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This comes barely a fortnight after Government increased salaries of civil servants by between US$6 and US$10 while State university lecturers were awarded a 130 percent salary increase which will see the highest paid earning a basic salary of US$1 880.
According to the law, the remuneration of Members of Parliament is a prerogative of the President, as stated in terms of the Chapter 2:03 Section 6 (g) of the Parliamentary Salaries, Allowances and Benefits Act.
Responding to questions from The Sunday Mail, the Speaker of the Lower House and chairperson of the SROC, Mr Lovemore Moyo, said it was the role of the SROC to make recommendations to the President for any review of salaries and allowances.
“We have recommended that members’ salaries be reviewed from the US$400 they were earning last year to US$1 000 as part of ongoing efforts to address their plight.
“In addition, they are entitled to sitting allowances, committee fees and subsistence allowances which include meal and private accommodation allowances. The SROC has done a thorough study and made recommendations to His Excellency, President Mugabe, for consideration and determination. We await the outcome of that process and will continue to advocate better remuneration for parliamentarians,” said Mr Moyo.
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Mr Moyo, however, said the Government was facing difficulties in paying the parliamentarians their allowances owing to a number of constraints.
“In the face of the prevailing economic challenges, all allowances, save for the private accommodation allowance, are either not being paid out or have not been determined in US dollars,” he said.
In November last year, parliamentarians demanded a cumulative US$23 million in salaries and allowances backdated to the beginning of their current tenure.
They also demanded hefty payoffs in the event of their terms being abridged with the holding of early elections.
The parliamentarians from both Houses petitioned three Government ministries, namely the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Public Service, saying they were finding it hard to carry out their duties from the US$400 they were earning.
Mr Moyo, however, said there were no plans to compensate parliamentarians in the event of early polls.
“The SROC has no jurisdiction in determining whether or not members should be paid for what they believe to be premature termination of their term in the event of early elections.
“What Section 63 of the Constitution states is that the life of Parliament shall be a maximum of five years and His Excellency, the President, has the prerogative of dissolving Parliament at any time before the expiry of the life of Parliament.
“In addition, there is no provision for consideration of any compensation in the event of Parliament being dissolved before the full five-year term,” he said.-The Sunday Mail
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