DAR ES SALAAM, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian parliament Speaker Job Ndugai on Wednesday ordered 60 members of parliament from main opposition party Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA), including their leader, who are boycotting House sessions, to repay allowances of 110 million Tanzanian shillings (about 48,000 U.S. dollars).
Ndugai said the allowances were given to the MPs as allowances for attending parliamentary budget sessions from May 1 through May 15 but the lawmakers stopped attending the sessions at the end of April following a directive from their leader.
"The opposition MPs who took the allowances and boycotted House sessions should repay the allowances or else I will report the matter to security organs for legal action," said Ndugai.
Last week, CHADEMA chairman Freeman Mbowe directed all its parliamentarians from his party, among other things, to stop attending parliamentary sessions and parliamentary committees amid the COVID-19 threat.
Mbowe said in a statement that the party also directed its members not to be close to the two parliamentary buildings, both in Dodoma and Dar es Salaam, as a way of avoiding infections.
"We want the parliament to take necessary steps including suspension of parliamentary activities for 21 days to allow parliamentarians and all workers in the parliament to quarantine themselves," he said in the statement.
However, 11 CHADEMA MPs defied the order and continued attending the sessions that are approving budget proposals for ministries for the 2020/2021 financial year.
On May 3, Tanzanian President John Magufuli ordered that MPs who failed to attend parliament without apparent reasons should not be given allowances. Enditem
