Health Minister's $77,000 PSMAS Payment Unites Zimbabwe MPs
Even the state-controlled media has also piled pressure on Parirenyatwa to come clean on the money allegedly siphoned from cash-strapped Premier Service Medical Aid Society.
WASHINGTON DC — A motion calling on Health Minister, David Parirenyatwa, to appear before a parliamentary committee to answer to allegations of benefitting irregularly from the financially-strapped Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) appears to have united legislators across the political divide. But the question that some are asking is whether the unity will prevail till the minister, alleged to have been given an advance payment of $77,000 from the cash-strapped medical aid society, resigns. Even the state-controlled media has also piled pressure on Parirenyatwa to come clean on the money. Zanu PF lawmakers Joseph Chinotimba and Fortune Chasi, contributing to a motion moved by MDC-T legislator Eddie Cross, agreed that it would be improper if the all members of the house did not unite in calling for Parirenyatwa to be held accountable for the money. “Mr Speaker sir, it is time this House shows the nation that it has teeth to bite and the PSMAS case presents us with that opportunity. It is you Mr Speaker who has the power to make them (senior government officials) appear before this House, and if they refuse they can be charged with contempt of Parliament. In other countries like China, they would have been arrested together with their relatives over the matter,” said Chinotimba, according to media reports. For analysis, we reached independent analyst, Anglistone Sibanda and MDC-T lawmaker Prince Dubeko Sibanda, who sits on the Health Services Parliamentary Portfolio Committee that is trying to summon Parirenyatwa. Dubeko Sibanda said the minister must be brought before the committee because he faces serious allegations. “In this instance we are talking about a minister that is supervising an institution in which he is supposed to ensure that the interest of the public is respected.”