Some Tanzanian opposition Mp’s are in trouble with the authorities after they boycotted parliamentary sittings despite having been paid their sitting allowances in advance.
The lawmakers boycotted the sitings after they were asked by the main opposition party, Chadema, to self-isolate for at least 14 days and stay away from parliamentary buildings.
The decision to have the legislators to self-isolate was arrived at following death of three MPs in less than a fortnight, though their deaths have not been linked to coronavirus, as reported by BBC.
President John Pombe Magufuli had called for withholding of their allowances but they had already been paid in advance. Speaker Job Ndugai threatened to take the matter to court if the lawmakers fail to return the KSh 5 million they had been paid earlier on.
“In simple terms this is theft..and it’s a very bad example of these leaders. You are being paid from poor citizens’ money to work for them, but you abscond. You stage a baseless boycott but you’ve already pocketed the money. You have to return this money,” the speaker said on Wednesday.
The politicians have been isolating in the coastal city of Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam regional commissioner Paul Makonda issued a 24-ultimatum to opposition MPs to leave the city or risk being arrested.
Makonda said the lawmakers should be in Dodoma to attend ongoing parliamentary discussions on budget sessions and promised to deal with them the same way he had dealt with sex workers in the past.
The politicians who are also serious critics of Magufuli’s government dared him to arrest them. The leaders have been accusing President Magufuli of playing with the lives of Tanzanians and doing so little to contain spread of the COVID-19 in the East African country. Currently, Tanzania has 509 confirmed cases of the virus with 21 deaths and 183 recoveries.
