FORMER ZANU-PF secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa, and his mercurial nephew, Temba Mliswa, have been recalled from parliament.
Mutasa was representing Headlands constituency while Mliswa was MP for Hurungwe West.
Their recall is subsequent to their expulsion from the ruling party, ZANU-PF.
ZANU-PF then wrote to Speaker of the National Assembly, Jacob Mudenda, seeking to have the duo chucked out of the August house on that basis but Mutasa wrote back arguing that he could not be recalled from parliament because he belonged to a different ZANU-PF than the one he was pronounced expelled.
Mudenda, who is a lawyer by profession, however dismissed Mutasa’s claim for lack of merit and ruled in favour of ZANU-PF.
Mliswa, on the other hand, did not contest his recall.
Announcing the ruling during the sitting of the National Assembly on Tuesday afternoon, Mudenda said the two had ceased to be members of parliament soon after their expulsion from ZANU-PF.
He relied on a provision of section 129 of the constitution, which deals with the tenure of a sitting MP which stipulates that the seat of a legislator becomes vacant if he/she has ceased to belong to the political party of which he or she was a member when elected to Parliament and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker of the National Assembly or President of the Senate, as the case may be, has declared that the member has ceased to belong to it.
“I considered the submissions by both ZANU-PF and Mutasa and realised that as the law provides for, it is only the notification by the party which is needed for the speaker to declare seats vacant. Consequentially, I declare that vacancies have arisen in Headlands and Hurungwe West constituencies by provision of law,” Mudenda said.
“Administrative process will therefore follow to allow for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to conduct by-elections there,” he added.
This means parliament will then write to President Robert Mugabe to allow him to proclaim by-elections in the constituencies.
Mutasa did not come to parliament.
Mliswa left the August house in stitches when he dashed out whilst Mudenda was still pronouncing the provision of the law.