‘We Are Reduced to Beggars’: Zimbabwean MPs Go Nine Months Without Basic Allowances

‘We Are Reduced to Beggars’: Zimbabwean MPs Go Nine Months Without Basic Allowances

Zimbabwean legislators have raised concerns about going nine months without receiving fuel and other allowances from the government, a situation they claim is leading to increased absenteeism in the National Assembly.

During a Parliament session on Thursday, Rushinga MP Tendai Nyabani expressed frustration, saying members feel “reduced to beggars” due to the lack of allowances.

“We must not be begging as Members of Parliament,” he said, adding, “If we were promised to be given something, then it must come right on time.

Nyabani shared that he couldn’t recall the last time he received travel or fuel allowances.

“For example, if we are getting travelling allowances, fuel, I cannot remember when we last received those allowances,” he added.

He emphasized how the delay in allowances is impacting their work.

“We are talking about allowances which allow us to go to our constituencies to reach out to our people. Should we continue begging!” he said.

Nyabani also mentioned that MPs have yet to receive their Constituency Development Funds (CDF), which are meant to support local projects.

“We want the whole country to know that the CDF amounting to US$50,000 that we were told and which we were supposed to be given has not yet been received,” he said.

Marondera Central MP Caston Matewu echoed Nyabani’s concerns, noting that many MPs are skipping parliamentary sessions due to unpaid allowances.

“I want to stress that it has been nine months since we got our allowances. I am not sure about you (deputy speaker) but the Members of Parliament in this House have had nine months without any allowance. That is why you see this House is half empty. It is half empty because sometimes most of us are now going into business, which is really killing the work of this parliament because we need to survive and our families also need to survive,” Matewu said.

Deputy Speaker Tsitsi Gezi deferred her response, saying she would consult with the relevant offices before addressing the matter.

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