 2013 referendum."

Bhebhe said this can only be uttered by a despot, who does not want to hand-over power.