VICTORIA FALLS — Parliamentarians have resorted to selling their allocation of fuel coupons in a bid to supplement their incomes because Treasury has not been releasing funds to the Legislature, Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo revealed last week.
BY NQOBILE BHEBHE
Moyo told a pre-Budget seminar in Victoria Falls on Friday that legislators faced embarrassment in the course of discharging their duties.
To add insult to injury, Moyo said, Treasury sometimes delayed with money for the coupons, making life very difficult for the legislators.
“Parliament is currently unable to give MPs coupons to travel to and from their constituencies, as Treasury frequently says there is no money to purchase coupons,” he said.
“Inadequate funding has also left parliamentarians exposed to embarrassing situations where MPs move from one hotel to the next looking for accommodation, as hotels no longer trust Parliament when it comes to meeting its financial obligations.”
In October, several law makers were barred from checking in at Crowne Plaza Hotel and Holiday Inn in Harare over non-payment of their accommodation bills by Parliament.
The MPs were left fuming after being told on arrival from their bases outside Harare that they could not be checked in despite having booked, as hotels try to recover outstanding food and accommodation debts from the Legislature.
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Moyo said legislators were deprived of better working conditions. “Like any ordinary worker, we need to realise that MPs also deserve improved working conditions. It is also sad to see honourable MPs resorting to selling coupons in order to supplement their income,” said the speaker.
“When Parliament is forced to join a queue at Treasury to receive small weekly or monthly budgetary allocations, we have to stand together and realise that it doesn’t just demean Parliament as an institution that is entrusted with the constitutional mandate to exercise oversight. It devalues our governance credentials as a country,” he added.
