By Chengetayi Zvauya
HARARE – Speaker Lovemore Moyo is finding it hard to expel from Parliament five legislators who crossed the floor from the Welshman Ncube-led MDC to join the mainstream MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
The smaller MDC has requested that Nomalanga Khumalo, who is deputy speaker of Parliament and MP for Umzingwane, Dalimazi Maxwell Dube (Tsholotsho), Thandeko Mkandla (Gwanda North) and Senators Dalumuzi Khumalo (Lupane) and Kembo Dube (Umzingwane) be dismissed as legislators.
But Moyo told the Daily News he is agonising over the issue.
“It is one of the most difficult decisions one has to make to expel these MPs as they were democratically-elected by people from their constituencies,” Moyo said. It is very agonising as one has to consider the time and resources these MPs could have spent in campaigning.”
The smaller MDC secretary-general Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga has written letters to Moyo and president of Senate Ednah Madzongwe demanding that the five legislators be expelled from Parliament and their constituencies be declared vacant claiming they were not representing anyone in Parliament.
Five other MPs managed to continue their tenure in the Seventh Parliament after ditching Ncube’s MDC to join Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara’s party.
The DPM wrote letters to Moyo and Madzongwe advising them to disregard attempts by the Ncube-led MDC to have the legislators fired from Parliament for allegedly crossing the floor claiming that they belonged to his faction.
Since the beginning of the Seventh Parliament in August 2008, eight MPs from Matabeleland who entered Parliament on the Ncube-led MDC ticket have ditched the party and joined the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
In 2010, Ncube officially expelled three MPs who were subsequently expelled from Parliament. Parliament resumes business on May 6 and is expected to end its term on June 29 this year. Daily News
