ZIMBABWE’S two houses of assembly will meet in their usual separate chambers this Tuesday to make a formal adjournment of sitting again amid continued uncertainty on the business of the house due to a raging Covid-19 menace which caused its premature break in March.
However, MPs set to attend Tuesday’s sitting are those from Harare and Mashonaland provinces which are closer to the capital city.
Because of the closure of hotels during the coronavirus scare, the MPs will be asked to return to their homes immediately.
In a statement Monday, Clerk of Parliament, Kennedy Chokuda said the decision to convene sitting followed a 30 April meeting by parliament’s Committee on Standing Rules and Orders (CSRO).
The committee discussed, key among the issues, resumption of Parliament business and possible alternatives to facilitate the business of Parliament in the event that the lockdown continues in one form or another.
“The CSRO noted that the current lockdown ends at midnight on Sunday 3rd May 2020 and that a decision on the lockdown will, therefore, be made on or around the 3rd May 2020.,” Chokuda said.
“As a contingency measure, the CSRO resolved that both Houses sit on Tuesday 5th May 2020, the date to which they had adjourned, for the sake of formally adjourning to a date that will be informed by the government decision on the lockdown or otherwise.
“In that respect, and to comply with social distance requirements, only Members of Parliament in both Houses from the following provinces will attend Parliament on Tuesday 5th May 2020: Harare, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West and Mashonaland Central, and all Ministers and Deputy Ministers.
“However, only members from those four provinces that are able to drive from and back to their constituencies on the same day will be required to attend.”
