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Parliament in recess during April - Update on bills waiting - Bill
Watch 17/2012
Veritas
April 30, 2012
Both
Houses of Parliament are adjourned until Tuesday 15th May
Meetings
of Portfolio and Thematic Committees are suspended until 7th May
Note: The parliamentary
committee that met last week was not a regular committee, but an
ad hoc Committee on Privileges specially appointed to consider a
contempt of Parliament charge [see Bill Watch – Parliamentary
Committees Series of 23rd April]
Mining
Industry “Nationalisation”: Public Notice of 5th April
NOT Gazetted
The extraordinary
“public notice” published in the press on 5th April
by the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment has not been gazetted. A notice has no claim to legal
standing unless gazetted. Even if the notice had been gazetted it
would have been surprising if it got past the Parliamentary Legal
Committee as it has been generally condemned as legally unsound
not only by the Prime Minister but also by legal commentators. [See
Bill
Watch 16/2012 of 5th April for comment on the notice]
Update
on Acts
All eleven Bills
passed by Parliament during 2011 have been gazetted as Acts [for
list see Bill
Watch 13/2012 of 27th March]. Two of these Acts are still not
in force: the Attorney-General’s Office Act [4/2011] and the
Small Enterprises Development Corporation Act [6/2011]; each of
them requires the President to fix a date of commencement by statutory
instrument. Parliament has not passed any Bills since the beginning
of this year, so gazetting of Acts of 2012 has not yet started.
Update
on Bills in Parliament
House
of Assembly
Awaiting
start of Committee Stage
Zimbabwe
Human Rights Commission Bill
This Bill
had its Second Reading on 27th March after full debate. The Minister
of Justice and Legal Affairs, who is the responsible Minister, has
tabled amendments he intends to propose for adoption during the
Committee Stage; these include changes to meet objections from the
Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC] [for details see Bill
Watch 14/2012 of 28th March].
Undergoing
Second Reading debate
Urban
Councils Amendment Bill
This is
a Private Member’s Bill introduced by Hon Matimba of MDC-T.
It seeks to make major cuts in the powers given to the Minister
of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development by the Urban Councils
Act. Hon Matimba has made his introductory speech and further debate
is awaited, but progress on this Bill may be delayed by a court
application lodged last week by Minister of Local Government, Rural
and Urban Development Ignatius Chombo for an interdict prohibiting
Parliament from considering the Bill. Minister Chombo’s court
application is based on constitutional grounds and will be discussed
in a separate Bill Watch. It remains to be seen how Justice Bere’s
recent ruling on the sub judice rule will be interpreted by the
Speaker in this case, and whether the Speaker will stop debate on
this Bill pending determination of the court application. [Correction
of error: Bill Watch 15/2012 of 2nd April incorrectly said this
Bill was still awaiting House approval of its introduction. In fact
it had already been introduced and received a non-adverse report
from the PLC, and the Second Reading stage had started. Veritas
apologises for the error.]
Awaiting
start of Second Reading stage after non-adverse report from PLC
Awaiting
consideration of Adverse Report from PLC
Electoral
Amendment Bill
The PLC’s
adverse report on this Bill, announced by the Speaker on 27th March,
means that the House cannot proceed to the next stage [Second Reading]
of the Bill until the House has first considered the adverse report
in committee and then in plenary session voted on a resolution to
adopt the adverse report which will be moved by a member of the
PLC. If the House adopts the adverse report, any clause the House
finds to be inconsistent with the Constitution
will then have to be dropped from the Bill or amended so as to remove
the inconsistency. [Note: Official text of adverse report not yet
available.]
Proposed
Private Member’s Bill to repeal section 121(3) of Criminal
Procedure and Evidence Act
The House is
part of the way through its debate on Mr Gonese’s motion requesting
its permission to introduce this Bill. Mr Gonese has made his introductory
speech and several MPs have contributed, both for and against the
motion. Debate has been adjourned to give the responsible Minister
– the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs – an opportunity
to reply to points raised. The object of the Bill is to take away
the power of a prosecutor to stall for 7 days the release of an
accused person on bail while the Attorney-General considers whether
or not to appeal against the decision of the magistrate or judge
who granted bail. [For a discussion of State misuse of section 121(3)
see Court
Watch 8/2012 of 25th April]
Senate
POSA
Amendment Bill
The Senate still
has to complete debate on Mr Gonese’s motion for his lapsed
Private Member’s Bill to be restored to the Senate Order Paper
[it lapsed at the end of the previous Parliamentary Session in September
2011]. The Senate is expecting a contribution to the debate from
the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Senator Chinamasa, who
was unavailable during recent Senate sittings. Before the Bill lapsed
last year Senator Chinamasa, one of the GPA negotiators, had told
the Senate the Bill was inappropriate because it was the subject
of discussion by the negotiators.
Death
of Senator Mudzingwa
The death
on 10th April of MDC-T Senator Tichaona Mudzingwa, Deputy Minister
of Transport, Communications and Infrastructure Development brings
the number of vacant Senate seats to 14 out of a total of 99. It
does not, however, add to the number of pending by-elections because
Dr Mudzingwa was an appointed Senator, nominated by MDC-T in terms
of Schedule 8 to the Constitution [GPA, Article 20.1.9]. All that
is required to fill the vacancy is the nomination of a replacement
by MDC-T, followed by the nominee’s formal appointment by
the President.
Government
Gazette from 23rd March to 27th April
Acts - No Acts
were gazetted. Gazetting of 2011 Acts was complete by mid-March
[see above.] No Bills for Acts of 2012 have been passed by Parliament
so far this year.
Bills - No Bills
were gazetted – and no Bills are currently being printed by
the Government Printer.
Statutory Instruments
[SI 65/2012 on immigration permits available from veritas@mango.zw]
Immigration
permits – Ministerial intervention – SI 65/2012 of 20th
April inserts a new section 37A into the Immigration Regulations
[SI 195/1998] allowing the Minister of Home Affairs, in any particular
case, to direct the Chief Immigration Officer to issue a residence,
temporary employment, scholar’s or alien’s permit to
anyone in Zimbabwe, notwithstanding any other provision in SI 195/1998.
New cantonment
under Defence Act SI 61/2012 declares the area of the Army Boarding
School in Kadoma district a cantonment for the purposes of the Defence
Act. Under the Act entry into a cantonment is restricted to Defence
Forces personnel and their families, State employees on duty, and
other persons authorised to enter by the officer in command of the
cantonment.
Customs regulations
SI 70/2012 grants a 2-year suspension of duty to China-Zimbabwe
Sunrise Mining (Pvt) Ltd in respect of a specified mining location
SG 4591. SI 69/2012 provides for a 2012 once-off duty rebate for
certain items for the National Railways of Zimbabwe.
Wild life –
compensation for animals and fish unlawfully hunted, caught or trapped
Where a person is convicted of unlawful hunting or trapping of animals
or catching of fish, the court must, in addition to any fine or
prison sentence, order the payment of compensation to the appropriate
authority for the land concerned [e.g. the Director of Parks and
Wild Life, the landowner or lessee, the State] according to tariffs
fixed by the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Management.
SIs 56 and 57/2012 set out new tariffs fixed by the Minister in
terms of the Parks and Wild Life Act and the Trapping of Animals
(Control) Act; the amounts, most of them fairly substantial, range
from $5 per kilogram of fish to $120 000 for a rhinoceros.
Collective bargaining
agreements deal with 2012 wages for the agricultural industry kapenta
sector [SI 32/2012] and allowances for all agricultural industry
sectors [33/2012]; 2012 wages for the energy industry [SI 50/2012];
2012 wages and allowances for the soft drinks manufacturing industry
[SI 64/2012]; and full conditions of service for the transport operating
industry [SI 67/2012].
Police promotions
SI 68/2012 lists officers promoted in terms of the Police Act with
effect from 4th May 2011. The ranks involved are inspector, chief
inspector, superintendent, chief superintendent, assistant commissioner,
commissioner and deputy commissioner-general.
Local authority
rents and charges by-laws Bulawayo [SIs 48 and 49/2012]; Bindura
[SI 44/2012]; Epworth [SI 66/2012]; Gweru [SI 55/2012]; Kadoma [SI
62/2012]; Kwekwe [SI 43/2012]; Mvurwi [SI 71/2012]; Redcliff [SI
31/2012]; Ruwa [SI 673/2012]; Zvishavane [SI 59/2012].
Other local
authority by-laws Bulawayo [cemeteries charges – SI 46/2012];
Norton [food hygiene by-laws – SI 41/2012]; Gweru [cemeteries
charges – SI 51/2012; clamping and tow away – 60/2012;
commuter omnibus station – SI 52/2012; long-distance omnibus
station – SI 53/2012; pre-paid parking discs – SI 54/2012;
traffic – SI 42/2012]; Norton [mobile take-aways and hawkers
– SI 58/2012].
General
Notices
Government
financial statements
The Secretary
for Finance published four sets of statements as supplements to
the Government Gazette of 27th April. They are for the quarter ended
31st December 2011, and for the months of December 2011, January
2012 and February 2012. This gazetting is required by section 34
of the Public Finance Management Act.
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take
legal responsibility for information supplied
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
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