MPs sue Speaker

MDC Alliance legislators have resolved to sue House Speaker Jacob Mudenda after he ignored demands to reverse the docking of their allowances, says a Sunday Times report. The dispute began two weeks ago when the opposition MPs refused to stand when President Emmerson Mnangagwa entered parliament for his state of the nation address. The lawmakers accused him of being an ‘illegitimate’ leader who won the 2018 presidential elections through electoral malpractices. Mudenda subsequently announced that they would not receive their allowances because ‘their conduct was unpalatable and undermined the dignity of parliament’. Through their lawyer, Alec Muchadehama, the legislators said they are suing the Speaker in his private capacity. Muchadehama confirmed he had drafted the papers and would file them early this week. ‘Nowhere in the constitution is the Speaker of the National Assembly empowered to do what you did,’ states Muchadehama’s letter.

Full Sunday Times report (subscription needed)