AfricaPress-Tanzania: CHADEMA Members of Parliament (MPs) who boycotted the parliamentary budget session are now in hot soup after Speaker Job Ndugai ordered them to immediately refund the twoweek allowances that they had pocketed.
Mr Ndugai also instructed them to submit official medical certificates indicating that they were coronavirus free upon their return to the House.
Some Chadema MPs opted for self isolation from Monday this week after the party Chairman, Mr Freeman Mbowe ordered them to stay out of the House for 14 days. However, more than 10 MPs defied their leader’s order and continued to attend House sessions.
Speaking shortly after the House endorsed the budget for the Ministry of Defence and National Service, Mr Ndugai said Mr Mbowe had no legitimacy to direct MPs to stop attending sessions of the august house.
“It’s very surprising. He has no such power to order a boycott … that statement is unlawful and I want all MPs to return to the parliament,” he said.
The Speaker said the MPs in question had already received payment for two weeks beginning May 1 to 17, this year to the tune of over 110m/- in allowance.
Describing the act as theft, the Speaker ordered Mbowe and his colleagues who had received over 2m/- each to return the cash with immediate effect or face the wrath of the law.
The speaker said in case the money was not returned to the Bunge account in two weeks’ time, he would refer the matter to a higher level. He also said that other MPs had received over 3m/-.
He named the MPs as Catherine Ruge, Joyce Mkya, Roda Kumchera, and Zainabu Mussa.
Meanwhile the Speaker discarded a letter signed by Chadema Secretary-General John Mnyika detailing the dismissal of its one time member Cecil Mwambe.
He said the letter lacked some crucial details.
