Lawmaker slams fickle, HIV-positive MPs

Three-quarters of Zimbabwe’s parliamentarians are HIV-positive and receiving anti-retroviral therapy, a lawmaker has claimed. The Herald reports that Matabeleland South Proportional Representative Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga (MDC) claims they are receiving state-sponsored life-prolonging drugs but are not ensuring that vulnerable children who have been sexually assaulted receive the same. ‘You know how selfish we are as a people, when HIV/Aids started hitting on us, when people started dying, we immediately came up with an Aids fund so that we can go and buy drugs for ourselves. Seventy-six percent of the people who are sitting in this House are living with HIV/Aids and are taking ARVs,’ said Misihairabwi-Mushonga who was jeered by fellow legislators. Misihairabwi-Mushonga said she has spoken to children as young as eight ‘who are selling sex for as little as 25 cents’.