The Norton Member of the House of Assembly Temba Mliswa yesterday was at the centre of chaos in Parliament as he declared that he could ‘deal’ with all opposition MDC legislators, leading to a commotion which ended with Mliswa tearing the jacket of MDC MP for Hwange, Daniel Molokele.
Trouble started when Mliswa stood up on a point of order, claiming that the MDC MP for Mbizo, Settlement Chikwinya, had accused Vice President Constantino G. Chiwenga of bringing coronavirus into Zimbabwe.
The Vice President spent four months between July and December last year in a top medical facility in China where he was being treated, and last week was airlifted to South Africa for emergency treatment.
Yesterday, the Vice President was sitting quietly in the front row in Parliament when Temba Mliswa rose up and claimed Chikwinya had accused the Vice President of bringing the deadly virus now know as ‘COVID-19’.
This was after Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda had demanded that Health Minister Obadiah Moyo update the august house on Zimbabwe’s state of preparedness against the virus which has killed over 2,000 in mainland China.
“Honourable Chikwinya shouted the Vice President’s name. What is he implying when he says that? He is implying the VP brought the virus from China, and this is inhumane,” Mliswa shouted, adding that the Speaker was supposed to take action against Chikwinya.
However, before Temba Mliswa could take back his seat, he found Molokele and Chikwinya blocking the position he had been sitting on.
This led to an embarrassing scuffle which ended with MDC spokesperson Molokele’s jacket being torn by Mliswa.
Eventually, Mliswa squeezed his way easily between Molokele and Chikwinya, and declared that he was too strong to ‘deal’ with all MDC MPs.
When normalcy and order were restored, Chikwinya denied Mliswa’s claims that he had mentioned coronavirus with reference to Vice President.
“The Vice President is a respectable member of this house and I never said any of what Honourable Mliswa said. I challenge the clerk of the court to check with the Hansard. Should I be found wrong or guilty, I am prepared to face the consequences,” Chikwinya said.
Meanwhile, in spite of all the drama, the Vice President remained seated calmly in his front row.
-Zimvoice.
