Bloated Zimbabwe legislature is not sustainable

The proposal by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Cde Patrick Chinamasa, that the number of parliamentarians in the country should be reduced, as a way of reducing financial pressure on the treasury, is a good move that needs acceptance from all Zimbabweans. The debate on such a move should be put to the public since it is important for the country to have a small and manageable legislature.

Cde Chinamasa indicated that about ninety percent (90%) of the annual budget goes to salaries of the bloated government workers leaving ten percent (10%) for other essential services in the country. The government workers, who also include parliamentarians, can cripple the country economically if huge salaries are paid to them without financial inflows which can sustain that.  

So the proposal by the Finance and Economic Minister, to open debate for the public to talk about the amendment of the new Constitution and the cut to the number and size of statutory commissions and the legislature, is welcome. People should realize that if the legislature is cut then the country will benefit as the salary bill of the legislature would also be cut and channeled towards other essential services.

The legislature is too big for a country like Zimbabwe with a population of about thirteen million people. Zimbabwe, with three hundred and fifty (350) parliamentarians seems, to be like a joke when you look at a country like Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with a population of about sixty seven (67) million having only fifty seven (57) parliamentarians. As if the issue of the DRC is not enough, Zambia which is Zimbabwe's northern neighbour, has a population of fourteen million and she has one hundred and fifty eight(158) parliamentarians, making one to wonder why Zimbabwe should remain with such a larger number of legislatures than other countries which have better economies than her.

It is good to have a manageable number of parliamentarians in the country so that the pressure on the fiscus is relieved. It is also good to come up with the size of the legislature which is truly representative of the population in the country so that the parliamentarians also operate effectively.

Close analysis of the legislature shows that some parliamentarians are there to make numbers so that they get financial and material perks associated with one's position as a Member of Parliament. While having a bloated legislature is good as a source of employment for those in such positions it would not make any economic sense to have such people doing nothing for the country when they are expected to work effectively for the economic benefit of the country.

Just after independence, Zimbabwe had one hundred (100) parliamentarians with her population of about seven (7) million and those parliamentarians did not disappoint in representing their constituencies. Now that the population has almost doubled, people expect the size of the legislature to be around two hundred if not less than that. So, having three hundred and fifty parliamentarians in a country like Zimbabwe, with her population of about thirteen million, is not sustainable. If DRC with a population of sixty seven (67) million can do better with fifty seven (57) parliamentarians what can stop Zimbabwe from downsizing its legislature to a manageable number.

People might wonder how the legislature could be trimmed when the parliamentarians are representing their constituencies.  This should not be a problem because having four parliamentarians from one district is too much. A district could be represented by two parliamentarians not a situation like Mudzi or Chiredzi where you get three or more parliamentarian representing such districts. The situation in the country is that even if the district is having more than two House of Assembly Members  their work rate for that district is similar to even if the district is represented by one or two MPs.

So it is possible for the country to have less than the current number of parliamentarians and still be run effectively. In actual fact parliamentarians in different parts of the country are not visible when it comes to coming up with projects for their people as most of the work is done by local authorities running those areas. So a town can be represented by a single parliamentarian who could be in parliament to get information on what is needed for that town or city which he/she would be representing.

It is naïve and pointless to have many parliamentarians representing Harare when one parliamentarian can do that without problems. For example you have Harare South, North, West, East and Central constituencies yet a single legislature could do that and save money for the country. If you ask anybody in Harare about the activities done by those parliamentarians in the areas they claim to represent, one would be surprised to find out that they are not even known by people residing in those constituencies making it baseless to have them.

A lot of those MPs are in parliament to make money and not to represent the interests of the people they claim to represent. For that reason, having such constituencies, where the MPs are not visible, is not proper.

In actual fact, Minister Chinamasa should be applauded for having such constructive views which can make the economic standing of the country work again. Binga North National Assembly Member, Mr. Prince Sibanda of MDC-T's fear that the proposal to cut the size of the legislature would have effects on the financial market is not in tandem with reality but only fear of someone thinking of losing his job. So parliamentarians should not be selfish and think that a debate on the trimming of the legislature should not be opened because they would lose their jobs but the MPs should focus more on the betterment of the country than on selfish aggrandizements.

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John Mukumbo can be contacted at mukumbojohn@yahoo.com