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Parliamentary
Roundup Bulletin No. 8 – 2012
Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust
March 15, 2012
Introduction
The Minister
of Labour and Social Welfare Hon. Paurina Mpariwa made a ministerial
statement in the House
of Assembly regarding the purported ban of some NGOs in the
country. Being a Wednesday yesterday, backbenchers quizzed Ministers
on various policy issues and some Chairpersons presented their committee
reports.
Plenary
Proceedings in the House of Assembly
Ministerial
Statement Regarding Banning of NGOs
The Minister
of Labour and Social Welfare Hon. Paurina Mpariwa made a ministerial
statement in the House of Assembly regarding the purported banning
of some NGOs in the country. It appears the statement was motivated
by press reports that the Governor and Resident Minister for Masvingo
Province, Hon. Titus Maluleke, had banned all NGOs operating in
the province.
In her statement,
the Minister assured the House that no single NGO had been banned
or de-registered since the inception of the current coalition
government. Hon. Mpariwa explained to the House that the registration
and de-registration of NGOs was administered by her ministry. As
such, it was only her or her ministry that had the authority to
ban or de-register NGOs in the country. She also explained to the
House that NGOs could not just be banned or de-registered arbitrarily;
there were certain factors taken into consideration and procedures
that had to be followed.
Minister Mpariwa
took the opportunity to express government gratitude to the NGOs
for the work they were doing by complementing government programmes.
She cited humanitarian work and developmental programmes in communities.
She noted that NGOs played a very critical role especially during
the Zimbabwe Dollar hyper-inflation period where virtually all government
services had collapsed.
Question
and Answer Session
There was great
improvement in the number of Ministers that were present in the
House during question and answer session. Backbenchers posed a number
of questions to Ministers on various policy issues falling within
their purview. Below are some of the issues discussed.
Policy
Changes in the Mining Sector
Hon. Fred Kanzama
(ZANU PF Mutare South) asked Deputy Prime Minister, Professor Arthur
Mutambara, if government was considering any policy changes in the
mining sector following the findings of the Cabinet delegation,
led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to Chiadzwa
mining fields in Marange recently. Professor Mutambara said
the visit to Chiadzwa was an eye-opener and was going to assist
government to come up with better policies not only in the diamond
sector but across the entire mining sector. He said Zimbabwe was
literally giving investors the country’s minerals for free.
He told the House that Zimbabwe was not realizing good earnings
from the mining sector because of the flawed contracts it offered
to investors. He said the country was failing to make a distinction
between capital investment and equity. As a result, when signing
contracts with investors, Zimbabwe did not leverage the value of
the mineral claim to its advantage in order to realize money proceeds.
He cited the example of Zimplats where the platinum ore was valued
at $4 billion dollars but the country gave a contract to Zimplats
on the basis of $700 million investment capital that Zimplats promised
to bring into country. He said of that amount, Zimplats only brought
into the country $300 million and it raised the rest ($400 million)
from the local banks. He also cited the example of the ESSAR deal.
He informed the House that the iron ore at former ZISCO Steel and
its subsidiaries was valued at $20 billion but the country did not
put that into consideration before it awarded the contract to ESSAR.
Status
of the Police Commissioner General
Hon. Pishai
Muchauraya (MDC-T Makoni South) asked the co-Ministers of Home Affairs
to update the House on the status of the Police Commissioner General;
whether Mr. Chihuri was currently carrying out his duties in his
acting capacity or as a substantive holder of the post. The co-Minister
of Home Affairs, Hon. Kembo Mohadi said the appointment of the police
commissioner general was not his prerogative but that of the President.
Hence he was not privy to the appointment status of Mr. Chihuri.
Parliamentary
Oversight on International Agreements
Hon. Simbaneuta
Mudarikwa (ZANU PF Uzumba) questioned Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara
as to why parliament was not consulted before government signed
international agreements, only to be asked to ratify the agreements
after the government had committed the country to such agreements.
Professor Mutambara conceded that that was a serious oversight which
government needed to correct. He said parliament, through its oversight
function, should play its role to ensure that all agreements were
adequately subjected to scrutiny before signing.
Provision
of Dialysis Services
Hon. Cairo Mhandu
(ZANU PF Mazowe North) asked the Deputy Minister of Health and Child
Welfare if government was aware of the plight of dialysis patients
in the countryside as there were no services in those areas and
that patients were currently spending $600 to $1000 per week for
a dialysis session. Deputy Minister Membeshora said government was
aware of the situation and confirmed to the House that dialysis
services were currently available in Harare, Bulawayo and Chitungwiza.
He said government could not provide such services in district and
provincial hospitals due to lack of equipment and qualified personnel
to operate dialysis machines.
Traffic
Offence Spot Fines
Hon. Settlement
Chikwinya (MDC-T Mbizo) asked the co-Ministers of Home Affairs if
government could consider scrapping off spot fines that motorists
have been forced to pay by the police for various traffic offences.
He noted that this contributed to corruption. The co-Minister of
Home Affairs Hon. Kembo Mohadi informed the House that Cabinet was
currently seized with the matter and was still exploring ways of
dealing with the issue. He hinted that government was considering
scrapping off the policy so that those issued with traffic offence
tickets pay their fines at their nearest police station or court
instead on the spot where the offence would have been committed.
On how the money collected from spot fines was used, the Minister
said they handed over the money to the Ministry of Justice and Legal
Affairs. The Minister also conceded to a point raised by Hon. Blessing
Chebundo that the policy on spot fines was denying citizens their
fundamental constitutional right to be heard in a court of law.
Release
of Funds for Voter Registration Process
Hon. Kudakwashe
Bhasikiti (ZANU PF Mwenezi) East) asked Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara
to inform the House when government would release funds for the
voter registration exercise. Professor Mutambara said government
was paying attention to the issue but he was not in a position to
inform the House as to when the funds would be released and thus
referred the issue to the Minister of Finance, who unfortunately
was not in the House.
Harassment
of Citizens at the Registrar’s Offices
Hon. Ellina
Shirichena (ZANU PF Mberengwa South) asked the co-Ministers of Home
Affairs why some officers at the Registrar’s Offices demanded
bribes, gifts and sex in exchange of such services as birth certificates,
passports, national identity cards etc. The co-Minister of Home
Affairs Hon. Kembo Mohadi informed the House that this was criminal
and as such people should report the culprits to the police.
Presentation
of Committee Reports
Chairpersons
for the Local Government Portfolio Committee and the Transport Committee,
Hon. Lynnette Karenyi and Hon. Blessing Chebundo, respectively,
presented their committee reports. The Local Government Portfolio
Committees Report was on the Third Quarter Budget Performance of
the Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development, for
the year 2011. Not much over expenditures were noted except for
the high telephone costs amounting close to $1million and the hotel
costs for accommodation of Provincial Governors at the Rainbow Towers
when they came to Harare for official business.
The Transport
Committee report was on the operations of the National Railway of
Zimbabwe (NRZ). The report noted that the NRZ was in a state of
collapse due to various reasons, which included; gross mismanagement,
lack of corporate governance, lack of capital, bloated staff compliment,
which included military personnel.
However, the
report could not be debated extensively due to lack of quorum in
the House. The House had to adjourn before the debate on the report
could be concluded. The mover of the motion will have to re-introduce
the Report when the House resumes its sitting today.
Both Houses
are sitting this afternoon.
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