By Staff Reporter
VILLAGERS in the Insiza North constituency might be raising a storm with their growing calls for Parliament to expel their legislator, Farai Taruvinga, who has missed over 100 sittings since his electoral triumph last year.
Taruvinga, a cash-rich gold baron who won the House of Assembly seat on a Zanu PF ticket, last attended Parliament business at his swearing-in ceremony on September 6 last year.
He is now being urged to resign his position.
Those who spoke to NewZimbabwe.com expressed concerns with his absence in the House of Assembly and the constituency. Some of them called on Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda to act as Taruvinga had obviously exceeded the number of sittings he is constitutionally allowed to miss.
“We do not know if Taruvinga is still representing us anymore because he has missed over 100 Parliament sittings and has not even come back to us, just to hear out any of our grievances,” said one of the villagers whose identity has been deliberately protected for her own safety.
“When he campaigned there were promises he made which we expected him to honour but now we doubt he was honest with us.”
Mudenda should have, by now, announced Taruvinga’s exit from Parliament according to the Zimbabwean constitution.
A Member of Parliament (MP) is only allowed to miss 21 consecutive sittings, thereafter, half of the House is allowed to vote and declare a seat vacant.
“If, without leave from the Speaker or the President of the Senate, as the case may be, the Member is absent from the House of which he or she is a member for twenty-one consecutive days on which the House sits, and the House concerned resolves by a vote of at least one-half of its total membership that the seat should become vacant,” reads Section 129 (f) of the constitution.
Should Parliament formally notify the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), the electoral body would declare the Insiza North seat vacant and call for a by-election, thereby opening the door to new representation.
Taruvinga’s situation is being complicated by his worsening health and raging court cases over allegations he failed to service a US$1.7 million payment that has since ballooned to US$3.6 million.
He is reportedly battling Stage 4 Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, and has been in and out of medical facilities for months. His absence from Parliament has been attributed to his demanding chemotherapy schedule, which has made it physically impossible for him to fulfil his Parliamentary duties.
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