News / National
Another IsiNdebele row in Parliament
08 Jul 2015 at 15:23hrs | Views
There was commotion in Parliament this Wednesday afternoon when MDC legislator Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga was briefly blocked from contributing in isiNdebele.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga was told to speak in any other language rather than her preferred isiNdebele.
Trouble started when Misihairabwi-Mushonga was given a chance to contribute by an acting speaker of Parliament and she posed her question in isiNdebele.
An MP who was not visible from ZBC footage shouted from the house that she must not speak in Ndebele.
The unidentified MP got a shock backing from the Acting Speaker who also told Misihairabwi-Mushonga to use another language.
Tourism minister Walter Mzembi interjected saying it was okay for Misihairabwi-Mushonga to speak in isiNdebele as she was born to a Ndebele mother but Misihairabwi-Mushonga must reframe her question in English.
Last year Transport minister Obert Mpofu was also ordered to answer a question in Shona in the House of Assembly to which he refused to budge.
The language issue remains a sore point for the country's western regions where people often complain of marginalisation and discrimination.
Most Zimbabwean politicians can hardly speak two local languages fluently.
The old Lancaster House constitution only recognised English as the country's official languages.
However, the new charter expanded the list to include Ndebele, Shona, Chewa, Nambya, Ndau, Shangani, Sign Language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga was told to speak in any other language rather than her preferred isiNdebele.
Trouble started when Misihairabwi-Mushonga was given a chance to contribute by an acting speaker of Parliament and she posed her question in isiNdebele.
An MP who was not visible from ZBC footage shouted from the house that she must not speak in Ndebele.
The unidentified MP got a shock backing from the Acting Speaker who also told Misihairabwi-Mushonga to use another language.
Last year Transport minister Obert Mpofu was also ordered to answer a question in Shona in the House of Assembly to which he refused to budge.
The language issue remains a sore point for the country's western regions where people often complain of marginalisation and discrimination.
Most Zimbabwean politicians can hardly speak two local languages fluently.
The old Lancaster House constitution only recognised English as the country's official languages.
However, the new charter expanded the list to include Ndebele, Shona, Chewa, Nambya, Ndau, Shangani, Sign Language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa.
Source - Byo24News
