Is the Zimbabwean parliament captured as well?

The way the Parliament of Zimbabwe is handled the Temba Mliswa, Dexter Nduna verbal fights, seem to suggest the country’s legislature is also captured, analysts say.

The two parliamentarians are at each other’s throats, accusing each other of corruption; And according to some, the intervention by the Speaker of the House of Assembly seem to favour Nduna, despite him having had confessed in the same house that he murdered people is very unfortunate.

Mliswa also believes a committee should have been instituted to investigate Nduna  for his confession that he killed people, adding that he now fears for his own life.

He added that if the same house could institute a committee to look into his alleged demand for a bribe, nothing should stop it from doing the same on Nduna.

“It’s always a threat to a safe society  when an institution mandated to safekeep democracy seems to be dabbling in partisan application of law, allowing one side a free and criminal rein whilst strangling others,” said Mliswa in a tweet.

He added that Nduna’s confessions of murder will bring the ruling party into disrepute if they don’t address it. “They’re currently under attack for allegedly killing people & one of their own makes such sensational declarations,” added Mliswa.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Tsitsi Gezi promised to act and make sure Nduna is investigated, but some believe that is an empty promise by Gezi. They say the Speaker has been known to favour ZANU PF MPs during heated debates on critical issues.

Renowned political analyst Elder Mabhunu doubts the Speaker’s sincerity on having Nduna investigated. He says the country’s legislature is highly polarised if not captured, and that ZANU PF MPs would use their numerical advantage to upset any probe against one of their own.

“I don’t see that happening, our Speaker of Parliament is partisan. How many times has the Speaker ignored or let loose ministers during question time sessions in the house?

In fact the Speaker has saved cabinet ministers from grilling by MPs, thereby undermining their oversight role,” he says.

He says parliament has also exhibited elements of polarisation when MPs from the opposition recently raised issues of human rights abuses at the hands of the state.

Mabhunu adds that instead of the parliamentarians to have had expressed concern and demand for answers from the executive, ZANU PF MPs chose to ignore the issue all together. At the same time the Speaker (Jacob Mudenda) blocked further grilling of a minister by Tendai Biti.

Biti was following up on his question to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi, if it was now government policy for the state to abuse its citizens, but Mudenda blocked him.

“This partisan politics of pulling in different directions could undermine the legislative mandate of the house,” a pro-ruling party political analyst who declined to be named said. Issues should be debated or ignored on merit and not along partisan lines, the analyst said.