Parliament owes MPs 9 months allowances

MPs yesterday claimed they had gone for nine months without getting their sitting allowances, which are pegged at $75 per every sitting.

They said Parliament had also been erratic in terms of giving them their fuel allowances.

A number of legislators based in rural constituencies who spoke to NewsDay said they had now resorted to using personal funds to enable them to attend Parliament sittings as government was struggling to fund them.

Zanu-PF chief whip Jorum Gumbo confirmed the development, but he blamed the problems on the economic malaise the country was in.

One of the Zanu-PF MPs from a rural Matabeleland constituency who spoke on condition of anonymity said he was struggling to finance his trips to Harare to attend Parliament sittings.

He said he had resorted to giving passengers lifts whenever he travelled to Harare to attend Parliament sittings in order to raise fuel money.