Speaker of the Parliament of Zimbabwe Jacob Mudenda has apologised to Chief Justice Luke Malaba and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson Priscilla Chigumba after they were verbally heckled by opposition MDC-Alliance legislators.
Chigumba had gone to Parliament for the election of presiding officers for both the Senate and the National Assembly, while Malaba went separately to swear in the newly elected presiding officers in terms of the Constitution.
However, the opposition legislators in the National Assembly shouted that the two had stolen the presidential election in which President Emmerson Mnangagwa prevailed over their leader Nelson Chamisa.
Chamisa appealed for the nullification of the result alleging rigging by both ZEC and Mnangagwa.
However, the court, led by Malaba, ruled in Mnangagwa and ZEC’s favor, prompting the opposition to allege that the judiciary had been compromised.
In a statement published Thursday, Mudenda said Malaba, as head of the third arm of the State, should be accorded the respect due to his office and the entire judiciary.
Chigumba is also a member of the judiciary where she is a judge of the High Court of Zimbabwe.
“The behavior was uncalled for and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms,” he said.
Chigumba, urged parliamentarians to be at the forefront of protecting the
Constitution by respecting the dignity of State institutions.
Mudenda was re-elected Speaker while his former deputy Mabel Chinomona was elected President of the Senate. (Xinhua/NAN)