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Finance
and Appropriation Bills passed - Bill Watch 36/2012
Veritas
July 31, 2012
Both Houses
of Parliament
have adjourned until Monday 3rd September
The date for
the ceremonial opening of the next session is still to be fixed
4th
Session of the 7th Parliament Ended
The House of
Assembly sat on Tuesday 24th July, the Senate on 24th and 25th July;
both then adjourned until 3rd September. There will be no further
sittings in the current Session. Unfinished business on the agenda
will lapse but in both Houses lapsed items can be taken up again
in the next session if a motion to do so is moved and passed. All
Portfolio Committee and Thematic Committee business is suspended
from Friday 27th July and will resume in the next session.
The ceremonial
opening of the new Session by the President will be on a date to
be announced. Immediately after the ceremonial opening it is customary
for Parliament to adjourn for two weeks to allow members to study
the speech. According to the Parliamentary calendar the next sittings
are scheduled for 18th September, but the calendar is often subject
to changes.
President’s
Speech – Key Indicator for the Next 12 Months
At the ceremonial
opening of Parliament, the President gives a speech outlining government
business planned for the coming session. This year his speech will
be of key interest as it is likely to reveal his thinking about
the timeframe for the referendum
on the new constitution, when the new constitution will take
effect, and when elections will be held. The speech will also outline
the legislation the government proposes to present to Parliament.
Will the legislation provide for the necessary reforms to fulfil
the Election Roadmap?
In Parliament
Last Week
Finance and
Appropriation Bills passed by both Houses
House
of Assembly
On 24th July
the House continued debate on the Minister of Finance’s Mid-Year
Fiscal Policy Review
before passing the Finance Bill with one amendment. The amendment
added a new clause designed to fine-tune the Customs and Excise
Act’s provision dealing with the duties of aircraft pilots
to report to customs on the crew, passengers and cargo carried.
The House then
approved the Amended Estimates of Expenditure and passed the Appropriation
(2012) Amendment Bill without amendments.
Both Bills were
then transmitted to the Senate, and at 7 pm the House adjourned
until 3rd September.
Senate
On 25th July
the Senate devoted the whole of a long sitting to the Bills and
passed both without amendment. It then adjourned until 3rd September.
The Bills will
now go to the President for his assent before being gazetted as
Acts.
Documents available
from veritas@mango.zw:
- Finance
Bill as passed by Parliament
- Appropriation
(2012) Amendment Bill as passed by Parliament
- Minister
of Finance’s Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review Statement
Other
business in the House of Assembly
Before tackling
the Minister of Finance’s items on 24th July the House heard
Hon Mukanduri’s presentation of his report on the SADC Regional
Workshop on the Role of the Parliament in Trade Policy Formulation,
Trade Negotiation and Economic Integration, held on 27th and 28th
February 2012. The House also adopted a motion of condolence to
the family of the late Betty Chikava MP and wound up debate on the
Foreign Affairs Portfolio Committee’s report on its visit
to China and the Local Government Portfolio Committee’s report
on service delivery in the local authorities of Gutu and Chiredzi
[reports available from veritas@mango.zw]
No other
business in the Senate
The Senate’s
sitting on 24th July was very short. Parliamentary Legal Committee
[PLC] chairperson Hon Mushonga and the Minister of Justice Patrick
Chinamasa were not present, so Hon Mushonga’s motions on the
PLC’s adverse reports on 17 statutory instruments were not
dealt with. Hon Chinamasa had been expected to respond to the PLC’s
criticisms. It is hoped that that the motions on these reports will
be revived in the next session – because clarification is
needed on the constitutionality of standard provisions that appear
frequently in local authority by-laws to which the PLC’s objected.
At the last session of Parliament the Adverse PLC reports on the
Senate Agenda, including one on an indigenisation statutory instrument,
lapsed and were not revived, meaning that an opportunity was missed
to get provisions considered by the PLC unconstitutional repealed.
Upcoming
SADC Summit
The next ordinary
SADC Summit will be in Maputo on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th August.
It will be preceded by the usual preliminary meetings at Ministerial
level and by a meeting of the Troika of the SADC Organ on Politics,
Defence and Security Cooperation. South African President Zuma,
SADC’s Facilitator for Zimbabwe, will be due to report on
progress towards completing the new constitution and other aspects
of implementation of the Roadmap to Elections. Unfortunately his
visit to Harare has kept being postponed as the negotiators said
they had not made enough progress. SADC executive secretary, Tomaz
Salomão, had also indicated he would visit Harare before
the forthcoming Summit to assess the political situation and progress
in the implementation of the organisation’s resolutions on
Zimbabwe.
In Committee
Hearings Last Week
Deposit Protection
Corporation [DPC] Problems
DPC officials
gave evidence to the Portfolio Committee on Budget and Finance about
problems facing the DPC, including its need for a large capital
injection if it is to provide adequate protection to depositors
in failed banks. Chief Executive John Chikura told the committee
that the new Deposit Protection Corporation Act, gazetted on 16th
March, is not yet operationalised because the Minister of Finance
has not appointed a new board. This does not mean the DPC is legally
without a board to control its operations, because under the Act’s
transitional provisions the board members of the former Deposit
Protection Fund constitute a temporary DPC Board until the Minister
makes new appointments. The Minister has until 16th September to
appoint a new Board [DPC Act, section 65].
Status
of Bills
[available from
veritas@mango.zw
unless otherwise stated]
Passed Bills
being prepared for Presidential assent and gazetting as Acts
Bill being printed
for presentation [not yet available]
Securities Amendment
Bill [the page proofs of this important Bill were delivered to the
drafter for checking on 20th July]
Bill not yet
sent to Parliament but already approved by Cabinet
In his Mid-Year
Fiscal Policy Review statement the Minister of Finance said that
the new Income Tax Bill had been approved by the Cabinet Committee
on Legislation and would be gazetted. But the Bill has not yet been
sent to the Government Printer. [Bill not yet available]
Government
Gazette of 27th July
Statutory
Instruments
Census regulations
SI 128/2012 contains the regulations for the 2012 Population Census
[available from veritas@mango.zw].
The Census Period runs from 17th to 28th August.
Collective bargaining
agreement SI 126/2012 contains a complete set of conditions of service
for the battery manufacturing industry.
General
Notices
Protection of
Harare wetlands - In GN 313/2012 the Minister of Environment and
Natural Resources Management states that he has declared 26 areas
in Harare to be wetlands in terms of section 113(1) of the Environmental
Management Act. As section 113(1) authorises the Minister to
declare any wetland to be an “ecologically sensitive area”,
the GN has been incorrectly worded; it should have said the 26 wetlands
had been declared “ecologically sensitive areas”.
Public holidays
for 2013 - GN 317/2012 lists public holidays for 2013 for public
information [available from veritas@mango.zw].
Insurance and
Pensions Commission Board - GN 324/2012 notifies the appointment
of four members of this Board.
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take
legal responsibility for information supplied
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