Opinion / Columnist
Zimbabwe parliament speaker Moyo missing log in his eye
31 Jul 2011 at 16:04hrs | Views
ON Monday the Speaker of the House of Assembly Lovemore Moyo, who calls himself the Speaker of Parliament when no such office exists in the Legislature since Parliament refers to both the House and Senate, reacted opportunistically to the unfortunate and unacceptable violence that rocked Parliament last Saturday by displaying his hypocritical hand whose three fingers were tellingly pointed at himself as he deviously relied on regime-change media reports to point an accusing finger at presumed Zanu-PF supporters that have been alleged to have been behind the violence.
While it is right to unreservedly condemn the indefensible violent incident that disrupted the public hearings on the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill jointly organised by the House's Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs and the Senate's Thematic Committee on Human Rights, Speaker Moyo has every reason to be the last person to make sanctimonious noise about the matter.
This is because of Moyo's delinquency as Speaker whose track record is punctuated by some shocking incidents of dereliction of duty that are morally equivalent to the outrage witnessed in the precincts of Parliament last weekend.
Because of those incidents, there's shared blameworthiness between the Speaker and the Saturday culprits with the Speaker getting most of the stick because his MDC-T party started the rot on August 26, 2008 with his acquiescence.
On that day which marked the official opening of the First Session of the Seventh Parliament of Zimbabwe by President Mugabe, MDC-T legislators who had been sworn in the previous day along with their colleagues from Zanu-PF and the then MDC-M turned into horrible hooligans inside the House and disrupted the President's speech in verbally violent, rowdy and abusive ways that were practically similar to the Saturday disturbances.
But there were important differences between the deplorable events of August 26, 2008 and July 23, 2011 not least that the former happened inside the Chamber of the House and involved MDC-T MPs while the latter took place outside the Chamber in the precincts of Parliament and involved members of the general public.
It is important to emphasise the fact that the August 26, 2008 mayhem happened inside the Chamber of the House and involved MDC-T legislators who have a duty to be honourable during a constitutional address by the Head of State and Government and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces, President Mugabe, under Speaker Moyo's watch who did absolutely nothing to bring his errant MPs who were in a violent mood to order.
In fact, as would be readily confirmed by archival footage of the incident, video clips captured Speaker Moyo childishly and irresponsibly relishing the moment of chaos and disorder that consumed the House on August 26, 2008.
What is very instructive about Speaker Moyo's hypocrisy in the light of his self-righteous Monday statement opportunistically condemning last weekend's disturbances in Parliament is not only that he did nothing to halt the August 26, 2008 mayhem in the Chamber of the House caused by his MDC-T MPs as it unfolded under his nose but also that he also did not issue any statement to denounce the disruptive pandemonium after the fact.
In the circumstances, Speaker Moyo's Monday statement in which he was grandstanding all over the place pontificating against the evils of violence in Parliament after what happened on Saturday was not based on any principle whatsoever given his silent support of what happened on August 26, 2008.
As such, how can a hopelessly partisan Speaker who failed to bring order by stopping violent chaos inside the Chamber of the House on August 26, 2008 now pretend that he will not brook any chaos and violence that allegedly took place outside the Chamber of the House on July 23?
Whom does Speaker Moyo really think he is fooling by his stinking hypocrisy?
Himself?
The MDC-T?
The UK, US and EU? The regime-change media? Lindiwe Zulu of the Sadc facilitation fame? Zimbabweans?
Some of these or everyone?
What makes Speaker Moyo believe that while he could not investigate the sad events that took place inside the Chamber of the House on August 26, 2008 involving MDC-T MPs, he can investigate what happened outside the Chamber of the House in the precincts of Parliament on July 23 involving members of the public?
The same questions apply to the reckless grandstanding of MDC-T media mouthpieces that only see or hear evil either if it's against UK, US or EU interests in Zimbabwe or if it is allegedly done by Zanu-PF.
Indeed, the UK, US, EU and the local puppets in the two MDC formations never do any evil as far as the so-called independent media and this explains why it has lost all credibility notwithstanding its self-indulgent foolish belief that credibility comes from being subsidised by regime-change donors or from being a South African Sunday Times ghost writer and brown envelope seeker free to write subversive regime-change fiction without any accountability.
One such daily media mouthpiece whose semi-illiterate content now borders on lunacy even went as far as foolishly proclaiming that what happened in Parliament last Saturday meant that violence had erupted nationwide all in a futile attempt to bring down our country by tarnishing its image.
The time has come to legally hold some of these media mouthpieces of doom to account for and to substantiate their daily and weekly lies in the courts.
In his Monday statement, Speaker Moyo, speaking as if he does not know that hearsay is worthless, claimed that "Parliament has seen disturbing media reports . . . further it has been reported and is now in the public domain that Members of Parliament, journalists and members of the public were assaulted in Parliament by rowdy gangs identified as Zanu-PF activists who were dropped off at Parliament as they chanted their party songs".
All this is shocking hearsay being peddled as fact by a whole Speaker who needs to be advised to be careful about the legalities of what he says and does about things he does not know.
In the meantime, Speaker Moyo's hypocrisy over the matter in question is not only revealed by his shocking double standards in how he handled the August 26, 2008 versus the July 23 incidents in Parliament but also by his twofaced attitude towards the very same judiciary which he has been imploring since Monday to look into what happened on Saturday.
Last March, Speaker Moyo made contemptuous statements to the effect that law enforcement in Zimbabwe is done " . . . on the basis of which political party you belong to . . . it is known that many of these officers of law . . . the majority of them, owe it to Zanu-PF and indeed they remain loyal and faithful to the cause of Zanu-PF."
Yet on Monday the same Speaker pontificated that he had "asked the Police to give us a report on the disturbances [in Parliament on Saturday]".
Putting aside the fact that the Police do not legally and constitutionally report to Parliament, what has changed for the Speaker to now want the Police to be involved when he has demonised them and other judiciary officers as "Zanu-PF faithfuls?"
How does the Speaker propose to keep and eat his cake of his double-standards towards law enforcement at the same time?
What rank hypocrisy is this?
Even more telling on this score is the Speaker's self-indulgent description of July 23 disturbances in Parliament as "yet another unhelpful entry on the long ledger of the political culture of intolerance and violence".
Why does the good Honourable Speaker, who is also National Chairman of the MDC-T, not think that these words of his do not apply to what happened inside the Chamber of the House on August 26, 2008 under his watch?
Why do they not apply to the violent events of October 2005 inside the MDC which led to the split of the party into its current two factions?
Yes, why do the same words not apply to the run-up of the violent MDC-T congress in Bulawayo just last April?
What "unhelpful entry on the long ledger of the political culture of intolerance and violence" is Speaker Moyo talking about which is not in the political veins and DNA of the MDC-T?
Speaker Moyo should be advised not to follow the example of the President of his party, Morgan Tsvangirai, who has perfected the art of approaching important national issues with an open mouth and a shut mind.
Being Speaker does not mean speaking with an open mouth and a shut mind.
Prof Moyo is a Zanu-PF Politburo member, legislator for Tsholotsho North and former Minister of Media, Information and Publicity.
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Prof Jonathan Moyo is the member of parliament for Tsholotsho
While it is right to unreservedly condemn the indefensible violent incident that disrupted the public hearings on the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill jointly organised by the House's Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs and the Senate's Thematic Committee on Human Rights, Speaker Moyo has every reason to be the last person to make sanctimonious noise about the matter.
This is because of Moyo's delinquency as Speaker whose track record is punctuated by some shocking incidents of dereliction of duty that are morally equivalent to the outrage witnessed in the precincts of Parliament last weekend.
Because of those incidents, there's shared blameworthiness between the Speaker and the Saturday culprits with the Speaker getting most of the stick because his MDC-T party started the rot on August 26, 2008 with his acquiescence.
On that day which marked the official opening of the First Session of the Seventh Parliament of Zimbabwe by President Mugabe, MDC-T legislators who had been sworn in the previous day along with their colleagues from Zanu-PF and the then MDC-M turned into horrible hooligans inside the House and disrupted the President's speech in verbally violent, rowdy and abusive ways that were practically similar to the Saturday disturbances.
But there were important differences between the deplorable events of August 26, 2008 and July 23, 2011 not least that the former happened inside the Chamber of the House and involved MDC-T MPs while the latter took place outside the Chamber in the precincts of Parliament and involved members of the general public.
It is important to emphasise the fact that the August 26, 2008 mayhem happened inside the Chamber of the House and involved MDC-T legislators who have a duty to be honourable during a constitutional address by the Head of State and Government and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces, President Mugabe, under Speaker Moyo's watch who did absolutely nothing to bring his errant MPs who were in a violent mood to order.
In fact, as would be readily confirmed by archival footage of the incident, video clips captured Speaker Moyo childishly and irresponsibly relishing the moment of chaos and disorder that consumed the House on August 26, 2008.
What is very instructive about Speaker Moyo's hypocrisy in the light of his self-righteous Monday statement opportunistically condemning last weekend's disturbances in Parliament is not only that he did nothing to halt the August 26, 2008 mayhem in the Chamber of the House caused by his MDC-T MPs as it unfolded under his nose but also that he also did not issue any statement to denounce the disruptive pandemonium after the fact.
In the circumstances, Speaker Moyo's Monday statement in which he was grandstanding all over the place pontificating against the evils of violence in Parliament after what happened on Saturday was not based on any principle whatsoever given his silent support of what happened on August 26, 2008.
As such, how can a hopelessly partisan Speaker who failed to bring order by stopping violent chaos inside the Chamber of the House on August 26, 2008 now pretend that he will not brook any chaos and violence that allegedly took place outside the Chamber of the House on July 23?
Whom does Speaker Moyo really think he is fooling by his stinking hypocrisy?
Himself?
The MDC-T?
The UK, US and EU? The regime-change media? Lindiwe Zulu of the Sadc facilitation fame? Zimbabweans?
Some of these or everyone?
What makes Speaker Moyo believe that while he could not investigate the sad events that took place inside the Chamber of the House on August 26, 2008 involving MDC-T MPs, he can investigate what happened outside the Chamber of the House in the precincts of Parliament on July 23 involving members of the public?
The same questions apply to the reckless grandstanding of MDC-T media mouthpieces that only see or hear evil either if it's against UK, US or EU interests in Zimbabwe or if it is allegedly done by Zanu-PF.
Indeed, the UK, US, EU and the local puppets in the two MDC formations never do any evil as far as the so-called independent media and this explains why it has lost all credibility notwithstanding its self-indulgent foolish belief that credibility comes from being subsidised by regime-change donors or from being a South African Sunday Times ghost writer and brown envelope seeker free to write subversive regime-change fiction without any accountability.
The time has come to legally hold some of these media mouthpieces of doom to account for and to substantiate their daily and weekly lies in the courts.
In his Monday statement, Speaker Moyo, speaking as if he does not know that hearsay is worthless, claimed that "Parliament has seen disturbing media reports . . . further it has been reported and is now in the public domain that Members of Parliament, journalists and members of the public were assaulted in Parliament by rowdy gangs identified as Zanu-PF activists who were dropped off at Parliament as they chanted their party songs".
All this is shocking hearsay being peddled as fact by a whole Speaker who needs to be advised to be careful about the legalities of what he says and does about things he does not know.
In the meantime, Speaker Moyo's hypocrisy over the matter in question is not only revealed by his shocking double standards in how he handled the August 26, 2008 versus the July 23 incidents in Parliament but also by his twofaced attitude towards the very same judiciary which he has been imploring since Monday to look into what happened on Saturday.
Last March, Speaker Moyo made contemptuous statements to the effect that law enforcement in Zimbabwe is done " . . . on the basis of which political party you belong to . . . it is known that many of these officers of law . . . the majority of them, owe it to Zanu-PF and indeed they remain loyal and faithful to the cause of Zanu-PF."
Yet on Monday the same Speaker pontificated that he had "asked the Police to give us a report on the disturbances [in Parliament on Saturday]".
Putting aside the fact that the Police do not legally and constitutionally report to Parliament, what has changed for the Speaker to now want the Police to be involved when he has demonised them and other judiciary officers as "Zanu-PF faithfuls?"
How does the Speaker propose to keep and eat his cake of his double-standards towards law enforcement at the same time?
What rank hypocrisy is this?
Even more telling on this score is the Speaker's self-indulgent description of July 23 disturbances in Parliament as "yet another unhelpful entry on the long ledger of the political culture of intolerance and violence".
Why does the good Honourable Speaker, who is also National Chairman of the MDC-T, not think that these words of his do not apply to what happened inside the Chamber of the House on August 26, 2008 under his watch?
Why do they not apply to the violent events of October 2005 inside the MDC which led to the split of the party into its current two factions?
Yes, why do the same words not apply to the run-up of the violent MDC-T congress in Bulawayo just last April?
What "unhelpful entry on the long ledger of the political culture of intolerance and violence" is Speaker Moyo talking about which is not in the political veins and DNA of the MDC-T?
Speaker Moyo should be advised not to follow the example of the President of his party, Morgan Tsvangirai, who has perfected the art of approaching important national issues with an open mouth and a shut mind.
Being Speaker does not mean speaking with an open mouth and a shut mind.
Prof Moyo is a Zanu-PF Politburo member, legislator for Tsholotsho North and former Minister of Media, Information and Publicity.
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Prof Jonathan Moyo is the member of parliament for Tsholotsho
Source - Prof Jonathan Moyo
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