News / National
Mnangagwa clashes with Mudenda over 'Ndebele speaking' clerk of Parliament
16 Mar 2015 at 21:08hrs | Views
Vice President Emerson Mnangagwa has clashed with Speaker of the House of Assembly Jacob Mudenda over the appointment of a new clerk of Parliament.
The position of clerk of Parliament fell vacant in November following the 'dismissal' of Austin Zvoma who had been at the helm of the august house for three decades.
Zvoma was forced to retire after he had argued that despite having reached the 65 year retirement age, the new constitution allowed him to serve for another two five year terms.
Officials at the Parliament told ZimEye.com on Monday that Mudenda who pushed for the retirement of Zvoma was 'vigorously' pushing for Helen Dingani to fill in Zvoma's post.
Dingani is a former deputy clerk of Parliament and was in 2010 seconded to the Pan African Parliament, where she worked for three years.
Prior to the posting she had served Parliament for 29 years.
"Mudenda is vigorously pushing for the appointment of Dingani as the clerk of Parliament because they are both Ndebele speaking and come from the same region, Matabeleland North. Dingani hails from Hwange and Mudenda comes from Binga," said the officials.
"But the Vice President is against the move and his argument is that Dingani is also a retirement-candidate, because she had also served the institution for close to three decades".
Mnangagwa doubles as the Vice President and the Justice Minister, and parliament falls under his portfolio.
Early this year Mudenda barred Zvoma from visiting Parliament after the ousted former clerk was visiting the legislative assembly and conducting "secret meetings" with workers.
Mudenda wrote to acting clerk of Parliament, Kenneth Chokuda, advising him to bar Zvoma from entering the Parliament premises.
The position of clerk of Parliament fell vacant in November following the 'dismissal' of Austin Zvoma who had been at the helm of the august house for three decades.
Zvoma was forced to retire after he had argued that despite having reached the 65 year retirement age, the new constitution allowed him to serve for another two five year terms.
Officials at the Parliament told ZimEye.com on Monday that Mudenda who pushed for the retirement of Zvoma was 'vigorously' pushing for Helen Dingani to fill in Zvoma's post.
Dingani is a former deputy clerk of Parliament and was in 2010 seconded to the Pan African Parliament, where she worked for three years.
Prior to the posting she had served Parliament for 29 years.
"Mudenda is vigorously pushing for the appointment of Dingani as the clerk of Parliament because they are both Ndebele speaking and come from the same region, Matabeleland North. Dingani hails from Hwange and Mudenda comes from Binga," said the officials.
"But the Vice President is against the move and his argument is that Dingani is also a retirement-candidate, because she had also served the institution for close to three decades".
Mnangagwa doubles as the Vice President and the Justice Minister, and parliament falls under his portfolio.
Early this year Mudenda barred Zvoma from visiting Parliament after the ousted former clerk was visiting the legislative assembly and conducting "secret meetings" with workers.
Mudenda wrote to acting clerk of Parliament, Kenneth Chokuda, advising him to bar Zvoma from entering the Parliament premises.
Source - zimeye
