MPs lack economic know-how: Survey

of Zimbabwe which the august House conducted in conjunction with the European Commission and United Nations Development Programme and released last week, presents MPs as mere rubber stamps of economic laws and policies, as most of them are not conversant with the issues.
The report said the sad development presented a challenge in the effectiveness of Parliament in the discharge of its duties.
“Results from the baseline survey indicate that members of both Houses (Lower and Upper) showed significant deficiencies in their knowledge and awareness of basic economic concepts,” read part of the report.
According to the survey, only 14 percent of Lower Louse and 12 percent of Senators possessed economic or business-related qualifications.
“Only a few members can articulate and debate economic issues competently,” the report said. “This limits Parliament’s capacity to effectively discharge its oversight function over the Budget and other economic bills.
“It can be concluded that economic literacy in both Houses of Parliament is very low.”
The survey found that since parliamentarians were not elected on the basis of their professional and academic qualifications, this deficiency contributed mostly to the current situation.
“The general conclusion from the analysis is that most members may not be able to effectively handle the complex economic issues which characterise the business of the House, given their qualifications,” it said.
Capacity building for MPs on a wide variety of issues, including business and economic issues, was recommended to improve the performance and effectiveness of the parliamentarians.
Issues that should be covered include budgeting, inflation, exchange rate, international economics and public debt, among others.
The MPs also need to be schooled on the role and operations of the Ministry of Finance, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, Office of the President and Cabinet and Parliament, the report said.
Training would be conducted in collaboration with institutions of higher learning, such as the University of Zimbabwe and the National University of Science and Technology. — New Ziana.