By Anna Chibamu
ZANU PF Buhera South legislator, Joseph Chinotimba on Wednesday took Parliament staff to task over the state of ablutions that he said had gone for days without water.
Chinotimba however, was quick to blame the MDC dominated Harare city council for the problem which he said needed to be addressed even if it meant him assuming the position of Harare Mayor.
“Parliament has no water. The stench from the toilets is just so bad. We cannot just sit as Parliament whilst things go bad to such an extent. How are we expected to carry out parliamentary business without water?
“It is the council that has failed. The MDC party is dead and has failed,” Chinotimba said while he gesturing at the opposition bench, drawing jeers from the few opposition MPs who were present.
He added: “If they have failed then I want to be the Mayor of Harare. I will contest for the position so that I fix the problem.”
MDC deputy national chairperson and Zengeza West MP, Job Sikhala stood up fuming: “You can’t refer to us or our party as a thing. It is not proper language. He must withdraw his statement. It is not good. Why do we behave like this?”
Another opposition MP shouted: “Chinotimba must withdraw all that he said. He made reference to the (Harare) Mayor Herbert Gomba and said he (Chinotimba) wants to be elected Mayor of Harare to fix the problem. It is in everyone’s interest that he withdraws everything.”
Chinotimba was forced to withdraw the statements by Deputy Speaker Tsitsi Gezi.
“This thing means toilet. I meant the toilets which have turned bad due to unavailability of water,” Chinotimba claimed trying to wriggle out of a sticky situation.
Harare City Council has been struggling to supply the capital with portable water with some suburbs having gone for years without running water.
The Council has had challenges in providing water to residents and it has been on and off as some parts of Harare have gone for more than a decade without tape water.
Gezi promised the issue was under control as a borehole would soon be in place to avert the problem admitting the stench from toilets was disturbing business at Parliament.
