New twists and turns as Speaker Ndugai invites Mwambe to Parliament
What you need to know:
- Mwambe, who challenged Chadema national chairman Freeman Mbowe in intra-party’s polls, decamped to the ruling CCM after his attempt to unseat the latter failed.
- Chadema says the MP is still on Parliament’s payroll despite lacking qualifications
Dar/Dodoma. The issue regarding former Ndanda MP Cecil Mwambe took a new twist yesterday when the politician said he had been invited to Dodoma by the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Job Ndugai.
The invitation comes after Mr Ndugai read in Parliament a letter, addressed to him by Chadema sec-retary general, Mr John Mnyika, asking the former to stop payments to Mr Mwambe on grounds that since he left the opposition party in February this year, he also ceased to be a Member of Parliament.
It could not be immediately established why Mr Ndugai had to invite Mr Mwambe to the Parliament, being three months since he ceased to be an MP after he decamped to the ruling party CCM.
Even Mr Mwambe himself could not immediately tell the reason for his invitation to the Parliament.
“I am on my way to Dodoma following the Speaker’s call. When I arrive I will definitely know everything in detail. The Parliament is an arm of the state so when it invites you, you just can’t ignore,” he said.
He said he was only responding to the Speaker’s call.
“I don’t know whether I will be a Member of Parliament on a political party’s ticket or not. You never know, maybe I have been nominated by the President and the Speaker has been given instructions,” he said.
Mr Mwambe defected to Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) in February this year and was welcomed by the ruling party’s Ideology and Publicity Secretary, Mr Humphrey Polepole.
He left Chadema after he unsuccessfully vied for the opposition party’s chairmanship.
Announcing his decision to leave Chadema in front of journalists at CCM’s Lumumba offices in Dar es Salaam, Mr Mwambe said: “Today (Saturday, February 15, 2020) my Chadema membership ceases. l am stepping down from all posts that I hold in the party and that of being a lawmaker.
”However, in an interesting turn of events, Mr Ndugai read a letter that was addressed to him by Mr Mnyika in Parliament on Wednesday in which the latter was reminding the former that Mr Mwambe was no longer an MP since February, 2020, therefore, he did not deserve parliamentary privileges.
But Mr Ndugai said the letter lacked vital attachments that would inform him on halting payments to Mr Mwambe who joined the Speaker’s Party in February.
He said the letter should have been accompanied with attachments that would show evidence that Mr Mwambe ceased to be a Chadema member and therefore, no longer an MP.
