MOSES MATENGA
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube’s absence from Parliament has disrupted debate around the Finance Bill and also delayed deliberations and passing of the ZWL$4.5 trillion national budget with lawmakers demanding he cut short “whatever business” he is doing outside the country and come back.
Ncube is outside the country and is expected back today.
In his absence, there has not been any meaningful movement in debating the budget as he is supposed to respond to input from Parliamentary portfolio committee chairpersons on the budget.
Former Finance Minister and Harare East MP Tendai Biti said there was no logic in debating the budget without Ncube while calling for his immediate return to the country to attend Parliament business.
“This exercise is pointless – the Minister must be here in terms of Section 7 of the Public Finance Management Act. The Budget is the sole responsibility of the Minister of Finance who is identified as an individual,” Biti said.
“There are three pillars that run the country’s finance in terms of the Public Finance Management Act – the first one is Treasury, which is the Minister; the second one is the Paymaster-General, who is the Secretary to Treasury. The third one is the Accountant-General. Those are the three tripods of the Ministry of Finance. My submission is that the Minister must be here –uMthuli must be here kathesi, namuhla…”
Biti said there was no point in continuing the debate in the absence of the Minister against the earlier agreement with the leader of the House and Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi that debate proceeds in the presence of Ncube.
“We debate on Thursday and sleep here. If we do not finish, we come back on Friday. If we do not finish on Friday, we come back on Tuesday,” Biti said.Citizens Coalition for Change chief whip Prosper Mutseyami said the absence of the Minister was keeping MPs waiting.
“We agreed that when we move to the next phase on Thursday, the Minister of Finance will be back in the country and will listen to the processes of the Budget. Unfortunately, on that Thursday, the Minister did not come and with the indulgence of the Chief Whips, we agreed for the debate of Chairpersons to be completed regardless of his absence bearing in mind the mutual understanding that this coming week, the Minister of Finance today will be available to hear the debates as they move. Unfortunately, the Minister of Finance is not here today.”
“We see the Deputy Minister. In that debate last week, it was debated that the Deputy Minister does not sit in Cabinet and there was supposed to be an Acting Minister of Finance of which that Acting Minister of Finance has not been pronounced to the House. With your indulgence Mr Speaker, please note that there was the agreement that the Hon. Minister of Finance will be here today and he is not here. Presumably, he was supposed to be here from last Thursday. Now we are going back to this debate and the Minister is not here and there is no explanation.”
Deputy Finance and Economic Development Minister Clemence Chiduwa said he had managed to get in touch with Ncube and will be only available today after a long absence.
