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The central theme then was “Taking Parliament to the People”.
However, the centres have not been fully utilised due to a number of factors so some of them lie idle. Also, as many as 90 constituencies do not even have them.
The PCICs were meant to be centrally located so that they could be easily accessed by the majority of people in that constituency. Theoretically, they are considered worldwide as one of the important means to enhance the representative role of Parliament.
A parliament that is for the people is one that is socially and politically representative of the diversity of the people, and ensuring equal opportunities and protection for all its members.
Before the 2008 elections, there were 120 constituencies and an equal number of PCICs, but they increased to 210 in the 2008 harmonised elections. Now at least 90 constituencies have no PCICs where people could have information about the Government and the Parliament.
The primary objective of PCICs was to provide citizens and local organisations an opportunity to engage their MP on the problems and needs of the constituencies. As a base for parliamentary-generated information, the centres were also meant to enable the public to be involved in the legislative process from a more informed standpoint.
The centres were also to hold a socio-economic database of the area, which serves to identify some of the most pressing issues and areas of need in the constituency. They also provided a meeting place for the sitting MP and his or her constituents.
Constituents should be able to visit or to contact the local MP at these offices, neither provided by a party organisation nor the individual legislator. This is so because the constitutional role of MPs demands that they represent all constituents regardless of party affiliation.
Executive director of Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust (Sapst), Mr John Makamure said PCICs are supposed to function as an extension of Parliament in constituencies.
“One should be able to walk into a PCIC and get a copy of the latest Hansard, Order Paper, parliamentary committee reports, copies of Bills, motions and any other parliamentary document or publication.
“It is at PCIC that the MP should be able to meet all his constituents, regardless of political affiliation, to answer questions and provide feedback on resolutions made in the House and the content of issues that are before the House, sadly, these are non-existent at the PCICs,” said Mr Makamure.
He also said the MP should obtain feedback from the constituents on their views on the issues before the House.
“The PCIC should serve everyone not only those people that voted for you, unfortunately the opposite has been the case.
“These PCICs have been heavily politicised with some of the PCICs poorly equipped in the form of Internet connection and computers while the staff manning them are not sufficiently trained to be able to competently stand in for the MP and respond adequately to questions from constituents as they carry out merely secretariat work,” he said.
Mr Makamure also said the other main reason for their failure is that the Government has not adequately resourced them.
“Some of the MPs have to dig from their own pockets to finance operations. This is why the MPs end up using them for their own private business and political party activities.
“The Government should construct permanent offices in each constituency that are fully equipped and should also set aside some time in its calendar for MPs to work in their constituency offices for at least one week every month,” he said.
A neutral parliamentary constituency office is therefore important to ensure clear division between party and constituency responsibilities of MPs.
Umzingwane MP Ms Nomalanga Khumalo said it was a noble idea to establish PCICs as it helped people to be in touch with current affairs.
“These places make people know what is happening in Parliament and for people to make appointments and be able to speak to us freely.
“The office is still there but the problem is that there are no computers or telephones which are meant to be as they initially said they would supply these things after we had security but surprisingly they are still not there as the Government still says there is no money for all these things,” she said.
Gwanda North MP Mr Thandeko Mnkandla said the Government should make available transport and other facilities that can make it easy for MPs to go into the communities as some of them end up using their own resources.
“The Government should make available transport in these centres so that we can go into these communities as some areas are very far.
“Days should be put when MPs should visit their areas as some MPs fail to go to their areas so that MPs do not just go to these areas in their own time or when they feel like it,” he said.
The dean of the Faculty of Communication and Information Science at the National University of Science and Technology, Dr Lawton Hikwa, said the initial idea was to bring Parliament to the people but other factors have led to PCICs not being used adequately.
“When the centres were set up, it was meant to bring Parliament to the people but this in some cases failed because there not enough resources for the up-keep of these centres and also it lacked qualified personnel that could run them,” he said.
Online Reporter