Harare (New Ziana)- The first post-election National Assembly session on Tuesday descended into chaos as recalled opposition Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) legislators refused to leave the august house despite their expulsion.
Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda announced soon after sitting started, that there were vacancies for 15 lawmakers in the house following receipt of a letter by CCC “interim secretary general” Sengezo Tshabangu.
Mudenda said the 15 recalled MPs, 14 of whom are from Bulawayo and the two Matabeleland provinces, had ceased to be members of the CCC and were therefore being expelled from the house.
CCC chief whip Amos Chibaya, responded that Tshabangu was not known in the party and his letter of the recalls should therefore not be recognised.
Mudenda responded that he did not have jurisdiction to adjudicate political party leadership disputes, drawing the wrath of the CCC legislators who became rowdy and started chanting derogatory songs.
Parliament officials called in the police to eject the rowdy MPs but they failed as they were overwhelmed by the numbers and they left, only to return with reinforcements but failing again.
The situation reached breaking point when Binga North MP Prince Dubeko Dube, a victim of the recalls, told Mudenda that he was presiding over the demise of development and democracy in Zimbabwe.
Anti-riot police were then called in and they started dragging the kicking and screaming lawmakers out of the house.
Ruling on the rowdy conduct of the CCC legislators, Mudenda said those that had been forcibly ejected would have two months of their salaries docked and they would not be allowed into the National Assembly for the next six sittings.
Commenting on the fracas, Chibaya denounced the deployment of police officers to eject the legislators, saying they had “beat up Honourable members”, adding some had been injured in the process.
“The police are not allowed in Parliament. The Parliament is for legislators. It’s a taboo seeing police officers beating up Members of Parliament. It’s unheard of,” he told journalists.
New Ziana
