News / National
ZimRights wants parliament to punish MP who 'politicised' Covid-19 aid
17 Mar 2021 at 10:51hrs | Views
Parliament must investigate and punish Zanu-PF legislator for Chiredzi West Farai Musikavanhu for allegedly grabbing a consignment of subsidised mealie-meal meant for the vulnerable during the Covid-19 lockdown last year and distributing it to his party supporters, a rights group has demanded.
Musikavanhu is accused of seizing 13,4 tonnes of the lowly-priced roller meal.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) lodged a complaint with parliament on Monday, accusing the lawmaker, known to be highly partisan, of breaching legislative ethics and code of conduct.
In a letter to Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda, ZimRights demanded an investigation and "necessary sanctions" against Musikavanhu if he should be found guilty.
"On the 5th of April, he hijacked a government-subsidized mealie-meal scheme meant to cushion the public during the Covid-19 induced lockdown in Chiredzi," ZimRights alleged.
The maize meal, ZimRights added, was supposed to be distributed via local retailer OK Supermarkets to different wards through councilors.
However, the organisation says Musikavanhu abused his powers by forcibly buying all the mealie-meal and making his home a distribution center for the whole constituency, where only Zanu-PF supporters were allowed access.
The human rights group also says sometime in November of 2019, way before the latest charges, Musikavanhu appeared in video footage vowing to block opposition supporters' access to food aid and presidential inputs.
ZimRights says the legislator's conduct violated Section 56 (3) of the Constitution and that his actions were also in "breach of Section 4 (1) and 5 (1) of the code of conduct and ethics" for parliamentarians.
The civic organization also wants compensation for citizens deprived of their constitutional rights plus equal access to state resources meant to benefit the underprivileged.
Musikavanhu was not reachable for comment.
Musikavanhu is accused of seizing 13,4 tonnes of the lowly-priced roller meal.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) lodged a complaint with parliament on Monday, accusing the lawmaker, known to be highly partisan, of breaching legislative ethics and code of conduct.
In a letter to Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda, ZimRights demanded an investigation and "necessary sanctions" against Musikavanhu if he should be found guilty.
"On the 5th of April, he hijacked a government-subsidized mealie-meal scheme meant to cushion the public during the Covid-19 induced lockdown in Chiredzi," ZimRights alleged.
The maize meal, ZimRights added, was supposed to be distributed via local retailer OK Supermarkets to different wards through councilors.
The human rights group also says sometime in November of 2019, way before the latest charges, Musikavanhu appeared in video footage vowing to block opposition supporters' access to food aid and presidential inputs.
ZimRights says the legislator's conduct violated Section 56 (3) of the Constitution and that his actions were also in "breach of Section 4 (1) and 5 (1) of the code of conduct and ethics" for parliamentarians.
The civic organization also wants compensation for citizens deprived of their constitutional rights plus equal access to state resources meant to benefit the underprivileged.
Musikavanhu was not reachable for comment.
Source - zimive
