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Summary of the last (third) parliamentary session - Bill Watch 46/2011
Veritas
October 29, 2011
Summary
of the Last Parliamentary Session
A Longer
than Usual Session
The last Parliamentary
session - the Third Session of the Seventh Parliament
of Zimbabwe - started on 13th July 2010 and ended just under 14
months later, on 5th September 2011. The Constitution does not specify
the length of a Parliamentary session nor does it fix starting or
ending dates; these dates are fixed by the President by proclamation
published in the Government Gazette. But the Constitution
states there must be a new session in every calendar year and that
the gap between the last sitting in one session and the first sitting
in the next must not be more than 180 days. In practice such a gap
is unheard of.
Number
of Sitting Days
During the session:
- the House
of Assembly sat on 48 occasions
- the Senate
sat on 33 occasions
Sittings are
on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, commencing at 2.15
pm for the House of Assembly and 2.30 for the Senate. Standing Orders
envisage work continuing until 7 pm, but seldom did either House
sit after 5 pm. There were a significant number of short sittings,
when one or other of the Houses met only to adjourn after sitting
for less than an hour. The Session was also marked by long adjournments
– six weeks over the Christmas-New Year period, and more than
ten weeks in July-October 2010 to allow legislators to take part
in the Constitution Parliamentary Select Committee [COPAC] outreach
programme. There were some unexpected adjournments: a November-February
adjournment for the Senate was caused by disorder in the Senate
chamber but the Senate was recalled to deal with urgent business
in December. In March the Clerk of Parliament suspended sittings
of the House of Assembly after the Supreme Court unseated the Speaker.
[See Noteworthy Features below.]
13 Bills
Passed
In all 13 Bills
were passed during the Session:
[All but two
of these Bills have been gazetted as Acts – the two awaiting
gazetting are the Deposit Protection Corporation Bill and the Small
Enterprises Development Corporation Amendment Bill. All the gazetted
Acts, except the Attorney-General’s Office Act, are in force.]
3 Bills announced
on the President’s Agenda that lapsed at the end of the Session:
[To date –
27th October – these Bills have still not been restored to
the Parliamentary agenda.]
One
Private Member’s Bill Introduced
Hon Gonese’s
Public
Order and Security Amendment Bill was passed by the House of
Assembly without opposition, and sent to the Senate in December
2010. Debate in the Senate started on the 3rd August but was adjourned
after ZANU-PF objections, resulting in the Bill’s lapsing
at the end of the session. To date the Bill has not been restored
to the Parliamentary agenda; debate has been adjourned on Mr Gonese’s
motion to restore it to the Senate Order Paper.
Comparison
of Bills Passed with Government’s Legislative Agenda for the
Session
In his speech
opening the Third Session on 13th July 2010 the President listed
24 Bills the Government intended to bring before Parliament during
the Session. In the event only 7 out of the 24 Government Bills
were introduced, and of those 7 only 4 were passed by Parliament.
The 3 Bills that had not been passed by the end of the Session lapsed,
in accordance with Parliamentary procedure [see list below].
4 Bills Announced
by the President, introduced and passed:
- Attorney-General’s
Office Bill
- Criminal
Laws Amendment (Protection of Power, Communication and Water Infrastructure)
Bill
- Deposit
Protection Corporation Bill
- Energy Regulatory
Authority Bill
- Bills passed
in addition to what was on the Government’s Legislative
Agenda:
- Appropriation
(2010) Amendment Bill
- Appropriation
(2010) Amendment (No. 2) Bill
- Appropriation
(2011) Bill [Budget for 2011]
- Finance Bill,
2010
- Finance (No.
2) Bill, 2010 [2011 Budget measures]
- Finance Bill
2011 [to give effect to the 2011 Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Review]
- General Laws
Amendment Bill
- Small Enterprises
Development Corporation Amendment Bill
- Zimbabwe
National Security Council Amendment Bill
Bills Announced
by the President but not introduced:
- Civil Aviation
Amendment Bill
- Criminal
Law (Codification and Reform) Amendment Bill
- Environmental
Management Amendment Bill
- Minerals
Exploration Corporation Bill
- Mines and
Minerals Amendment Bill
- Indigenous
Languages Bill
- International
Agreements Bill
- Media Practitioners
Bill
- Medical
Aid Societies Bill
- Referendums
Amendment Bill
- Schools
Examinations Council Amendment Bill
- Trafficking
in Persons Bill
- Women’s
Council Bill
- Zimbabwe
Border Post Authority Bill
- Zimbabwe
Examinations and Qualifications Authority Bill
- Zimbabwe
Income Tax Amendment Bill
Bills
Carried Forward to the Legislative Agenda for the Fourth Session
In the President’s
speech opening the Fourth Session on 6th September 2011 the following
bills that were on the Government’s Legislative Agenda for
the previous session were re-listed:
- Referendums
Bill
- Electoral
Amendment Bill
- Income Tax
Amendment Bill
- Women’s
Council Bill/Bill to coordinate the activities of registered organisations
promoting the rights of women
- Civil Aviation
Authority Bill, to split the CAAZ into a Regulator and an Operator
New
Bills Listed for the Fourth Session
The following
new Bills for introduction during the Fourth Session were announced
by the President in his speech on 6th September:
- Zimbabwe
Investment Authority Amendment Bill, to give full legal effect
to the One-Stop-Shop Investment Centre
- Micro-finance
Bill
- Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe Debt Restructuring Bill
- Public Health
Act Amendment Bill
- Food Control
Bill
- Land Developers
Bill
- Older Persons
Bill
- Civil Aviation
Authority Bill, to split the Authority into a regulator and an
operator
- Railways
Bill, to restructure the railways sector to establish a Railways
Regulatory Authority, an Infrastructure Company for the railways
and a Railways Operation Company.
- State Enterprises
Restructuring Agency Bill.
Bills
that seem to have been dropped
Not mentioned
in the President’s Speech on 6th September 2011 were the following
Bills that were on the Legislative Agenda for the Third Session
but had not been introduced by the end of that Session:
- International
Agreements Bill
- Media Practitioners
Bill
- Trafficking
in Persons Bill
- Zimbabwe
Mineral Exploration Corporation Bill
- Mines and
Minerals Amendment Bill
- Zimbabwe
Border Post Authority Bill
- Zimbabwe
Examinations and Qualifications Authority Bill
- School Examinations
Council Amendment Bill
- Indigenous
Languages Bill
- Medical
Aid Societies Bill
- Criminal
Law (Codification and Reform) Amendment Bill
- Environmental
Management Amendment Bill
[Comment: These
Bills may resurface later. It may be that the legislative agenda
for the Fourth Session has been pruned to make room for the anticipated
closing stages of the constitution-making process – the Parliamentary
debate on the draft Constitution, the lead-up to the Constitutional
Referendum and, if the Referendum result is YES, the enactment into
law of the new Constitution.]
International
Agreements Approved
- Loan Agreement
between Government of Zimbabwe and Export-Import Bank of China
for Construction of National Defence College [Parliament was specially
recalled from an adjournment to approve this controversial agreement
on 31st May 2011.]
- Loan Agreement
between Government of Zimbabwe and Export-Import Bank of China
relating to Zimbabwe’s 2G and 3G National Network Rollout
Project being implemented by Net One
- Agreement
on the Establishment of the Zambezi Watercourse Commission
- Convention
on Wetlands
- Rotterdam
Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain
Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade
- Basel Convention
on Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
- Agreement
on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds
- SADC Protocol
on Fisheries
- Convention
on Persistent Organic Pollutants
- Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
- Bonn Convention
on the Conservation of Migratory Species
- SADC Protocol
on Wildlife Conservation and Law Enforcement.
Parliamentary
Committee Reports
House
of Assembly Portfolio Committees
- Committee
on Local Government, Rural and Urban Development: the State of
Service Delivery by the Municipalities of Harare, Chitungwiza
and Norton (S.C.6, 2010)
- Committee
on Transport and Infrastructural Development: Air Zimbabwe and
the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (S.C. 7, 2010)
- Committee
on Higher Education, Science and Technology: The fee structure,
implementation of the Cadetship Support Scheme and scholarships
programme (S.C.9, 2010)
- Committee
on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare: the operations of
NSSA (S.C11, 2010)
- Committee
on Small and Medium Enterprises: Status of SMEs in Harare (S.C12,
2010)
- Committee
on State Enterprises and Parastatals: Supply of Water Treatment
Chemicals by Chemplex Corporation to Harare City Council (S.C.13,
2010)
- Committee
on National Housing and Social Amenities: Constitutionalisation
of housing (S.C.1, 2011)
- Committee
on Justice Legal Affairs, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs:
The State of the Prison System in Zimbabwe (S.C.3, 2011)
- Committee
on Industry and Commerce: State of Industry and Revival Strategies
(S.C.4, 2011)
- Committee
on Agriculture, Water, Lands and Resettlement: Operations of Tobacco
Industry and Marketing Board, Constraints and Challenges faced
by Tobacco Farmers (S.C.7, 2011)
- Committee
on Media, Information and Communication Technology: State of Public
Media in Zimbabwe (S.C.8, 2011)
- Committee
on Mines and Energy: State of affairs at Shabani Mashava Mine
(S.C.10, 2011)
Senate
Thematic Committees
- Committee
on Human Rights: State of Prisons and Prisoners (S.C.5, 2011)
- Committee
on Indigenization and Empowerment: Indigenization and Empowerment
Policies and Programmes (S.C.6, 2011)
- Committee
on Millennium Development Goals: Social Protection Programmes
(S.C.9, 2011)
- Committee
on HIV and AIDS: Access to Treatment
- Committee
on Peace and Security: Role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
in promoting and safeguarding peace and security in Zimbabwe.
Noteworthy
Features
November
2010: Uproar in Senate over Provincial Governors
On 7th October
Prime Minister Tsvangirai said MDC-T would not recognise the President’s
unilateral, and therefore unconstitutional, re-appointment of all
ten ZANU-PF provincial governors. When the Senate next met on 9th
and 10th November Senate President Madzongwe rejected MDC-T objections
to the presence of provincial governors. Protesting MDC-T Senators
then halted proceedings with loud singing and dancing, and the Senate
adjourned until 8th February. Having made their point, MDC-T Senators
did not persist in their protests when the Senate was recalled in
December to deal with the Budget. The governors have continued in
office and to sit in the Senate without further Parliamentary protest.
March
2011: Speaker’s Unseating and Re-Election
On 10th March
the Supreme Court set
aside the 2008 election of MDC-T’s Lovemore Moyo as Speaker
of the House of Assembly. In a split decision [3 for, 2 against]
the court ruled that the secret ballot rule had been breached during
the poll when 6 MDC-T MPs displayed their marked, unfolded ballot
papers to other MPs. On 29th March in a secret ballot Mr Moyo was
re-elected
Speaker, defeating the ZANU-PF candidate, party chairperson S.K.
Moyo, apparently with the support of at least three ZANU-PF MPs.
July
2011: Disruption of ZHRC Bill Public Hearings
Joint public
hearings into the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill by Senate
and House of Assembly committees were disrupted
and aborted in four provincial centres. At the final public hearing,
in Parliament building in Harare on 23rd July, a large unruly mob
invaded the venue, bringing proceedings to a standstill and assaulting
an MP and journalists. No arrests were made by police at the time
or later.
Continuing
Problems with Executive over Parliamentary Oversight Function
A cause for
complaint by MPs was continued failure by Ministers to attend Question
Time on Wednesdays, thereby evading answering awkward questions.
Parliamentary Committees did not always get co-operation from Ministers
and bureaucrats; an example was the obstruction of efforts by the
Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy to visit the Chiadzwa diamond
fields for on-the-spot inquiries. The same committee complained
about Minister Chinamasa’s responses to its questions during
the Shabani-Mashava Mine inquiry; but the Speaker ruled there was
no prima facie case justifying proceedings against the Minister
for contempt of Parliament.
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