Parliament resumes sitting tomorrow, but ...

PArLIAMent resumes sitting tomorrow, but is likely to sit only to adjourn the House to a further date as the CovID-19 lockdown has been extended by another two weeks.

In a statement last week, Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda advised that only MPs from Harare, Mashonaland east, Mashonaland West and Mashonaland Central, including ministers and their deputies, must attend Parliament sittings on tuesday.

He said Parliament was now working on setting up facilities for virtual meetings in response to the CovID-19 scourge, which forced both Houses to adjourn on

March 18.

Civic society groups like the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development have called on Parliament to continue sitting in order to exercise its oversight role, particularly in the disbursement of resources towards fighting the CovID-19 pandemic.

But Chokuda dismissed these as misconceptions, saying Parliament had not been idle during the unplanned extended break.

He said Parliament took advantage of the break to put in place measures that will allow the institution to function without jeopardising the health of MPs and staff.

Currently, the national Assembly has 270 MPs squashed whenever the House is sitting in a

House which can take in only 150 MPs.

Senate is better off with 80 senators.

“the outbreak has heightened our resolve as Parliament to accelerate the use of technologies in our work,” Chokuda said.

“the institution is, thus, working on setting up facilities for virtual meetings, where appropriate, without compromising the requirements of the national Constitution, law and the public interest,” he said.

“the public can rest assured that the necessary oversight role by Parliament will be done in line with the law and the national Constitution. the appropriate committees of Parliament will undertake their oversight role as is the practice in this regard. It must be noted that there is no competition of space between the three arms of the State and the principles of good governance require that each arm of the State undertakes its role without impinging on the other arms of the State.”