Opinion / Columnist
Zim MPs should stop salivating for cash
29 Sep 2014 at 13:58hrs | Views
It is inundating to note that Members of Parliament (MPs) are pressing Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Patrick Chinamasa, to pay them some hefty allowances at a time when the economy is declining at an alarming rate. Surely I see an element of irresponsibility on the part of Honourable MPs. They are supposed to be driven by national interest first ahead of everything else.
MPS should be the most conscious people who are privy to budgetary issues bedeviling the nation at the moment. Service delivery is under threat owing to budgetary deficit characterizing our Government.
In view of such a state of affairs, we see MPs who are supposed to find solutions to resolve the tight financial crisis baying for Chinamasa's head so that he permits them to pocket the little cash that is available at the expense of the generality of the public that they represent.
These cash-hungry MPs are propelled by the need to line-up their pockets than to champion the interests of the constituents that voted them into the august house to cater for their needs and expectations. At a time when the Government is struggling to fund public projects, it is a pity that the MPs are demanding to fill-up their bellies first.
I want to believe in the public perception that politics should not be for the poor. Otherwise some of these MPs are genuinely in need of this cash to enable them survive because they are viciously poor. Therefore, they take their political posts as their life-line of survival. Apart from parliamentary allowances, they have no other source of funds to enable themselves to suffice.
Our situation is synonymous with sending a hungry lion to check your snares in the bushes. They are salivating for the few dollars available when the whole nation is expecting Government to sustain some critical issues like health, education, agriculture and security among other essential issues.
Interestingly, not even one MP raised an issue on increasing salaries for civil servants after the Ministry of Finance adjusted taxes upwards recently. Civil servants are the turbines of national development as they implement Government policy. The MPs only hastened to think of themselves and nobody else. How about us the people they represent? They should be reminded that they are supposed to serve the people not their selfish interests first.
I think it is prudent in the future to outline qualifications for one to be an MP based on their value as defined by what they own in person to avert such salivation for the small national cake as we see in our parliament. As it stands at the moment, these MPs are becoming burdensome to the nation.
The hope for an ordinary citizen is that MPs are supposed to discuss and debate serious state matters and find solutions which satisfy national interest.
MPS should be the most conscious people who are privy to budgetary issues bedeviling the nation at the moment. Service delivery is under threat owing to budgetary deficit characterizing our Government.
In view of such a state of affairs, we see MPs who are supposed to find solutions to resolve the tight financial crisis baying for Chinamasa's head so that he permits them to pocket the little cash that is available at the expense of the generality of the public that they represent.
These cash-hungry MPs are propelled by the need to line-up their pockets than to champion the interests of the constituents that voted them into the august house to cater for their needs and expectations. At a time when the Government is struggling to fund public projects, it is a pity that the MPs are demanding to fill-up their bellies first.
I want to believe in the public perception that politics should not be for the poor. Otherwise some of these MPs are genuinely in need of this cash to enable them survive because they are viciously poor. Therefore, they take their political posts as their life-line of survival. Apart from parliamentary allowances, they have no other source of funds to enable themselves to suffice.
Our situation is synonymous with sending a hungry lion to check your snares in the bushes. They are salivating for the few dollars available when the whole nation is expecting Government to sustain some critical issues like health, education, agriculture and security among other essential issues.
Interestingly, not even one MP raised an issue on increasing salaries for civil servants after the Ministry of Finance adjusted taxes upwards recently. Civil servants are the turbines of national development as they implement Government policy. The MPs only hastened to think of themselves and nobody else. How about us the people they represent? They should be reminded that they are supposed to serve the people not their selfish interests first.
I think it is prudent in the future to outline qualifications for one to be an MP based on their value as defined by what they own in person to avert such salivation for the small national cake as we see in our parliament. As it stands at the moment, these MPs are becoming burdensome to the nation.
The hope for an ordinary citizen is that MPs are supposed to discuss and debate serious state matters and find solutions which satisfy national interest.
Source - Suitable Kajau
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