The legislature is one of the three pillars of the State. The other pillars are the executive and the judiciary. Put simply, the doctrine of separation of powers essentially entails that each of the three pillars of the State should be independent from the other if real and substantive democracy is to be observed.
It, therefore, follows that the true tenets of democracy are severely compromised in countries where one of the arms of the State, in most cases the executive, becomes supper-strong and domineering at the expense of the other arms of the State.
Typically, in most if not all totalitarian States, the executive arm is very powerful and it literally relegates the legislature and the judiciary to subsidiary roles where they become weak appendages of the executive.
Proceeding on the assumption that Zimbabwe should not be a totalitarian State, it naturally follows, therefore that we need a strong and independent legislature as well as an independent judiciary that is always ready to dispense justice without fear or favour. Anything short of this clearly not acceptable.
I make no apology in stating that since independence in 1980, Zimbabwe’s parliamentary system has not developed to an acceptable level inasfar as modern democratic tenets are concerned.
Invariably, parliament has been virtually dominated by one political party to such an extent that most pieces of legislation, no matter how controversial, such as the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) have been rail-roaded through parliament with relative ease and comfort.
It is my considered view that a parliament that is exclusively dominated by one political party is never good for democracy. Alternative viewpoints are always healthy in order to nurture, develop and sustain a genuine democracy. For democracy to thrive, there is always a need to have a vibrant opposition in parliament that is able to play a genuine oversight role over the activities of the executive.
The inclusive government in Zimbabwe gives us a unique parliamentary set-up where we virtually do not have an opposition in parliament save for the lone voice of one Jonathan Moyo.
Whether or not the unique parliamentary set-up that is presently obtaining in Zimbabwe is good for democracy is neither here no there. Suffice to state that a parliament should always strive to have a strong and fearless opposition voice.
Parliament has basically three main functions and these are to legislate, to play a representational role to the people who vote legislators into office and also to play an oversight role over the activities of the executive arm of the State. A parliament that fails to effectively carry out any of these three main functions in therefore a serious impediment to the development of democracy.
A parliament that merely rubberstamps the actions and decisions of the executive is a catalyst towards the development of a dictatorship. Zimbabwe doesmot need a dictatorship. What we need is a robust, independent and well-funded parliament that will genuinely play a decisive role in the democratization agenda in Zimbabwe.
I am a legislator in the seventh parliament of Zimbabwe that was voted in office on March 29, 2008. My experience so far has been anything but rosy. We have a parliament that is so severely underfunded that it is unable to hold parliamentary sittings that are long. In most cases, parliament just sits for few days and/or hours before a long adjournment is announced.
For all the months that I have been a member of parliament, the legislative agenda has been virtually non-existent. Only a few pieces of legislation have been dealth with so far in both houses of parliament. For the avoidance of doubt, I will itemise the few pieces of legislation that parliament has dealt with to date. These are the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment No. 19 Act, the Zimbabwe National Security Council Act, the Finance Act and the Appropriation Act.
New pieces of legislation to enhance Zimbabwe’s democratization agenda have simply not been forth-coming from the inclusive government. Here is hoping that when parliament resumes sitting on June 16, 2009 we are going to be kept busy by dealing with new pieces of legislation as envisaged in the global political agreement (GPA) that was solemnized on September 15, 2008 in Harare.
I am very mindful of the prevailing economic and financial challenges that are being faced by our country. I am also acutely aware of the fact that the inclusive government is cash-strapped and that it has to attend to many competing interests.
Be that as it may, I humbly urge the inclusive government to take note of the debilitating poverty and destitution that is afflicting the majority of our parliamentarians.
Most of them cannot even afford to buy a single meal in the hotels in which they are booked during parliamentary sessions. Parliament normally pays for bed and breakfast only and the individual legislators have to take care of the other meals. Lest I am misunderstood by the readers; I am not by any stretch of the imagination suggesting that legislators are a special breed of Zimbabweans who deserve to be pampered.
No. All I am stating is that it is dehumanizing and utterly humiliating for honourable members of parliament to be seen stashing bread rolls in their handbags during breakfast so that they can cater for their next meal! In similar measure, it is any unmitigated embarrassment for an honourable member of parliament to tour his/her constituency using public transport simply because the Treasury has not made available the requisite funds to purchase motor vehicles for parliamentarians.
I have nothing but absolute respect for our Minister of Finance and on some occasions, I have personally appealed to him to urgently do something about the plight of our parliamentarians if the legislature is to remain a useful and relevant arm of the state in the New Zimbabwe that we are all so keen on building.
On our own part as legislators, I also humbly urge my fellow legislators not to be cry babies. We should not expect to earn a living by getting into parliament. First and foremost, being a parliamentarian is a public duty; to serve Zimbabwe and not to have Zimbabwe serve you.
You will be terribly disappointed if you think that you will get rich by simply getting into parliament. We should endeavour to be enterprising and thus, ensure that we have some decent and honest sources of income other than the US100 allowance that we are getting from parliament every month.
For those of my collegues who saw wisdom in grabbing motor vehicles that were recently doled out to them by the Reserve Bank, I humbly urge them to interrogate their consciences and ascertain whether they did the right thing for themselves and for the institution of parliament.They should appreciate that Gideon Gono is fighting his own desperate battles.
He is a cornered man who is viciously fighting to save his skin.Thus,if given the opportunity,he woyuld be keen to recruit parliamentarians so that they will fight in his corner.This man is sly,crafty and cunning.Thus,legislators should look at the bigger picture.
Whilst there is absolutely nothing wrong with legislators being allocated vehicles, I am strongly of the view that proper procedures ought and must be followed if we are to maintain and uphold the dignity of the institution of parliament. Comrades, greed will never take us anywhere.
As a parting shot, I wish to reiterate that a week and compromised parliament is the anti-thesis of democracy.
By Senator Obert Gutu
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