Local Govt bill is a 'Manyenyeni must go Bill'

MDC-T senator Sithembile Mlotshwa has blasted Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere for making efforts to buldoze the shoddy local government Bill into law with only the zeal to have Harare Mayor Bernard Manyenyeni removed from the post just because he is from the opposition patty.

Speaking in the senate when Kasukuwere tabled the bill for discussion, Mlotshwea said it is not a problem to look at the Constitution Chapter 146, the provision that gave the President to recall them from recess.

"When I look at this provision, it shows very well that the Executive does not take Parliament seriously because when they want to fast track whatever they want, they know they can recall us at any minute and we come and rubber stamp Bills like this one," she said.

"Madam President, I want to implore the Minister to avoid things that divide Zimbabwe.  Things like this one divide Zimbabwe because when you go to the Bill of Rights, you will understand that if people speak about issues, if they are not happy about issues it means that the one that is appointed like the Minister should listen to what people are saying because there can never be stability in a country when people are opposed to what one individual wants to do."

"We very well know that these clauses that are being put to amendment today by the Minister are clearly "the Manyenyeni must be fired clauses".  These are the Clauses.  There is nothing else and the fast track is only because Manyenyeni must go according to the Minister.  So it is a violation of our Constitution to have the Minister manipulating the laws and fast tracking sections in a Bill and amendments so as to carry forward on issue about one man in one town."

She said  it is very clear ngeSiNdebele kuthiwa, ucatsha ngomunwe meaning you are hiding using something that will not cover the whole body.

"Maybe you are only covering the eyes but people can easily identify the other parts of the body that it is you, so ukucatsha ngomunwe that is what it means.  We know very well that the Minister here according to how he is pronouncing the benefits of the amendments, that he is now on the gear being the Political Commissar for the forthcoming 2018 elections," she said.

"It is very difficult to accept one person to have powers to detect whereas Zimbabwe has millions of people around who can do the job equally as well. If you look at the sections, it shows very well that all the other people are being ignored.  I do not know when the other people are supposed to participate in the processes of the country."

Mlotshwa said in other countries people are busy talking about improving participatory governance.

"We must improve that, show the democracy and evolve power so that other people sit and talk about the issues that affect them. If now the Bill is not talking about the Preamble, Chapter 14 where there is devolution and involvement of other people, then it only talks about the Minister suspending, the Minister appointing a Tribunal, the Minister doing this and that, when are other people going to participate?" Mlotshwa fumed.

"Really, I think that the Executive and Ministers are taking us as Members of Parliament too much for granted in that you see it because you can see that the other side is not even debating. Maybe they belong to the same party as the Ministers, so they do not want to debate.  But I think if we are people, we should listen to each other, debate, differ and come up with something."