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Parliamentary
Roundup Bulletin No. 30 - 2011
Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust
September 22, 2011
Introduction
Most of the
Ministers were conspicuous by their absence during the Question
and Answer Session in the House
of Assembly yesterday. After taking a few questions for the
few Ministers who were present, the House proceeded to debate a
condolence motion on the death of Retired General Solomon Mujuru.
The House however adjourned abruptly due to lack of quorum. The
Senate continued with debate on the Presidential Speech. Hon. Gonese
gave notice to restore to the Order Paper his amendment Bill on
the Public Order and Security
Act (POSA), which had lapsed with the prorogation of the 3rd
Session.
House
of Assembly and Senate Plenary Proceedings
Question
and Answer Session
As indicated
above, only a handful of Ministers, namely, the Minister of Constitutional
and Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Eric Matinenga, the Minister of
Public Works, Hon. Joel Gabbuza, the Minister of National Housing
and Social Amenities, Hon. Giles Mutsekwa, Deputy Minister of Economic
Planning and Investment Promotion, Hon. Dr. Samuel Undenge and the
Deputy Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Hon. Lazarus
Dokora were present in the House during Question and Answer Session.
As a result,
backbenchers were restricted to pose questions for the Ministers
present. Hon. Fred Kanzama raised his displeasure to the Speaker,
regarding the absence of Ministers during Question and Answer session.
Progress
on the One Stop Shop Investment Policy
Hon. Willias
Madzimure (MDC-T Kambuzuma) asked the Deputy Minister of Economic
Planning and Investment Promotion to brief the House on progress
regarding the One-Stop-Shop Investment Policy which was recently
launched by government. In his response, Dr. Undenge said the policy
was meant to expedite investment application procedures. Hence government
has put in place mechanisms to ensure that all investment procedures
are done under one roof. He said this has considerably cut the processing
time from the previous 45 – 90 days to 5days.
Renovation
of Public and Government Buildings
Hon. Felix Magalela
Sibanda (MDC-T Magwegwe) asked the Minister of Public Works to explain
government policy regarding renovation of public and government
buildings. His question was in relation to the Police Station in
his constituency which he said was in a dilapidated state and has
not received attention from government for the past 20 years. Hon.
Gabbuza said it was the responsibility of his ministry to do maintenance
of all public and government buildings. However, due to the inadequate
budget allocations, his ministry has not been able to carry out
maintenance works to all government buildings. The Minister said
as a result of the budget constraints his ministry was prioritizing
institutions like hospitals.
National
Housing Policy
Hon. Fred Kanzama
asked the Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities to brief
the House on his ministry’s programmes regarding the alleviation
of housing problems especially for civil servants in rural set ups.
Hon. Mutsekwa said the inclusive government has resuscitated housing
programmes which had stalled for the past 10 years due to the economic
crisis prevailing then. He informed the House that his ministry
has adopted a deliberate policy for providing housing for civil
servants not only in urban centres but rural areas as well. He said
for all housing projects undertaken by his ministry, 20% of completed
houses were reserved for civil servants.
Hon. Mutsekwa
also informed the House that his ministry was currently carrying
out a study to establish cheaper modern construction technologies
to ensure that even the poor in society could be able to own houses.
He said the official housing backlog in the country stood at 1 200
000.
Review
of Education School Curriculum
Hon. Dorothy
Mangami (ZANU PF Gokwe) asked the Deputy Minister of Education,
Sport, Arts and Culture to brief the House on the policy regarding
the review of school curriculum. Hon. Dokora said that the curriculum
was reviewed periodically to ensure that it remains relevant to
the prevailing environment. He said his ministry was currently reviewing
the curriculum.
Resource
Material Gaps in Schools
On the question
by Hon. Paul Mazikana (ZANU PF Mbire) regarding the financing of
resource material gaps in schools, the Deputy Minister said that
gaps was financed through school levies that schools collect each
term.
Anglican
Church Property Saga
On the question
by Hon. Collin Gwiyo (MDC-T Zengeza West) regarding the Anglican
Church property saga which he said was also affecting schools under
the Anglican Church, the Deputy Minister of Education Sport Arts
and Culture was non-committal. He said the issue was subjudice and
he therefore could not answer the question.
Constituency
Development Fund (CDF)
Hon. Betty Chikava
(ZANU PF Mount Darwin East) asked the Minister of Constitutional
and Parliamentary Affairs when would MPs get the remaining tranche
of the CDF given that parliament was approaching the next budget
cycle. Hon. Matinenga said his ministry would disburse the money
as soon as treasury makes the money available. He said treasury
was operating in a tight fiscal space yet it was faced with competing
national priorities.
Condolence
Motion on the Death of Retired General Solomon Mujuru
Hon. Kudakwashe
Bhasikiti (ZANU PF Mwenezi East) seconded by Hon. Betty Chikava
(ZANU PF Mount Darwin East) moved a condolence motion on the death
of Retired General Solomon Mujuru.
The debate on
the motion had to be abandoned due to lack of quorum. Only 22 Members
were present in the House during the debate on the motion, shy of
3 members to make a full quorum. After Hon. Mazikana had raised
a point of order regarding lack of quorum in the House, bells were
duly rung for 7 minutes in terms of Standing Order No. 27(1). After
failing to raise the required quorum, the House adjourned automatically
and would resume sitting today.
What it means
therefore is that the motion under debate when the point of order
regarding lack of quorum is raised and the House subsequently fails
to raise the required quorum of 25 Ministers in the House of Assembly
and 11 Members in the Senate, the motion falls off the order paper.
Hence the condolence motion on the death of Retied General Mujuru
fell off and can only be restored to the Order Paper after a motion
to resuscitate it has been moved.
Restoration
of POSA Amendment Bill to the Order Paper
Hon. Gonese
gave notice to restore to the Order Paper his amendment
Bill on Public Order and Security Act (POSA), which had lapsed
with the prorogation of the 3rd Session. The Bill has been stuck
in the Senate for several months. The House of Assembly unanimously
passed the Bill on 8 December 2010 and immediately transmitted it
to the Senate in terms of the constitution and parliamentary procedures.
When the Senate debated the Bill towards the end of the 3rd session
(beginning of September this year), the Minister of Justice and
Legal Affairs Senator Chinamasa informed the House that the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) party negotiators were seized with
the matter. He therefore asked Hon. Gonese to withdraw the Bill
to give the negotiators time to deal with the matter. Hon. Gonese
said he would rather keep the Bill on the Order Paper than withdraw
it completely so that if there was nothing forthcoming from the
GPA negotiators he would proceed with his Bill.
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